Four Ways to Help Your Bible Reading

Why do we read the Bible? Because “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). While reading the Bible requires time and discipline, it should be the joy of all God’s people to come to the Scriptures daily. With that in mind here are four ways to help you in your Bible reading:

 

PLAN

Have a plan. Whether it’s a Bible Reading Plan whereby you can read through the whole Bible in a year or whether it’s reading through one book over and over for a whole month, the idea is to have a plan and to know where you’re heading. It’s not usually helpful for the daily discipline of reading and studying the Scriptures to simply wake up, open your Bible and begin reading from there. Discipline requires intentionality, which in turn requires a purpose. If your purpose is to get through the Bible, then establish a plan accordingly. If your purpose is to know the Old Testament, then establish a plan towards accomplishing that goal. If your purpose is to become familiar with Paul’s letter to the Galatians, then read it over and over until your heart absorbs as much as it can.

 

STOP

Have a plan, but be prepared to interrupt that plan or to put it on hold. For example, often our intention is to read through the Bible in a year, but if we’re reading with the understanding that it is the Spirit who opens our eyes to see and our minds to understand, then unquestionably there will be a word or a sentence, a paragraph or a chapter, that our heart will be arrested by. And we feel that we can’t go on because there is spiritual water and bread there for us. In these instances we need to be able to let go of the structured plan in favor of obedience to the voice of God. It is better to hear His voice than to keep on reading.

 

PRAY

The best way to internalize the Scriptures is by praying them. It is often the case that while we are reading our spirit is quickened to pray. We’re not simply repeating what we just read, but what we just read is provoking and stirring us. It is the Spirit of God speaking through the Word of God. And the Spirit’s goal in this is to renew us by the power of God. Let a man or a woman never read the Bible without being moved to pray! Prayer is a normal and healthy response to the reading of Scripture. And why shouldn’t it be? When we come to recognize the presence of God we respond in worship. When we come to recognize the voice of God we respond in prayer. The more we pray the Word of God, the more the Word of God fills our minds and hearts and, consequently, transforms the way that we live. There is no better way to inform your prayers than with the Word of God.

 

WRITE

If you approach reading a book with the mindset that you don’t want to miss a thing, you’ll miss everything. However, if you come to understand that you’ll probably only walk away with 1-3 significant things, you’ll relax and approach that same book with greater joy and patience. In the same way, if we think that we’re going to remember every word we read and every thought we have while reading, we’ll be disappointed and frustrated. Rather, we should approach the Word of God with an understanding that while every word is inspired, not every word will speak to us at the precise moment we’re reading it. We all have had instances where we’ve read a chapter for the hundredth time, only to feel like we’re reading it for the very first time! The Word of God is inexhaustible in its giving of life. So whether you’re reading through the Bible in a year or reading the same verse over and over, pray and ask for one thing that will fill your mind and heart for the day. Then write it down. One moment with God, one word from God, can change everything.

 

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