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Follow the Map to Know God and His Word More!
This fantastic Bible study journal provides an avenue for you to open the Bible regularly and dig in to a passage—even if you have only five minutes!
Minutes 1–2: Read carefully the scripture passage for each day’s Bible study.
Minute 3: Understand. Read a brief devotional based on the day’s scripture.
Minute 4: Apply. Answer the questions designed to help you apply the verses from the Bible to your own life.
Minute 5: Pray. A dedicated spot for prayer will allow you to talk to God about anything on your heart.
May The 5-Minute Bible Study Map for Teen Guys help you establish the discipline of studying God’s Word. You will find that spending even five minutes focused on scripture and prayer has the power to make a huge difference. Soon you will want to make time for even more time in God’s Word!
WHO’S PURSUING WHOM?
Read John 6:41 –45
We tend to pursue God the way we decide to start a hobby. We do the choosing—the activity, time, and place—and think we’ll get better at being Christians if we just work at it. But before we can do anything for God, we need to understand that we wouldn’t even care about God if He didn’t care about us first.
God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present everywhere. He gave up what is most precious to Him so we might someday understand and respond to His initiative. He enables our goodness and fixes our brokenness. With great acts of power, mercy, and love, He draws us to Himself.
Pursuing God starts by acknowledging that He is the original pursuer. It’s His overwhelming, all-in love we respond to when we say we’re pursuing Him. As 1 John 4:19 (nkjv) notes, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
The pursuit of God is comforting and challenging, calming and confounding. But that’s God. He is both your loving Father and the holy Lord of all—closer than a brother and harder to grasp than calculus. God sacrificed His precious Son to save you, which is both terrible news (you’re that much of a sinner) and great news (He thinks you’re worth dying for).
Apply
What led you to commit your life to follow Christ?
How was God working in your life up to that moment?
Pray
BEING FULLY KNOWN
Read Psalm 139:1–6
God has perfect knowledge—omniscience—of every topic the human mind can consider, plus far more that we can’t. God has no teacher; He has nothing to learn and is never surprised. All the people who are looking forward to questioning God when they see Him are in for a rude awakening. The superiority of His knowledge beggars the answers they think He owes them.
God knows everything about you. He knows the ways you’re different at church on Sunday morning than with your friends on Friday night. And He knows when your thoughts wander, and where. He even knows exactly what you’re going to say.
That can be comforting and terrifying all at once. We humans hate having our privacy invaded. . .and we really hate it when people use our secrets against us. Yet we long to be known and understood by someone who is truly for us. When David wrote in Psalm 139:5 (nkjv), “You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me,” he was squirming beneath the weight of God’s omniscience, probably because he realized that his thoughts, words, and deeds weren’t always pleasing to God.
God knows everything about you and still thinks you were worth dying for. He knows both who you are and who you are becoming in Christ—someone like Jesus, someone beyond your wildest dreams.
Apply
How does God’s omniscience affect your relationships, decisions, studies, etc.?
When was the last time you thought you knew better than God?
Pray
HOPE IN GOD BRINGS GLADNESS
Read Psalm 33:13–22
Today’s reading is about tough times. . .and what you depend on in the middle of them. Consider how others—including your friends and those in the wider culture—handle life when it gets hard. Who or what are they relying on for their hope?
Rather than looking at the size of the challenges before you today, consider that God is looking on you (and on everyone else) from heaven. God has fashioned the hearts of humanity and knows everyone’s secret deeds. When you rely on God and fear Him, you can bet your life that He’s right there with you in the middle of your pain.
What you focus on today will go a long way toward determining your relationship with God. Today’s reading ends with an image of God’s love resting on His people. So let that image be your anchor today, no matter what life throws at you. If you depend on God as your source of hope, you will find safety and peace in the storm.
Apply
In whom or what do you most often find yourself placing your trust?
How often do you dwell on God’s love for you? How can today’s verses help you do so?
