Study the Bible · Take in a whole book from the high ground

Book Recon

Before you fight through a book verse by verse, survey it from above. Read the whole thing in one or two sittings, fast, like a letter that just arrived. Then answer the recon questions: who wrote it, to whom, why, and how it is laid out. Everything you read in that book afterward will make more sense.

60 minSaves on this device
  1. 01

    The book

    Which book?

    Shorter is better the first time: Philippians, James, Jonah, Ruth, 1 John.

  2. 02

    Who, to whom, why

    Who wrote it? To whom? What was going on that made them write?

    The first and last chapters usually say. So does the tone.

  3. 03

    The lay of the land

    Outline it in five to eight lines.

    Where does the argument or story turn? One line per section.

  4. 04

    Key verse

    Which single verse sums the book up?

  5. 05

    The one thing

    The whole book in one sentence.

  6. 06

    Marching orders

    What does this book want from you?

  7. 07

    Prayer

    Pray the passage back to God.

    Thank Him for what it showed you. Confess where it caught you. Ask for the strength to do it.

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Other methods: S.O.A.P. · Follow the Rabbit · Observe · Interpret · Apply · Verse Map · Topical Recon · Character Study · Pray the Text