The Secret To How I Keep My Bible Study Notes Organized!
Last Updated on 01/01/2024 by Nicky
How To Organize Your Bible Study Notes
As a woman who has scribbled probably hundreds of notes on my order of worship, I know how hard it is to keep all of those Bible study and sermon notes organized.
It usually goes a little something like this. I’m listening to the sermon and the preacher makes a point that I hadn’t thought of and so I write it down to etch it into my memory.
Of course, I’ve written it on the church program which I know I will eventually throw away. What can you do to organize all of the notes from your Bible classes, sermons, and ladies’ day programs?
Well, that’s what we are going to talk about today because I believe I have several solutions for you that you will love! I’m going to share with you the way I organize my Bible study notes digitally so that I can access them on any device!
Plus, I’ll show you how you can organize them in a binder using paper or journaling printables. Let me tell you how!
Oh yeah, and this post contains affiliate links to great products that will help you in your health journey. I will get a commission if you decide to buy from these links. Please let me know if you have any questions.
– How To Start Organizing Your Bible Study Notes When They Are A Hot Mess
More than likely you are not starting your Bible study notes organization journey from scratch.
Yes, it would’ve been nice to organize your Bible notes from the time you heard your first sermon but it doesn’t always work out like that.
So what do you do when you’ve been jotting down Bible study notes for years and it suddenly dawns on you that maybe you should organize them? Well, it depends on what form your notes are in. We will be going over a few scenarios so you can figure out the best way for you to organize your study notes.
First, we will talk about how to organize your notes digitally (this is the way that I do it…more on that soon). Then I will cover how you can organize your old Bible study notes.
And finally, I’ll tell you how you can transfer your notes to a printable Bible study journal. But first, let’s discuss the best format for your Bible study notes.
– What’s The Best Format For Your Bible Journal Notes?
It could be that even though your current study notes are mostly in paper form you actually prefer them to be digital. The truth is the best format for your Bible study notes is the format that you are most likely to use.
Because the purpose of the notes that we write from the sermons and the Bible studies that we do is so that we can grow spiritually from them. We want to connect deeper with God through the words that we write.
So if you know that you spend most of your time reading things from your phone then you should type your notes into digital form. How do you do this? Choose an app like Trello or Evernote that you know you will use and that is easy to create files and sections.
The easier it is to create sections in the app you choose the easier it will be for you to find the Bible study notes you are looking for.
More on that coming soon. Or if you want your notes to be in paper form, you can either choose to write them in a journal or put them in a binder. I will discuss all of these options so you can know which one to choose!
– How To Organize Your Digital Bible Study Notes (My Preferred Method!)
If you’re the type to pull out your phone in church and type your sermon notes in an app then this method is for you.
If you’ve been writing random thoughts and questions about your Bible studies in a million different apps then you need to choose ONE app and then migrate all of your notes to that app.
It won’t happen overnight because that would overwhelm you! Instead, just copy and paste your biblical notes a little at a time.
I use the free app Trello to organize my Bible study note digitally in a Bible journal. This is the secret to how I have been able to keep track of my Bible journaling notes.
I have a section (or list as Trello calls them) for each book of the Bible.
Then with each section, there are subsections (Trello calls them cards).
I have a section for prayer journaling, for sermon notes, a Bible reading checklist with each chapter of the Bible, heart and life application journal, study notes, and more. Using this Bible study journal means I can easily find any note that I am looking for. It makes taking notes so easy and convenient because I can take notes wherever I am.
See the video below to get a look at it.
I love it so much that I made one to share with my readers ( you can check out the digital Bible study journal here).
– How To Organize Your Old Bible Notes In Paper Form
Perhaps you’re not feeling digital Bible study notes. I totally understand that. There is something about having a pen in your hand and a piece of paper in front of you that really helps you connect with your thoughts and feelings and with the word of God.
So if you have tons of Bible study notes like in your church’s order of worship and random journals, I suggest you gather all the papers together first.
After you have all the papers stacked in a pile, you can decide one of two things. Are you going to keep your notes in their current form or are you going to transcribe them so that they are nice and uniform?
Whichever way you choose, I suggest you use a binder to put your notes in. Let’s discuss each option in more detail!
Want to read this post later? Save it to one of your faith-based Pinterest boards!
– Using A Binder To Organize Old Paper Notes
The first thing that I would do is get a binder and some divider tabs. Then I would start making piles with the notes that I have based on how I want to categorize them. You might have a pile of your notes based on a book of the Bible.
Using a binder helps you create a Bible study notebook that you can add to and customize any way you want.
You could choose to organize your notes based on the subject such as parenting or financial Bible studies, or marriage etc.
Another idea is to categorize them by date. For instance, if you write notes in your order of worship or your church’s program then you could easily punch holes into the programs and organize them in your binder by date.
