Removing Obstacles So You Can Read the Bible with Purpose

Recently, I took to social media to ask, “Other than time, what stops you from reading your Bible?” The answers were all similar with the most common being that it’s difficult to understand.

I want to start by addressing the not enough time response that I still received from more than half of the people who responded. I used to hate when someone said this to me, but we really do all have the same 24 hours in our day. We just have to figure out how we’re going to allocate them, and it may be that you have to begin by removing some teaching or traditions from your past in order to get on track.

Did you know it’s okay if you don’t wake up at 5 AM and spend 30 minutes reading your Bible?

A lot of us come from the teaching that we absolutely have to start our day like that. For me, I felt like a failure from the beginning of my day and beat myself up for the remainder of it because either I didn’t get up when I wanted to, or I fell asleep trying to read at that time of day. Some of us just aren’t wired that way, and God knows this. Give yourself permission to read at a different time of the day. There’s nowhere in the Bible that says it has to be at a specific time.

You have to know what works for you, and this may be a busy season in your life, so you have to take the time you can. It may look like sitting an extra 5 minutes on the toilet so you can finish whatever chapter your own. You may giggle at that now, but I know you know.

You also have to prioritize your time. It really wasn’t that long ago I was saying I was too busy or time got away from me or I was too tired to read, but then I took a step back and noticed my weekly screen time that holds no secrets. I realized how much my screen time showed I spent on social media, and I knew I had the time. I just wasn’t prioritizing it.

If time is what you instinctively want to say in response to that question, it might help to do what I did and see how much time you’re spending on other things that aren’t fruitful. Can you spare 10 minutes from watching your favorite tv show or scrolling Instagram?

Second to not having enough time, people responded that the Bible was difficult to understand. Do you feel that’s true for you?

I want to take a few words from my upcoming Bible study, Reading the Bible with Purpose: the Book of James. I hope this will help you to be able to read the Bible with purpose:

Before you begin each reading, start with prayer. Ask God to help you understand what you’re about to read. Ask him to keep you free from distractions. Your prayer can be as simple as:

God, please open my eyes to what you want me to take from this Scripture. Remove any distractions from my mind and my body so I can focus on the words you’ve written for me. Thank you for revealing yourself to me and showing me how these words are true and applicable to my life today. Amen.

The enemy will use any kind of distraction he can as soon as you sit down to read, so turn your phone off. Better yet, dust off that Bible sitting on the shelf, and leave your phone in a different room. Most distractions will come from that little device we’ve become so attached to.

In order for the Scripture to make sense, it’s helpful to find a translation that speaks to you. There are Bible apps and websites that show you the same verses with different translations. You might notice you’re using the same translation every time, but there may be times you prefer something different. You won’t know until you check them out.

It’s not necessary to take a deep dive into everything about the verses every time you read. The way I laid out this study, you are given a few verses of scripture to read and reflect on during the week. Instead of something new every day, you’re re-reading the same verses for 7 days, and you can use each day to study them differently.

For example, I may read the verses today in different translations. Tomorrow, I may read the translation that made the most sense to me, but I want to read some commentary about them in my study Bible. The next day, I may listen to commentary or a podcast over the same verses, and so on and so on. See where God leads you as you study. You can look up the meaning of the words and the cross references at some point as well. Just take your time, and listen to the Holy Spirit as you read.

You may not be a journaling person, but I encourage you to take notes as you’re reading. God may stop you mid-reading, and you need to write down what he’s saying. If that part doesn’t make sense to you, stay tuned for Thursday’s post about hearing God’s voice. Did you know he still speaks to us today?

I want to give you some tools to help your reading time be more purposeful. Enter your email below for a FREE downloadable Bible Translations Chart and a list of some of my favorite Bible Study resources.

What about you? Do you have some favorite resources or study tips that help you understand what you’re reading? Let us know in the comments because it may be something that can benefit someone else.

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