How do you read your Bible and pray?

theological

Hi,

I thought it'd be good to find out how you guys make and use time for reading the Bible and praying?

I've started putting together a routine every morning for reading the Bible and praying before I go to work. I find its pretty easy to let other priorities crowd into that time of so don't plan for it.

At the moment I'm using this chart and I'm working between 5 and 10 chapters a day and more if I can. I alternate between Old Testament and New Testament books. If the book is too long I keep reading on other days until I finish the book before switching and if the book is too short I'll keep reading.

I started this in May and I'm through as far as 1 Kings in the Old Testament and 1 Peter in the New Testament. I'm finding that as I read I'm more prayerful but I think I need to plan that out more. So far it is working pretty well.

What works for you? I'd be interested to hear and learn.

homer911

That sounds like a lot to be reading each day - I'm sure its quality not quantity that's of most benefit. Personally I'm following the bible reading programmes on the You bible app - you can do them virtually with friends which has the advantage of being a mini bible-study

theological

homer911 wrote: »

That sounds like a lot to be reading each day - I'm sure its quality not quantity that's of most benefit. Personally I'm following the bible reading programmes on the You bible app - you can do them virtually with friends which has the advantage of being a mini bible-study

Fair point. There's many different types of reading. I think I read in big chunks because I want to familiarise myself with the Bible as a whole. I would do more in depth study on particular passages at church or through home group. Both types of reading are valid and have their place. I guess it's like a bird's eye view versus a zoomed in one.

It'd be interesting to come up with a better morning devotional plan with room for a familiarisation reading some days and in depth on others.

I'd be also interested to hear how people plan their prayer life.

ChrisJ84

theological wrote: »

Hi,

I thought it'd be good to find out how you guys make and use time for reading the Bible and praying?

I've started putting together a routine every morning for reading the Bible and praying before I go to work. I find its pretty easy to let other priorities crowd into that time of so don't plan for it.

At the moment I'm using this chart and I'm working between 5 and 10 chapters a day and more if I can. I alternate between Old Testament and New Testament books. If the book is too long I keep reading on other days until I finish the book before switching and if the book is too short I'll keep reading.

I started this in May and I'm through as far as 1 Kings in the Old Testament and 1 Peter in the New Testament. I'm finding that as I read I'm more prayerful but I think I need to plan that out more. So far it is working pretty well.

What works for you? I'd be interested to hear and learn.

I'm using the 5 day bible reading plan at the moment, which takes you through the bible in a year based on 5 daily readings per week - so you've got the weekend to catch up or do something different.

I quite like "through the bible in a year" type plans as long as you don;t become a slave to them, but next year might mix it up and do something different. Something I've benefited from in the past is picking a book and sticking with it for a month. Works particularly well with an epistle or shorter book that you can read through in a day or two - over the course of a month you can really chew over it.

Keen to hear what people do to help encourage and organise prayer, that's where I tend to struggle more.

MistyLines

Hi there, I use an app called First5 (Android or Apple) we are currently studying the book of Daniel. It's a daily 5 minute devotional which I have found to be just wonderful. There are many books of the Bible which have been studied already and each past study is on the app for you to study at your leisure if you wish. We have recently studied the book of Psalms and will start on the book of Isaiah on October 7th. It goes through each book chapter by chapter and offers a daily devotional on each passage plus extra background information and insights on how you can apply the message to your own circumstances along with a prayer. It also offers a place to discuss the devotion each day with the other members of the group. It's an excellent app that is lovely to have. The app is set up by Proverbs 31 Ministries which is mostly aimed at women however, it's not a big part of it and there are a number of men who contribute as writers and others as members. My Dad uses the app and really enjoys it.

As for prayer, I do find myself that it can be hard not to repeat the same thing every single day. I have found recently praying to God to help me with my prayer life is helping! It is important to remember that it's also a conversation with a friend who loves you and is keen to hear every worry, anxiety, happy moment and every dream. When you bear that in mind, you find it to be more like conversation as you discuss your day or worries. Listening to worship music before prayer can also be helpful. I have a Prayer Journal that I keep nearby and I can jot down any prayer requests and then bring them to God in the evening when I have time.

hinault

theological wrote: »

Hi,

I thought it'd be good to find out how you guys make and use time for reading the Bible and praying?

I've started putting together a routine every morning for reading the Bible and praying before I go to work. I find its pretty easy to let other priorities crowd into that time of so don't plan for it.

