The Lyric and Letter Study Method

A DEEPER WAY TO STUDY

What if you could read the Bible and understand it in a way you never have before?

Not as a collection of verses to look up when life gets hard. Not as a devotional you skim before the day starts. But as what it actually is: a living, intentional, perfectly directed narrative, written by an Author who knew exactly what He was doing in every passage, every word, every thread.

That is what this method is about.

It started on a living room floor in 2008, in a Saturday study community where we sat on couches and floors, shared a meal, and studied Scripture the way it was meant to be studied — slowly, communally, with deep attention to its cultural and historical roots. Years later, working as a filmmaker, I recognized that what we had been doing around that table was the same instinct I used on a film set: breaking down a story, asking who is present, what they're carrying, where they are in the story emotionally and spiritually, and why it's there at all. The language was different. The instinct was the same.

Out of the cultural roots, the communal study, the filmmaker's eye, and years of inductive discipline, the Lyric and Letter Study Method took shape. It is not a replacement for the Holy Spirit. It is not a scholarly system. It is a way of slowing down and reading Scripture as the living, intentional narrative it is, with something to say directly to you.

And it begins the same way every time. Not just with your Bible open, but with your heart and mind open to what the Holy Spirit wants to transform in you.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword." Hebrews 4:12

LEARNING THE STUDY METHOD

The GO S.L.O.W. method is four simple steps: Seek, Learn, Observe, and Worship. Each one moves you a little further in, from opening your heart, to understanding the text, to hearing what God is saying through it, to laying your life down in response.

Every step has CORE prompts. On a busy day, the CORE prompts are a whole study, start to finish. When you have more time, Go Deeper adds a few optional prompts to the Learn step. Either way, you are not falling behind. You are sitting with God in His Word.

1. SEEK: Seeking God's guidance

Before you open your Bible, open your heart. Invite the Holy Spirit, your Teacher, into the room. This isn't a ritual. He is the One who opens our eyes to what is really there, and without Him we are only doing literary analysis.

• Write Your Opening Prayer (CORE). Ask the Spirit to teach you and to quiet everything else. One honest sentence is enough.

• Read the Passage (CORE). Read your passage and the Read Alongside passages that go with it. No commentary and no study notes yet, just you, the text, and the Holy Spirit. If you'd like, read it again in a second translation and notice where the wording shifts. Hold your first impressions loosely. They are seeds to test in the steps ahead, not conclusions to settle here.

2. LEARN: What is being revealed through the text

Every passage is part of a story. Walk into it slowly, and don't assume you already know the answers.

• First Questions & What Felt Striking (CORE). What stood out to you? What surprised you, troubled you, or made you curious? Write your observations and questions exactly as they come, without editing yourself.

• Who, What, When, Where, Why (CORE). Write what the text actually says. Work through the passage the way Moses turned aside at the burning bush, not out of duty but out of a real desire to understand what God is saying.

  • Who: the people, the groups, and God Himself.

  • What: the events, the actions, and the words that repeat.

  • When: where this moment sits in the story of Scripture, and the timing inside the passage.

  • Where: the places, the borders, the movement.

  • Why: the reasons the text itself gives.

• What Does This Remind Me Of? (CORE). Does this passage echo something else in Scripture? A theme, a pattern, a picture that shows up again later? Jot it down and hold it lightly. You are noticing, not building a full chain yet.

• Go Deeper (optional). When you have more time, let Scripture interpret Scripture.

• • Before & After: What happens just before this passage, and right after it?

  • Historical & Cultural Context: What was happening at that time? What customs, practices, or atmosphere shape the story?

  • Cross References: Start with the Read Alongside passages, then follow the theme, phrase, or pattern through the rest of Scripture.

  • Additional Notes: Anything else you want to remember, or a question you want to sit with a little longer.

3. OBSERVE: What is God's perspective

This is where the study becomes a conversation, from the page to the presence of God. You have looked carefully at what the text says. Now sit with the Lord and let Him direct your attention.

• Christ in the Story (CORE). How does this passage point to Jesus? Maybe through a type or a shadow, a promise, or by showing us how much we need Him. Don't force Him into a verse that is doing something else. Let each passage take its own place in the one story that arrives at Him.

• God's Character (CORE). What does this passage show you about who God is?

• What Is the Spirit Showing Me? (CORE). What is the Holy Spirit tying from this passage to your life right now? What do you need to bring before Him? What He shows you will always agree with what the passage actually means.

4. WORSHIP: Laying our life down in response

This is the step that makes everything else matter. It's also the one we're most tempted to skip. Worship isn't only a song. It's a whole-life response to what God has shown you.

• Surrender to the Spirit (CORE). How will you respond to what the Spirit has shown you? What do you need to lay down, and what truth will you hold on to? If there is a step of obedience, name it honestly and specifically, something you would know whether you actually did this week.

• Closing Prayer (CORE). Pray back what you've learned. Thank Him for what He showed you today, and ask Him to carry it with you into your day.

On a busy day, the CORE prompts are your whole study, and that is a complete and worthy time in God's Word. On the days you can linger, Go Deeper is there for you. The steps are a map, not a measuring stick. The goal was never to finish the worksheet. The goal is to meet God in His Word and be changed by Him.

THE STUDY GUIDE

The GO S.L.O.W. Study Guide is free, and it's thirty-two pages of everything you need to walk this method on your own. You'll find teaching on each of the four steps, what every CORE prompt is asking and why, and the optional Go Deeper prompts for the days you have more time.

Alongside the guide there is a printable daily study page set, so you can take the same four steps to your own passage with a pen in your hand and your Bible open on the table.

It's grounded in Scripture, centered on Christ, and made for the woman who is ready to stop skimming and start inhabiting God's Word.

Everything above is in your free 32-page GO S.L.O.W. Study Guide, plus a printable daily study page you can use with any passage. Print a stack, keep one tucked in your Bible, and use it on your own or with your study group.

THE LYRIC & LETTER BIBLE STUDY COMPANION WEB APP

Use it anytime in the free Lyric & Letter Bible Study App.

Once you've walked the method on paper, you can carry it into your daily study inside the Lyric & Letter Bible Study Companion. It's free. All I ask for is an email address.

The app is where our whole community studies together. Inside you'll find:

• The chronological study plan, walking from Genesis to Revelation, one set of passages at a time

• The Lyric & Letter podcast

• A built-in Bible, so your passage is right there with you

• A list of free references for when you want to dig a little deeper

• Theo, a study companion built specifically for this method, on hand to help with observation, context, and connections

• A place to save your studies and come back to them whenever you want

• Printable versions of the study method

The Lyric & Letter Bible Study Companion Web App is being updated to follow the four GO S.L.O.W. steps. That update is in the works, so if you still see the earlier steps inside the app for now, that's why. Your opening prayer and your closing response will always stay exactly what they should be: yours, and the Holy Spirit's.