I read my Bible a lot differently than I did when I first became a Christian decades ago. Back then, I just read it. I mean, I’d open it up, usually somewhere in the Gospels, and then just read. As a new Christian, God so blessed me by having things just highlight off the page – it was as if the Holy Spirit took a yellow highlighter pen and said, “This is for YOU! Pay attention to it.” Those days were awesome, and my love of the Word grew because of it.
As the time went by, however, things changed. I noticed my old, reliable method of just simply reading the Bible wasn’t producing the results I wanted as frequently. The “highlighter pen” wasn’t working! So, I began to pray this verse before I read the Bible:
“Open my eyes, Lord, that I may behold wonderful things in your law (Word).”
Psalm 119:18
This prayer is still what I pray today before reading His Word.
The Bible is a spiritual book and must be read as such. Without the Spirit of God working within the reader, one can read the Bible and not see the hand of the Creator, as He divinely inspired the authors of the Bible. Without an open heart to see the truth, a person can study the Bible and yet never know God. I personally know people who have done that, and I know of others, not personally but online, who study the Bible without having a connection to the Spirit to know its Author. Instead, they criticize it, tearing it apart.
This is why I believe that without a humble, seeking heart, with the Spirit of God leading, reading the Bible may not produce any “ah-ha!” moments in a person’s life. We must be open to truth and have a humble heart. The arrogant intellect won’t receive the spiritual truths written in the Bible, but the one who seeks with a soft heart will be changed by it. What a contrast!
As we mature in the Lord, He asks us to grow in our ways with Him, and this includes our reading His Word. As a young believer, there were days that I would play what I jokingly refer to as “Bible roulette,” when I would seek an answer to a prayer by randomly opening up my Bible and wherever my finger landed, I would read the verse for an answer. (C’mon, I know some of you have done that, too!) And surprisingly, God did answer some prayers that way – but rarely. Again, as a new Christian, I think God allows that kind of thing to happen because, just like a parent to a newly-walking toddler, He is there to catch us when we fall and help us learn to walk confidently. But once we learn to walk in confidence of His love for us, like a good parent, He then wants us to grow in our new abilities. Our ways need to mature.
I think what happens to some Christians is that they stop at the toddler stage. What once worked with Bible reading will always work for them, they say. And yeah, I guess that could be the case for some. But not for me.
Instead, over the years, God has challenged me to dig deeper, using resources like commentaries and theologian’s writings that expound on concepts that are not always easily discerned, like the Doctrine of the Trinity, for example. Literally thousands of years of amazing Christian thought has been laid out before us on tough concepts that are grappled with by Christian thinkers today. Why not learn from some of them?
So when I read my Bible today, I don’t just read it. I pray before I read it, and then I study it. I’ve tried those daily Bibles so many times, but I ‘epic fail’ at keeping up with them simply because I get stuck on a concept that I want to dig deeper into, like certain word usages or concepts that appear new to me. Instead of just getting through the daily reading, I spend a certain amount of allotted time, say 30 minutes, wherever I want to learn more and delve into a fuller meaning.
How I Spend Time in the Word
I was reading in a daily Bible (yes, I do use them but I just don’t sweat it if I can’t keep up) in the Book of Psalms. My eyes stopped a Psalm 8:8, on a concept I just had to investigate! It says this:
“…the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
Psalm 8:8
What struck me was this: “the paths of the seas.” Wait… what? This Psalm of David was estimated to have been written in 1015 B.C. — three THOUSAND years ago? How could David have known that there are indeed paths in the oceans? David could not have known this without the inspiration of the Spirit of God; once again, showing that the Bible is truly divine.
This just amazes me and makes me love the Word of God even more! This way of reading the Bible never gets boring! When I simply ‘pray and stay’ in a place or phrase that intrigue me, I take the time to look things up, and I always learn something new.
Tools You Can Use
Some of my favorite Bibles are: CSB Apologetic Study Bible, The Daily Bible (in chronological order), and the NET Bible. Some of my favorite online commentaries are: Bible Hub, Bible Study Tools, and the Blue Letter Bible.
If you don’t like to read much, you can always find an audible version or a podcast (for free!) that reads the bible to you. Even Amazon’s “Alexa” device will read the Bible to you (that’s the way my 17-year old son likes to go through the Bible.)
Some even listen to the Bible on YouTube, or on Bible apps.
Find Your Own Path
It’s important to remember that not everyone is wired the same. For some, the Daily Bible readings are awesome and people are content with that study. For others, reading is not even a thing; instead, they listen to the Word on an audible version. For me, a geeky nerd, I like to study it, to discover the treasure trove of wisdom in nuggets, as I camp out in certain areas of the Bible for longer periods of time. Whatever is your best way learning, choose that path and as you grow, let God lead you down other, interesting pathways of discovery.
God’s Word is a Spiritual love-letter to all of humanity, if we only take the time to see the wonders He’s laid out before us in the holy books of the Bible. And remember, God calls the more mature to learn differently and to grow in our knowledge.
Do you read the Bible in any unique ways? I’d love to hear your answers below. Thanks for stopping by!
