If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring an index card and pen/pencil with them to class.

One way we can know God better is to know what He says. That happens from reading God’s Word and applying it.

• Why might it be important to actually read the Bible instead of just coming to our own conclusions about what it says? (Answer will vary. Most students will mention that we can misrepresent the Bible or follow false conclusions if we aren’t in the Word ourselves.)
• Today we talked about God’s law and the importance of meditating or thinking on it. According to the passages we studied today, what are some good things that can happen when we do this? (If necessary, direct students to their Bibles or the lesson Scripture in The Rock. Answers include: You will be prosperous and successful. You will not sin against God. Nothing can make you stumble.)
• What are some things that happen to people when they think about what God has said? (Answers include: You will be careful to do everything written in them, you will delight in God’s law, you will hide God’s Word in your heart, you will consider God’s ways, you will delight in them and love them, and will have great peace.)

Sounds like thinking about what God has said to us in His Word has tremendous benefit for our lives, doesn’t it? If we don’t know what God’s Word says, then it is hard to follow it. Living without God’s direction is a sure way to fail in life. Being in His Word promises the opposite of failure—success!

Encourage students to take time this week from their busy schedules for Bible reading, meditation on the words they read, and prayer. Hand each student an index card and have them write down each day of this week ahead. If your class is meeting online, invite students to have those items ready and write down each day of this week ahead.

Next to each day, have students write a plan that includes Bible reading, meditation, and prayer. Encourage them to start small; they will be much more likely to follow through on one verse than trying to spend an hour in prayer and the Bible. Students can spell out specific times of the day, general ideas to reflect on, and include places where they might read their Bibles as well as passages they want to study. (Books of the Bible listed are fine. Specific verses can be found later.) Encourage your students to keep a journal or record of their weekly time with God and share about it with the group next week.

Follow up with students next week to see how their Bible study time went. If possible, encourage with a call, text, or email during the week to remind students to be in God’s Word.

Close in prayer.