Pray
YEARS DON’T
ALWAYS MATTER
Read Job 32
Job famously experienced tremendous suffering as part of God’s perfect-yet-often-mysterious plan. One thing is clear from the first chapter: Job was not being punished for any sin. But three close friends still tried to persuade him that his predicament was somehow his fault. Their counsel was based on worldly arguments and theological assumptions that missed the mark. Then a younger man named Elihu appeared, taking Job to task “for justifying himself rather than God” (Job 32:2 niv). Job’s situation was not caused by his sin, but it did lead him to demand that the Almighty explain Himself to a man. Elihu was slow to join the conversation out of respect for his elders. But seeing that they lacked real insight, he spoke up to correct their error. Elihu demonstrated that age doesn’t guarantee wisdom. The only source of wisdom is “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8 niv). Paul echoed this belief in his advice to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 niv).
Apply
Are you seeking to model God’s wisdom for your friends?
How can you know if your wisdom is truly God’s wisdom?
Pray
BELIEVING IS SEEING
Read Hebrews 11:1–6
Understand
Have you ever thought, It’d be a lot easier to pursue God. . .if only I could see Him? It’s so much easier to believe in what we can perceive with our senses, even though we know they are limited. But if faith was based only on what we could perceive, it would be science, not faith. And even science has its limits.
God’s interactions with us give faith an anchor in history. He made Himself known to people from the beginning and then made Himself visible in Jesus Christ. Even though we don’t see the Holy Spirit enter us when we’re saved, the proof of His presence is in the way He changes us. Hebrews 11:1 (niv) says, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” When we take that to heart, we don’t stay the same. God teaches us to live in light of a greater world. Hebrews 11:16 (niv) says we long for the reward of “a better country—a heavenly one.”
Don’t underestimate the anchoring power of that promised reward for the faithful. Believe that everything you go through now is worth it, that God sees you and will reward you for sticking with Him no matter what. Believing is seeing. Believe it now, when this world still clouds your eyes, and one day you will see Him face-to-face.
Apply
What characteristics of God can you list?
What are the challenges of pursuing an invisible God?
Pray
WISDOM FROM ABOVE
Read James 3
As you probably know by now, wisdom from God is a way of life. The books of the Bible known as “wisdom literature” are full of helpful, practical advice—tips on how to live wisely before God and man. James, whose entire letter is about actions speaking louder than words, echoed their sentiment.
What we really believe and cherish comes out in our lives for all to witness. This is the truth that Jesus described when rebuking the Pharisees: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him” (Matthew 12:35 niv). Whether we “harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition” in our hearts (James 3:14 niv) or desire to honor the Lord, the evidence is found in our day-to-day walk. For teens in love with this world, an “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” approach to life passes for a type of wisdom (verse 15 niv). Some become influencers with millions of followers, while others just brag to their friends. But as children of the Almighty, we are to reflect something grander—“the wisdom from above” (verse 17 esv).
Apply
How is wisdom recognized?
What characterizes wisdom that is not from heaven?
Pray
REMEMBER WHAT YOU’VE SEEN
Read Deuteronomy 4:9–14
Your experiences with God and the things you learn about Him today aren’t just for your own present benefit. When you have a life-altering experience or an insight that shapes your worldview, you have a holy calling to remember that moment and pass it along to future generations. God’s teachings are extremely serious—they’re meant to be obeyed. Even the act of receiving those teachings for the first time is a significant step toward passing them along in the future. Each major step forward—each stunning realization of God’s grace in your life—can become an opportunity to pass something vital along to others. Whether or not you ever have children or grandchildren, you have a calling that extends far beyond today. Future generations can benefit from your faithfulness and commitment to the Lord and to His Word.
Apply
How are you obeying the command to watch yourself closely (Deuteronomy 4:9)?
What would’ve happened had the Israelites not repeated God’s words to their children?
Pray
WISDOM IS. . .OPEN TO REASON
Read James 3:13–18
A quick way to get a better understanding of a verse if you don’t have time to research the Hebrew or Greek is by comparing various English translations. Some websites and apps will display multiple translations side by side so you can easily see the differences. Using this method, we see that what the ESV translates as “open to reason” in James 3:17 can also be translated as reasonable, willing to listen, approachable, or sensible.
