SOAP is a simple way to structure a devotional: read a short passage of Scripture, write down what you observe in it, apply it to your life, and pray it back to God. Four steps, one or two verses, maybe twenty minutes. I've been doing it for more than fifteen years, and this is what it actually looks like.
How I Learned It
I came across SOAP back in my days in youth ministry, where I first came to know Jesus. Like most new believers, I wanted to spend time with God, but I had no idea how. My youth pastor introduced me to SOAPs, and it gave my structured mind a way to break a devotional down into something bite-sized. I learned I didn't need to read massive chunks of scripture to grow in my faith. Showing up faithfully each day to take a verse or two or three and dissect it was far more valuable than a chapter a day.
What My SOAP Time Actually Looks Like
I like to sit in my chair. It's an IKEA chair, so it's not super meaningful, but it's comfortable and it's in a quiet corner that faces outside. I grab my coffee and my tortilla blanket, and my iPad with the Goodnotes app and my Bible app in split screen. I do this in the morning when I first wake up, and it takes between 15 and 30 minutes.
I always start with five minutes of grounded silence. I didn't always. That part is newer, and it helps me focus on the task at hand, centering myself on Jesus rather than on what I have to do that day.
Then the letters:
S is the easiest. It's provided for me. I write out the verse or two I'm studying.
O is a few sentences of what I see in the verse. Who's talking, to whom, what words repeat, what surprised me.
A usually gives me a hard time. This is where I think through verses that may not have a direct application to my life today, and some days the connection comes slowly. That's fine. Wrestling is part of it.
P never gets skipped. Lately I've also taken to journaling about my day for a little bit as part of the prayer portion, so I can get my thoughts on paper and then pray them to the Lord.
A Real One: James 2:25-26
Here's an actual SOAP from my journal, so you can see the method at work rather than in theory.
Scripture: James 2:25-26.
Observation: James uses the prostitute Rahab as another Old Testament example. She, too, was made righteous in the Lord's eyes—just like Abraham—by her deeds. Her faith overflowed into action and she landed a spot in the lineage of Jesus. The point has landed; James reiterates that faith is dead without action.
Application: James is a man of action, so pulling out application is easier here. We're not saved by works, we are saved by grace. But if we sit around talking about how faithful we are without doing anything about it, our faith is weak or dead. A living faith drives us to action. A living faith pulls us toward the needs of people and out of our selfish desires.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for calling me toward action. Help me meet the needs of the people around me. Give me eyes to see Your people and not just see the need, but actually do something about it. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Where SOAP Gets Hard
Old Testament passages can be difficult. I read them the way Jesus taught us to read them, with him at the center. He said he came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17), so the old covenant's commands apply to us differently on this side of the cross, filtered through what Jesus fulfilled and what his kingdom asks of us now. We can still draw inspiration from those figures of faith, but the Application step takes more work there. I had a hard time with Philemon too, since I'm neither slave nor slaveowner needing to release a slave at Paul's request. There are some verses where the method may not work great. You never know unless you try.
What Fifteen Years of This Does
More than fifteen years of SOAPs has brought me to a better understanding of the Bible altogether, and of how it applies to my life in practical ways. I don't memorize a bunch of scripture. But I can always recall the verses I've studied when I need them most, because I didn't just read them once. I sat with them, wrote about them, and prayed them.
If you try SOAP for six days and quit on day seven, here's what I'd tell you. SOAPs don't work if you don't do them. There's no special day when this unlocks. But faithfully coming to your quiet time, where you spend time with Jesus each and every day—or as consistently as you can!—will change you from the inside out. Your life may not change in 6, 12, or 31 days. But you will be made more like Jesus each and every time you show up.