Ahh yes, we love talking about soaps, here on a Christian living/encouragement blog....
So, I recently went on a women's retreat (it was wonderful, I cried almost the whole time), and the set up they had for devotions was a self guided thingy called "SOAP."
S = Scripture
O = Observation
A = Application
P = Prayer
So, to start out, you pray and ask God to direct you to the appropriate scripture. Then, you, obviously, read said scripture. For me, things like this work best if I write them down.
For observation, you simply jot down what you observe. Who is talking to who? About what? Why? What is the context? Make sure you're reading it in context, too. Maybe read the first few before and/or the first few after your passage, if you have any doubts.
Application refers to applying it to life today. Is there an attitude that someone in the scripture had that we should model or avoid? Is it an instruction given to the church that we should be modeling today? Is it a reminder of who God is and wants to be in our lives?
And lastly prayer. Prayer is pretty simple. You just talk to God. Ask him what he wants you to glean from this bit of scripture. Ask him how he wants you to apply it. And be willing to be quiet and listen to what he may be saying back. If you ask him to show you something, you must be willing to be shown.
I can hear you now, "But yours says SOAPS, not SOAP!!!" Yes, yes it does. That's because I love songs. They are a huge part of how I worship God. So, at the end, after I've prayed, I listen to a Christian song. I looked up a list of them, so that I could spread my wings. Some of my all time favorite songs to worship to God are:
Start a Fire
Blessed Be Your Name
Trust in You
Everywhere I Go
All The People Said Amen
Be Still My Soul
Arise My Soul Arise (not the best version, oh well)
I Come to the Garden Alone
This is My Father's World
A lot of the time, my application starts looking like a T chart. I pick apart who the verse is about, and start writing down the words or short phrases that apply to them. For example, in Psalm 18:1-2, the people were "God" and "I." Underneath were all of the descriptors or actions of "God" and "I."
Also, sometimes your first scripture can lead to and connect to other scriptures. Psalm 1 wound up connecting to Galatians 5:22-23, and Psalm 18:1-2 connected to Philippians 4:13. That's okay. In fact, I'd say that it's GOOD to be able to draw connections between the passages you've read!
So there ya have it, the SOAPS method (thank you Niqee for introducing me to the unmodified version!).
S = Scripture
O = Observation
A = Application
P = Prayer
S = Song(s) (optional)
