How to Study the Bible - Bible Study Made Simple

One of the paradoxes of Jesus is that he lived a perfect life without sin and had perfect communion with his Father, yet he still needed to withdraw from ministry success and pray.
This observation challenges the notion that rest and solitude are only necessary for those who are burnt out or overwhelmed. Instead, it suggests that even in the midst of busyness and productivity, intentional rest and solitude are essential for reconnecting with God and being who we are meant to be.
RESOURCES:
Nicole’s Book: Help My Bible Is Alive!
Ask Nicole a Bible study question: nicole@nicoleunice.com

FOLLOW NICOLE:
Website: https://nicoleunice.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nicoleunice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleunice/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.unice/
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

We're back with Rev. Rachel for week three of our Spiritual Rhythms series, and this week we're talking about one of our absolute favorite things — Scripture. But maybe not in the way you're used to engaging it.
Here's something worth sitting with: most of us who love the Bible tend to engage it almost entirely through our heads. We study it, analyze it, cross-reference it — and that is genuinely wonderful. But there's a whole other way of being in Scripture that most of us in the evangelical tradition have barely touched, and it's actually one of the oldest Christian practices in existence.
It's called lectio divina — divine reading — and it's been around for about 1,700 years. Long before the printing press, long before people could read their own Bibles, Christians were using this practice to actually experience and be formed by Scripture, not just informed by it. And today, Nicole and Rev. Rachel walk you through it live, using Psalm 119:9–16.
Here's how it works: the passage is read four times, slowly. The first time, you just listen. The second time, you notice what word or phrase sticks with you. The third time, you ask the Holy Spirit how it connects to your life right now. And the fourth time, you ask God how He's inviting you to respond. What you're looking for at the end isn't more information — it's peace. It's the gentle conviction or comfort of the Spirit meeting you right where you are.
We also talk about the digital fast from last week — and why your phone might be revealing more about where you actually place your trust than you'd like to admit. (Pro tip from Rev. Rachel's college students: buy an old school alarm clock. Seriously.)
And the core idea we keep coming back to all series long: right pace creates right perspective. When we slow down enough to let Scripture read us — not just the other way around — something shifts. That's the invitation this week.
Check out my free download to walk through these practices together:
https://nicoleunice.kit.com/spiritualpractices
This Week's Practice: Lectio Divina
Try it yourself with Psalm 119:9–16 — read it four times, slowly:
Read 1 — Just listen. Let the words wash over you.
Read 2 — What word, phrase, or image sticks with you?
Read 3 — Ask the Holy Spirit: how does this connect to my life right now?
Read 4 — Ask God: how are you inviting me to respond?
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Jesus brings quiet and stillness that's powerful and substantive. Jesus calms storms, metaphorical and spiritual and physical ones. We need his quieting power, especially in our digital lives.
What does your everyday life look like, particularly when it comes to your digital rhythms? This week, we're inviting you right into the place where it hurts and asking the question: how much are you scrolling? How much are you on your screens, any screens of any kind?
This isn’t about shame or guilt. Technology in it of itself is a bad thing. But what the digital age has done is numb us into a place of constant distraction where distraction is actually what feels like the norm.
So, you are as susceptible as anyone else to finding yourself numbed into distraction in a way that makes you continue to have a chaotic soul without the space to allow Jesus to come in and bring the kind of peace that he can. Now, it's not that Jesus can't master over anything. But Jesus is a gentleman. God is very invitational in nature. And that means that we must place ourselves in a position to hear from him.
Check out my free download to walk through these practices together:
nicoleunice.com/spiritualpractices
WHAT DOES IT SAY?
Mark 4: Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Jesus brings peace out of chaos. Jesus calms storms. What storms is he trying to calm in your life? What are you avoiding right now that he wants to speak into?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?
The invitation: digital rhythm to allow silence and stillness. The place where Jesus could do the greatest work in your life, where you could experience the biggest miracles in your soul, the places of unforgiveness, the places of anxiety, a fear of lack of purpose, whatever that thing is for you right now, that thing that Jesus has command over is not commanded by your screen. And yet that's the thing we often use.
In a world of normalized digital addiction, disciples of Jesus remember the uncompromising words of Paul, “I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Cor. 6:12). Rather than allowing ourselves to circle the drain of the digital vortex, we instead “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
RESOURCES:
Nicole’s Book: Help My Bible Is Alive!
Ask Nicole a Bible study question: nicole@nicoleunice.com
FOLLOW NICOLE:
Website: https://nicoleunice.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nicoleunice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleunice/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.unice/
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Special Bonus Episode from "Untangling Prayer with Rachel Wojo"
Today’s episode features a special bonus conversation from "Untangling Prayer" hosted by Rachel Wojo. She interviews Kristy Graham host of On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse. Through powerful stories of faith, service, and God’s work around the world, this episode offers a reminder that Scripture is not just something we study—it’s something we live out.
Discover how Samaritan’s Purse is bringing hope, meeting physical needs, and sharing the message of Christ with people across the globe.
To hear more inspiring stories from On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse, visit:https://www.samaritanspurse.org/
You'll discover:
Why joy in suffering comes from God's presence rather than changed circumstances
How to pray honestly and still surrender the outcome to God
What persecuted believers pray for instead of protection, and why it matters
The difference between praying for your circumstances to change and letting God change your heart
Why serving others in your own pain can lift the weight you're carrying
If you're in a season where your prayers feel unanswered, this conversation is a reminder that you are seen by a loving God who understands your pain and meets you in it.
Resources Mentioned:
On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse podcast: ontheground.samaritanspurse.org
Learn more about Samaritan's Purse: samaritanspurse.org
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Does the busyness of your life make it hard to actually slow down and connect with Jesus? Do your priorities feel jumbled? Does your spiritual life feel more like a checklist than a relationship? Friend, this series is for you.
We're kicking off a brand new six-week summer series called Spiritual Rhythms, and I am so excited about this one — especially because I get to do it with my dear friend Rev. Rachel, who brings so much wisdom, church history, and joy into every conversation.
Here's the core idea we're going to come back to every single week: right pace creates right perspective. The pace of your life is not just a productivity issue — it's a spiritual one. When we're running too fast, we lose perspective. And without perspective, we lose peace. And without peace? We lose access to the very life Jesus came to give us.
We start today by going all the way back to the fourth century — to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, who looked around at a culture using the language of Christianity for political power and said, this is not what we see in the life of Jesus. And so they built something completely counter-cultural: lives deliberately shaped around the values, practices, and rhythms of Jesus himself. Sound familiar? Because honestly, the questions they were asking then are the same ones we need to be asking now.
We also sit with two of the most inviting passages in all of Scripture. Jesus in Matthew 11, saying "Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me... learn the unforced rhythms of grace." And Jesus in John 15 — "I am the vine, you are the branches... separated from me, you can't produce a thing." These aren't just encouragements. They're an invitation to an entirely different way of living.
And we close with one of the most beautiful sentences ever written — St. Augustine's prayer: "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You." Some of the old school stuff really is just the best.
Check out my free download to walk through these practices together:
https://nicoleunice.kit.com/spiritualpractices
Reflection Questions:
Take a minute to think about the pace of your own life. What do you notice?
What does the way you spend your time say about what you care about most?
Is there any aspect of your life that feels overwhelming right now?
How would you describe your life with God right now?
If you could change something about your schedule, what would it be?
This is part of our Summer Rythmns series which originally aired in 2023
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.