Before You Read Your Bible, Try This

Ugh. I closed my bible app with frustration.

Another devotional time where I felt like nothing jumped out at me. Where I wasn't any different than when I had started. 

It's not that I felt dead, apathetic, or indifferent toward God. I just was just hoping to find something that would speak to me very personally, and launch me into the day, ready to love God and others.

But it hadn't happened, and I was frustrated and annoyed. Can you identify?

That was a rhetorical question. I know you can. 

Let's take a look at six ways we need to change our expectations about our devotional times, then consider one simple suggestion that should help our times with God come alive.

Time With God: 6 Possible Problems

Obviously, we all have times with God where we walk away relatively unaffected. Where we wanted to receive clear guidance from the Lord. To feel a deeper connection with him. To be changed, challenged or comforted. And yet, it didn't happen.

What do we do with that?

Sometimes, I think we - certainly, I - come to my times with God with wrong expectations. 

Here are some examples.

1. We put our focus on the wrong person. We profess, 'Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable'. (Psalm 145:3) This means that our times with him are ultimately about him, and acknowledging his greatness and love for us in Christ. When we put the focus on ourselves, we're bound to be disappointed.
2. We put our focus on an emotional experience. It's understandable to want to connect with God on an emotional level. And good. I mean, imagine relating to the people in our lives on a purely cognitive level. That would be robotic, right? On the other hand, real relationships aren't always characterized by explosive, feel-good emotions in every interaction. Because God is a Person, and we live in a fallen world, we can't expect every interaction with him to be a 10 on the emotional Richter scale.
3. We forget about what the bible doesn't say. When we read about people like Abraham and Jacob in the bible, it can feel like God is always showing up and doing amazing things in their lives. But over 147 (Jacob) and 175 (Abraham) years, God only spoke with them directly a handful of times. Those were obviously significant for them and God's people, and that's why those incidents are recorded. Instead of, for example, a blow-by-blow account of a boring Tuesday where they woke up, took care of the cattle, and moved onto the next town. So, we shouldn't assume that the flurry of activity we see in certain parts of the bible is meant to be replicated in our daily times with God.
4. We forget that God is sovereign. God's wisdom and freedom to whatever he pleases - for his glory and our good - means he does not have to show up when we want him to. We 'know', but forget, that frequently.
5. We forget that God's silence does not imply his absence. So many times, God chooses to remain quiet and hidden in our lives. For example, in between the Book of Malachi and the New Testament, there were roughly 400(!) years where God did not give his people any new revelation. But did that mean God was absent? Absolutely not; in his own, mysterious way, he was getting the world ready for his greatest act of deliverance yet - becoming a man in Christ, and delivering his people once and for all. So, when we can't discern God's presence in a powerful way during a devotional time, we know he is still present and active, ready to do us good.
6. We forget God is always speaking through his word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, 'All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.' This means that any time we read our bibles God is speaking to us. Even if we didn't feel anything, or learn something new. That's encouraging!

Before Read Your Bible, Do This First

Okay, so those are six ways we need to reframe what we expect when we spend time with God. 

Let's close with an important thing to keep in mind as we come to God during our devotional times.

Before we read the bible, we should simply, but sincerely, ask God to make it come alive and reap a harvest in our lives.

I know; that sounds almost too simple to be helpful. 

But if we believe God wrote the bible for us, wants to relate to us, and that we are sinful and weak, asking for his help before we read becomes critical. 

We might even pray a simple scripture before reading, something like Psalm 119:18:

'Open my eyes to behold wonderful things in your Word.'

It should take about 10 seconds - at most. Since I've started asking for God's help before my times with him, I have to say I've had many more powerful, meaningful times with him. Times where something I read does connect with my life and daily circumstances in a fresh way.

It's not magic. There are still days where it feels like nothing happens.

And that's okay. God is still God, he's still spoken to me through his word, and he is still honored through my desire to meet with him.

On the whole though, seeking his help and grace as we come to open our bibles is a wise, biblical practice he will often bless. 

Your Turn

1. If you had to guess, how many times out 10 do you come away from your time with God feeling like you've truly received something? Truly connected with him?
2. Do you ask him to bless you, and 'open your eyes' before you read your bible? Why or why not?
3. Which of the six problems mentioned above tends to be the biggest for you?
4. Try offering a simple, heartfelt prayer before you begin your bible reading for a week, and see what happens.