To be able to lead a Bible study lesson group should be a cause for celebration for any Christian. To be part of one is already a great blessing from God. But to be able to lead one, it's a gift and not everyone gets to have this opportunity. Thing is, are you ready to lead a Bible study lesson?

It takes many hours just to prepare and write a Bible study lesson about, say, encouraging Bible verses. Here are some tips:

1. Choose a theme for the study

First and foremost you need to decide on the theme of the Bible study. It should be about a character, time, place, period, or a specific passage from the Bible, such as encouraging Scriptures. Whatever theme you choose, it's important your Bible study group discovers the lesson and message behind it.

2. Compare the theme to other versions of the Bible

Ask your members to bring different versions of the Bible—NASB, NIV, ESV, KJV, NKJV, etc. You can use these to compare the passages you're discussing for greater understanding of the Biblical text. Then decide which version is easiest to understand and have every member look at the particular version.

3. Study the theme very carefully

One of the most common recurring problems of leading a Bible study group is lack of preparation in advance, mainly not understanding the passage enough before questions from the other members start pouring in. Don't fall into this trap.

4. Ask a minister or pastor to join one of your Bible study sessions

It's important to have an authority figure to oversee the flow of the discussion, such as a local minister or pastor. Even though you're leading the group, you can't be expected to have full understanding of the Biblical text. So it's nice to have someone step in and lead the discussion once in a while, someone with more knowledge and experience.

5. Prepare a short study guide outline

Like a school teacher, prepare a short study guide outline detailing how many minutes the group is supposed to dedicate to a specific verse or passage. This is to make sure you cover a significant amount of Biblical text per meeting.

Preparing to lead a Bible study group isn't so hard if you know what to do. Well, now you know what to do.