Lisa, this work is so insightful. You’re so right that our study habits need to change as we mature. We tend to see ourselves as BC and AC–Before Christ and After Conversion–but that AC time is not monolithic. It’s a time of seasons. And adapting our study habits makes for better seasons. God bless!
Thanks, Nancy! God bless
What a wonderful idea to ask God to open our eyes when reading His Word! Thank you for this reminder. Today, I will read my Bible with open eyes and ask the Lord to come into my heart as I read and reveal His message.
Thanks, Melissa! God bless
This is great, Lisa. I, too, read the Bible far differently from how I read it when I was earlier along in my Christian journey. Here’s to getting past our tendency to, as you put it, “stop at the toddler stage,” and keep pressing on toward a more mature faith and understanding.
Thanks, Jessica! God bless
Lisa, I liked your remark about David knowing about the Paths of the Seas. Matthew Fontaine Maury was an oceanographer who saw that term in Scripture and believed that if it was there, it must be true. He investigated and “discovered” shipping lanes/currents which would allow ships to reach their destinations much more quickly. He became known as the Pathfinder of the Seas and there are several books written about him.
Amazing how absolutely accurate the Bible is on every topic and facet it touches upon. What an awesome God!!!!!!!
I know, right? I got so excited when I found out that fact. Yes, our God is awesome! Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Lisa, that was a great commentary! I used to do the Bible roulette idea just to see if I could get a message from God. Then I started to want more and would listen as much as I could to many different pastors and teachers. One of my favorites was Ravi Zacharias. That is where my interest in apologetics came from. However, there seemed to be a lack of practical application I was missing. I longed to hear simple Biblical truth that I could apply to my life personally. I found Dr. Andy Woods who is Senior pastor of Sugar Land Bible Church and the president of Chafer Theological Seminary. His depth of knowledge is immense, but he has a humble heart and teaches the basics in a a no-nonsense sort of way. It was through his ministry that I found Grace Institute of Biblical Studies where my wife and I are currently taking classes. I can listen to the lectures while I am driving around all day making deliveries. It has had a profound impact on how I read the Bible. Probably the single most important thing I have learned is that to take the Bible literally. Many errors occur when you interpret the Bible allegorically. You will get as many interpretations as there are readers. I used to have so many questions about the Bible or I was confused about apparent contradictions. Not that I have come to any complete enlightenment or anything, but I now have so much more confidence, not only in terms of my salvation, but also in understanding the larger picture of what God has in store for us.
Thanks, Dennis. God bless you on your new endeavors!
Lisa wrote=> Do you read the Bible in any unique ways? I’d love to hear your answers below.
Maybe the first couple years I would use your “roulette” routine now and then. Not any more.
The first few years I used to write the date in the margin as I read through the Bible.
As we were doing the Handwritten Bible, as each volume was completed and leather bound (we split the Bible into 6 volumes) we would get together in a public place and read through the entire volume… usually took a couple days. This was very interesting … at about 2-3 days per volume for 6 volumes, that would be reading the entire Bible in 12-18 days … out loud!
For the past 7 years I have been working on a Joy/Obedience Bible … highlighting any verses that were joy related in BLUE and any that were obedience related in RED and verses that combined both in PURPLE. After doing this for a few years it because obvious (to me) that joy and obedience are intertwined and built on each other.
But the most enlightening way of reading the Bible is with at least one other person. You sit around a table (preferably in public … we did this in coffee shops, Wendy’s and Subway). Each person has a DIFFERENT translation. You start someplace (typically Genesis or Matthew) and one person reads a couple sentences aloud. Then the next person (clockwise) reads THE SAME passage but in their different translation. If you have more than two people, you can then just continue on to the next couple sentences for one person, followed by another person reading THAT passage again in another translation. There are several reasons that I think this is the best. (1) you are reading it straight through, not skipping around. (2) You can pause to comment on what is being read (very briefly) especially if wording differed in a meaningful way (to someone) (3) You get to read Scripture OUT LOUD (4) You get to HEAR Scripture read out loud to you (5) You get to see passages in a new light as different translations use different words and phrases that typically help me understand what is being said.
Love these techniques, Len! Thanks for sharing.
Tack on to my previous comment about reading the Bible Out Loud around a table in coffee shops … I just checked my website where I kind of track our progress (sorry, it is pretty out of date in the 2nd panel) and noticed that we have been doing this for well over 10 years! Some Scriptural basis for it is included in the third column. I called it Coffee Shop Scriptures 🙂
That’s awesome! You’re a faithful man of God.
I love reading the Bible! It is not only intellectually stimulating as I find so many overlapping themes from OT to NT that are breathtaking and incredible. But more importantly, it gives me a soul-nourishment like nothing else. To think, the God of all creation would want me to know His thoughts, His ways, His Words, His plans. It is such a gift. Thank you for sharing your journey in Bible reading and Bible study. The most important thing, is to come with a humble, seeking heart and be willing to go deeper, then deeper still. May others find Jesus’ words to be true, “Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Sadly, most people today are spiritually-anorexic, as they are not reading the Bible therefore not receiving their “bread of life.”