The above title is not accurate. I don't think one can lay out a specific way to study the Bible, because Scripture study habits can vary widely from one Christian to another. What I can do, however, is share with you how I study, which is probably going to come across as fairly basic, as I have no wow secrets for you, dear reader, to wondrously behold.
The Bible
Most of the time, I'm not interested in marking my Bible, but sometimes the mood hits me. When that happens, I grab one of my marking Bibles. I have two main ones that I've worked on over the years. You can see my two marking systems - How to Mark your Bible, and Make a Study Bible.
Most of the time, I prefer to hunker down with a good study Bible. I've read and recommended several study Bibles over the years, but I keep coming back to my favorite - The Dake. I don't read all of the notes. Most of the time, I just read the Bible text, skipping the headings and commentary, and such. However, I love having those tools at my fingertips, and sometimes enjoy to peruse the notes, just to see what they say. When something catches my eye, or I'm curious what Mr. Dake would say about something, I look it up. I also love the cyclopedic concordance, because that way, if I'm laying in bed reading, and I want to look something up, I can just flip to the meaty concordance, instead of getting up to the computer, or grabbing my tablet.
I don't have any fancy tricks to memorize or learn the Bible. I have no secrets or special manners to share. I just read it, and re read it, and every time I go through the Bible, the Lord has more to show me. If you've read here long, you've seen some of that growth. I started blogging without a head covering, donning tight jeans and hip shirts. Over the years, I've come to dresses only, head covering, and recently, no longer celebrating the pagan holidays of tradition. I'm starting to glean one of the next steps in the walk, and it is very exciting. None of these steps are legalism, unless one considers it legalist to follow the Word of God. These are all things I learned from the Scriptures, and I follow them NOT to be saved (because I already am) but to further walk in obedience to the Lord and please Him.
You can never glean everything from just one reading of the Bible. On about my second or third time through, I thought I was supposed to be Torah Observant, and began attending a Seventh Day Baptist church. On my fourth time through, God pointed out certain Scriptures that basically slapped me across the face, and I learned I was slapping Jesus across the face with my supposed Torah Observancy. To see many Scriptures about this, and what I learned, see my article series Torah vs. Grace.
Bible study is on going. I believe it is humanly impossible to learn, know, and understand every bit of it. Even with a fabulous study Bible as the Dake, where Mr. Dake KNEW the KJV Bible by heart - even he had wrong notes and interpretations - quite a few.
If you use a study Bible, remember that the commentary is by errant man, and is not correct in all places. The same goes for what you learn at church. There are a handful of things taught at my church that are wrong, but I know that no church, no study Bible, and no person is perfect. I know many of the things I've written about are likely wrong, and when I learn about them, I shall correct them. I'm doing the best I can, and praise the Lord, that is all that is expected of me. Thank God we have the Bible, so we can check what people say against the Word of God. Thank God.
Preaching
I am blessed to attend a church that is big on Bible study. I love it! If you don't walk away having been filled with good Bible teaching from your church, then perhaps it's time to shop around for a new church. I personally suggest you open your phone book, and look under the Baptist section, and look specifically for Independent Baptist churches. I've been to many different churches in my Christian life, but I can tell you that the best preaching was always from the Independent Baptist churches.
By the way, I am not a Baptist. 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Corinthians 3 are abundantly clear that denominations are man-made balderdash. I am a Christian. Should you want to know what type of Christian I am, I am simply a Bible Believing Christian.
I attended a Church of Christ for a while, and found out it was Cambelite, after I heard a REALLY wrong sermon, and researched it. I've also attended my fair share of Landmarkist and/or Briderist Baptist churches, before I found one that was not, yet still independent. I don't think there is a perfect church in this current world. I think it is important to gather together with the Body of Christ, but I also think it's important the check everything said at church with the Word of God.
Television Preachers
This would also include tape/CD ministries, and radio. There are very few I listen to/watch. I've checked some out over the years, and almost always turned the television off in disgust. Some of them are clearly doing this because it's their "job," and it pays well. There are others that are just plain wrong, and it's sad that people swallow their malarkey, and don't check the Scriptures for themselves. I refuse to read/watch/listen to women preachers, because that is against the Word of God. There is one television show that I've watched off and on through the years, and that I sometimes DVR, and that is "Shepherd's Chapel." Certainly, I disagree with his view of the gap theory, how the original sin of Adam and Even came about, etc. However, there are many things this man teaches that are spot on. He tells his viewers over and over again to check everything, including his teachings, against the Word of God. In his program, he goes through the King James Bible chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. There is a local TV station here that plays his show at 5am, so I often DVR it, and watch it in the afternoons if I have time, often with one or more kiddos watching with me.
I am delighted that he also sees Christ's coming at the seventh trumpet. I believe the seventh trumpet is where the rapture occurs. It's as plain as day in the Scriptures, so the only reason I can figure everyone doesn't see it, is because it's not what they've been taught, and they read the Bible through what they've been taught, instead of dropping that filter, and just reading the Word for what it says.
While I agree with Dr. Arnold Murray that we'll see Christ at the seventh trump, that's as far as our agreement goes on that issue. He doesn't believe there will be any rapture, so he sees the seventh trump as Christ's second coming. I see the rapture in the Scriptures, and see the seventh trumpet occurring mid trib and that it is the rapture. I can back this timeline up with such Scriptures as Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24 (abomination of desolation section), Daniel 12, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, and Revelation chapter 12.
Again, check what any preacher of the Word says or teaches against the Word of God. All Christians cannot be on the same page in our doctrinal beliefs, because we are all in different parts of our walk. We are all in different stages of our growth. I believe that I graduated from milk to meat years ago, but I also know I have a LONG LONG way to go, before I've scratched the surface of Bible knowledge. The Bible is the ONLY book that I can read over and over again, and NEVER tire of it. It is a God-breathed, supernatural book, no doubt about it.
How I Read the Bible
As you have gathered by this point, I study the Bible by just reading it and believing what it says. I've read the Bible straight through, from Genesis to Revelation, and I've also read the Bible in both Testaments at the same time. Sometimes I read the Bible through by reading Torah, then the N.T., then the O.T. up to the Writings, and then the N.T. again, and then the rest of the O.T. and then the N.T. again. I prefer to read the N.T. two or more times per year, and the O.T. one or more times per year.
Right now, I have two bookmarks in my Bible. One bookmark is in the Old Testament, and the other is in the New. Just about every evening/night, and sometimes in the afternoons as well, I read a few chapters in the Old Testament, and then a few in the New. Obviously, I finish the New before the Old, doing it in this fashion. When that happens, I just flip back to the beginning of the New, and start over, while I continue on where I am in the Old. Simple, fun, and meaty, that is.
If you are Christian, but have never read the whole Bible, I urge you to do so. Bible illiteracy is a serious plague of today, and it needs to be eradicated.