Whichever way you decide to organize your Bible study notes just make sure it’s in a way that makes sense to you.
Categorize them in a way where it will be easy for you to find them. Punch holes in the papers if possible. If you have notes on small pieces of paper then you could place them in clear page protectors.
You should now have your old Bible study notes organized in your beautiful binder!
– How to Use Bible Study Printables To Organize Your Notes
If you are going to use paper for your study notes and ideas but don’t want to keep them in their original format, I highly suggest using printables.
Why? Because they are easy to organize, shuffle, or add additional pages! With a coiled journal you can’t change any of the papers out if you need to.
But if your notes are written on printable pages like the one pictured below PIC then you can put the pages in a binder and arrange them any way you want whenever you want.
So if being able to customize your written notes is important to you then journaling printables are the way to go. I have a printable Bible study journal that you can check out here!
Pro tip: You can still use a table of contents in your printable journaling binder.
You just wouldn’t use page numbers since they are bound to change.
– How To Organize Your Bible Study Notes Using A Journal
What if you’re thinking “I don’t want to use printables and I don’t want to keep my notes in their original format?”
I totally understand. In this case, I would suggest using a traditional coiled journal. What you can do is organize them by category like I mentioned above, and then choose a journal that you can use to rewrite and re-organize your notes.
Now, this is important! If you choose a paper journal and you want to keep your notes organized for good you need to create a table of contents then you need to number your pages.
So if you choose to organize your notes by the book of the Bible, create a table of contents at the front of the journal with Genesis notes at the beginning of the journal, then Exodus notes, then Leviticus notes etc.
Choose the number of pages you think you need for each section.
Then start transcribing your notes into your new Bible study journal in the appropriate section!
Bonus tip: if you choose not to rewrite your old notes and just want to organize your future notes, then you can still use the method above. Just decide what you want in your table of contents.
Then whenever you do your Bible studies or hear the preacher say something super profound, choose the best section of your journal for those ideas and write them down!
–How Will You Organize Your Bible Study Notes?
I hope you have a clear picture of how to organize your Bible study notes now. Here is a quick recap of what we discussed: you can either organize your Bible study notes and paper or in digital form.
You can either choose to transcribe your old Bible study notes into a new format either digital or paper. Or you could keep your old Bible study notes in the format that they are already in and organize them by the category of your choosing.
I hope this helps and I have some other blog posts that I think you’d like, such as:
19 Healing Journaling Prompts To Help You Overcome Trauma & Heartache
8 Simple Bible Journaling Ideas To Deepen Your Devotional Time & Walk With Christ!
30 Christian Journaling Prompts To Elevate Your Faith & Get Closer To God!
35 Powerful Grief Journaling Prompts To Help You Overcome A Searing, Painful Loss!
5 Awesome Benefits Of A Prayer Journal & How To Start One (Free Printables Included)
Overcoming A Spirit Of Fear: 31 Life-Changing Scriptures To Battle Anxiety
– Free Digital & Printable Bible Study Journals For You!
We know something just feels off when we haven’t spent quality time with the Lord in prayer.
And yet, we can still find time to do everything else in the world except pray. Nothing is more important than having a relationship with Jesus Christ but let’s face it.
Shoving Him into a corner of our lives is super easy to do (I’m totally talking about myself when I say this…far more than I would like to admit).
We know we need to spend quiet time with God in Bible study and prayer.
But it can be a struggle to find the time, keep your Bible study notes organized, or even know where to begin once you do find the time.
That’s why I want to share with you my prayer and Bible journaling bundle. You can download the printable
Here’s what you get with the Renew Your Spirit Bible Study Journaling Printable Bundle:
Bloom & Grow Mini Journal: Use this printable journal to write down and memorize your favorite verses, to write down journaling prompts, jot down Bible study questions for further research, and pour your heart out to the Lord on the quiet time reflections page.
Trello Bible Study Journal: If you’re about that digital life, then the Trello Bible Study Journal is probably right up your alley!
Now you can keep your Bible study notes & ponderings super organized!
And even better than that?
With this digital journal, you can do a Bible study wherever you have internet access!
Finding time to do your study just got so much easier!
With this mini version of the journal, you’ll gain access to the first 3 sections (Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus) of the digital journal completely free!
Each section comes with sections to write Bible study, devotional, and sermon notes…plus so much more! And even better, there is a checklist for every chapter of each book that you can mark off as you go through your Bible reading adventure.
You must use the free app Trello to use this digital journal but it’s super easy to use!
And this app syncs across all devices so if you make a change to the journal using the mobile app, it’ll also make the change on your laptop too!
Just click here to download the Bloom & Grow Bible Journal and the Trello Digital Bible Study Journal!
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