- Find a quiet place where there is little to no distraction.
This may not be an easy task . But as Theadore Roosevelt said, “Nothing worth having comes easy”. If you have smaller children, inevitably they will wake up 10 minutes after your alarm goes off no matter what time you set it. There is no set amount of minutes with your time in the Word. I am not a “better Christian” for spending 3 hours reading my Bible than the person who spent 10 minutes before being interrupted. The Lord loves each of us just as much as the other. You give the Lord what you can, with effort and intent, and HE WILL DO THE WORK. God looks at the intent of the heart not the outward appearance, please remember that!
2. Always pray for understanding before you begin to read.
The principles of the Bible are simple. However, there is much in our human nature that gets in the way of that beautiful simplicity. It is important to invite the Lord to guide us and teach us during this time with Him. Approach the time as a morning meeting with the one and only Wonderful Counselor. We want our mindset to be in the right place to receive correction, encouragement, love, and counsel from Him.
3. Start Anywhere. Just start.
If you get discouraged by that answer, my recommendation is to start at the Gospels, move to the Psalms, then to the Epistles. From there, freely read wherever the Lord leads. The reason I encourage everyone to begin their initial reading in the Gospels is because it is imperative to lay a firm foundation of WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus did and HOW Jesus interacted with the human race during His time on earth before exploring the WHY explained in the Old Testament. The New Testament establishes the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN, and HOW that we need in examining God’s Word in an inductive approach. God’s Word is this amazingly intricate puzzle of literature. The pieces fit with such precision and beauty. It greatly excites my heart to know you will see these dots connect as you read through the Gospels before approaching the Old Testament texts!
4. Use a translation that you understand.
The New Living Translation is a great translation that I use often paired with NKJV. The principles of the Bible are simple, yet we have to acknowledge the fact that it was not written in our current modern language. We also admit that there are some areas that are difficult to understand, whether due to our culture or our life experiences. The Lord desires so greatly for us to glean from every aspect of His Word but He has also hidden some amazing truths for us to uncover through the work of the Holy Spirit. With a little effort on our part, such as praying before reading and exploring various translations that work for us, we will be deeply blessed by His Word. I recommend both the YouVersion Bible app and a website called Blue Letter Bible (not the app, but the desktop version! blb.org) which both have a plethora of translations to choose from.
5. Take notes, meditate or think on what is being said, or journal your questions and thoughts on the passage.
I have discovered that the Lord often gives me understanding of things, sometimes deeply profound, but unless I take the effort to write it down it gets lost among the thicket of thoughts in my brain. When I write down even one word that is repeated during my time with Him, maybe even a fleeting thought, I begin to see connections and patterns. It is an amazing experience to realize once I’ve written something down how God is speaking to me in such a personal way. If I hadn’t documented it, the witness of God’s goodness in that moment to myself and others would be forgotten.
A great question to have on paper is “What did I learn about the character of God today?” You will be surprised, as I was, at the incredible truths uncovered in that simple question. The simple question of who God is greatly increases the heart’s faith!
Remember that spending time in the Bible should not be a box you feel you need to check off as part of the “good Christian” list, or to gain knowledge so that you can debate and argue with someone. The Bible is the infallible Word of God. It is holy and should be treated as such. We should approach it with reverence. Likewise, the words should be consumed by us, digested by us as disciples of Christ, and regurgitated by us for His glory. We should be taking whatever piece of wisdom He gave us during our time reading and meditate on it day and night allowing it to change us to be more like Him. This sanctification only happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.
Lastly, remember that the Bible is a love letter to us. It is the Lord pouring over us His truths and promises. He desires for us to seek who He is and His character to know Him more, and thus love Him more, because He first loved us.
- It’s actually a command from God
- Following His teaching leads to growth in our faith–His teachings can only be found in His Word!
- Receive spiritual nourishment and receive fullness of salvation.
- The disciple of Jesus is to die to the old self
- Remaining in Him produces fruit in our lives and in the lives of others
- When we remain in His love the result is a friendship with God
- Reading about Him helps us understand the character of our Father and Creator
- Instructed to put on the Armor of God, we need protection
- Combats anxiety and brings peace
- The only place to find perfect counsel is in His Word