From the beginning, God has been more than willing to listen to and engage His people for their benefit. Just after Adam and Eve sinned, God approached them in the garden and asked four questions: “Where are you?” “Who told you that you were naked?” “Have you eaten of the tree. . . ?” and “What is this that you have done?” (Genesis 3:9, 11, 13 esv). Of course, it wasn’t for His own benefit that an omniscient Creator asked these questions—it was for theirs.
Similarly, Jesus asked questions He already knew the answer to in order to help people understand for themselves. And following His pattern, Paul “reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:17 esv).
Wisdom from above doesn’t debate to win an argument; it reasons to open people’s eyes.
Apply
What does being “open to reason” mean?
How does a reasonable guy speak to those who disagree with him?
Pray
GETTING UNSTUCK
Understand
Read Proverbs 8:17
God knows you’re busy. While you’re beating yourself up because you can barely carve out five minutes a day to focus on Him, He loves that you’re making time at all. After all, God can do more with five minutes than you can with a whole week.
Don’t get stuck thinking that God is tapping His foot, arms folded, thinking you’re a doofus because you spend too little time building your faith and too much time doing things like studying for tests, taking out the trash, and going to class.
Instead, picture Him as your Father, waiting with open arms. He is there no matter what, willing and able to comfort, give wisdom, and show grace. He brings challenges sometimes, but everything He does is to help you learn, grow, and know Him better. If anything, He just wishes you would talk to Him more often, let Him know how you’re doing, and thank Him for being a good dad.
If you’re stuck in a rut and just need someone who understands, Jesus does. He got worn out and beaten up too—but He allowed it so He could relate to you in your hard times and give you that deep understanding that you’re dying for. Focus on Him and let Him help you get unstuck.
Apply
How can you maximize your prayer and Bible-reading time?
How do you imagine God feels about you? Impatient. . .or eager to hear your prayers?
Pray
GROWING WITH THE WORD
Read 2 Timothy 3:10–17
Some modern writers have suggested that the Old Testament doesn’t matter anymore—we should just focus on the New Testament instead. But in today’s reading, we see a different view about “the sacred writings” (2 Timothy 3:15 nasb). Paul declared scripture to be useful in four ways, all of which are for our spiritual growth. His conviction lay in the origin of the writing—namely, the breath of God. The author made it authoritative.
Similarly, Jesus looked to the Old Testament as trustworthy and inspired. Not only did He quote it extensively, but after His resurrection, two followers had the privilege of the greatest Bible study imaginable: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27 nasb). The Old Testament is filled with Jesus!
But what about the Law, from which believers are set free (Romans 7:4)? It also plays a part in the plan of salvation. As Paul explained, “the Law has become our guardian [or tutor] to lead us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24 nasb) by revealing the truth about ourselves. “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin” (Romans 7:14 nlt). The Law’s purpose was to point to a Savior, not to become a means of salvation without Him. The same is true still.
Apply
What is the source of all scripture?
How are each of scripture’s four purposes different?
Pray
PERSONAL HISTORY
Understand
Read Psalm 107
Psalm 107 is a song about how God rescues His people over and over from all manner of troubles, with the repeated refrain “ ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress” (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28 nlt). God’s history with Israel as a nation illustrates how He deals with us as individuals—with enduring and faithful love.
God calls some teens to later become theologians or apologists, defending the faith in scholarly ways and exalting God “publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation” (Psalm 107:32 nlt). Maybe that’s what your future looks like. But if not, that’s okay—all believers are called to testify to God’s faithfulness in their own life. Your experience with Him is meant to be shared authentically, providing a testimony that’s unique to you alone. “Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies” (Psalm 107:2 nlt).
Even though you are young, His history with you goes much further back than yours with Him! In fact, long before you were born, “[God’s] eyes saw [your] unformed body; all the days ordained for [you] were written in [His] book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16 niv).
Think about your life history. What awesome things that God has done for you can you document and then share with others?
Apply
What moments in your Christian life stand out to you?
Do you feel confident that you have a story to tell about God’s faithfulness?