At the moment I'm using this chart and I'm working between 5 and 10 chapters a day and more if I can. I alternate between Old Testament and New Testament books. If the book is too long I keep reading on other days until I finish the book before switching and if the book is too short I'll keep reading.

I started this in May and I'm through as far as 1 Kings in the Old Testament and 1 Peter in the New Testament. I'm finding that as I read I'm more prayerful but I think I need to plan that out more. So far it is working pretty well.

What works for you? I'd be interested to hear and learn.

I've read the entire Bible several times.

At every Mass we have the benefit of readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament. These readings help recall what the Bible contains.

In reading the Bible, I like to do so with an approved commentary.

Lapide's Bible commentary is an excellent resource
https://www.ecatholic2000.com/lapide/untitled-170.shtml

Father Haydock's 1859 commentary is superb.

antiskeptic

I haven't read the bible through once. I remember my new-Christian attempt to start at the start and read right through - only to give up at Numbers (I just kept on nodding off). Then I realised I was trying to read a library of books.

I probably never will read it through, its simply too dense, too meaty, too profound to be approached in that way, in my view.

I see it more as a professional's workshop manual - but one where info on each topic is scattered throughout. You wouldn't read a workshop manual for an Airbus cover to cover either - especially not if the topics weren't laid out in linear fashion

I spent 4 odd years in a bible study on the book of Romans, 1 evening a week and usually some further discussion at after church lunch at the study leaders house. And we fairly skipped through the second half of that book at that.

I don't see the point of a beginning to end approach. So I consider a topic and sift for it.

To start at the start and read through strikes me like an Airbus enthusiast starting at the nose of the plane and looking at every rivet, panel, bit of wire, piece of hydraulic he comes across as he works his way down the plane. A very difficult way to come to understand how it stitches together as a harmonious, interlocked system. Certainly an Airbus designer wouldn't approach the design of the plane that way.

uck51js9zml2yt

antiskeptic wrote: »

I haven't read the bible through once. I remember my new-Christian attempt to start at the start and read right through - only to give up at Numbers (I just kept on nodding off). Then I realised I was trying to read a library of books.

I probably never will read it through, its simply too dense, too meaty, too profound to be approached in that way, in my view.

I see it more as a professional's workshop manual - but one where info on each topic is scattered throughout. You wouldn't read a workshop manual for an Airbus cover to cover either - especially not if the topics weren't laid out in linear fashion

I spent 4 odd years in a bible study on the book of Romans, 1 evening a week and usually some further discussion at after church lunch at the study leaders house. And we fairly skipped through the second half of that book at that.

I don't see the point of a beginning to end approach. So I consider a topic and sift for it.

To start at the start and read through strikes me like an Airbus enthusiast starting at the nose of the plane and looking at every rivet, panel, bit of wire, piece of hydraulic he comes across as he works his way down the plane. A very difficult way to come to understand how it stitches together as a harmonious, interlocked system. Certainly an Airbus designer wouldn't approach the design of the plane that way.

It's individual letters written to people. You don't get a letter from a friend and pick and choose what paragraphs to Read.

antiskeptic

Maria Quaint Bullet wrote: »

It's individual letters written to people. You don't get a letter from a friend and pick and choose what paragraphs to Read.

You might as well tell NASA to explore the entire universe. They do what they can with the resources at their disposal.

I recall encountering a particular word in a passage as I traced a particular subject through the bible, collating passages that dealt with that subject as I went. What was eye opening about that word was:

- the import that word had on nuancing the topic I was looking at. As a slight turn of a guitar machine head brings out of tune into tune, this word snapped things right into a pure note. I was bedazzled by what a word and its placement could do to clarify things.

- the word was underlined - and just the word. I don't underline hardly at all. And this was early days - it might have been the only underline in a 100 pages. The word had been underlined because previously, when I was tracing another, entirely different idea through scripture, I landed on this word and it had stood out as noteworthy, doing then what it was doing now. For an entirely different line of examination.

It wasn't a weighty word:just an and/therefore/whether

It was at that point I figured I was going to need a bigger boat. And little has caused me to change that view in the interim.

Reading large tranches of scripture, versus navigating a line of thought strikes me the difference between driving through beautiful countryside and cycling through same.

Meat aplenty for a bucketfull of lifetimes, without ever having to read it front to back.

theological

It's not impossible to read the Bible. I've read it through about 3 or 4 times. The more you read it though for familiarity the more familiar I am with it as a text and the more I appreciate the God who speaks through it. There's room for reading it in big pieces or even whole books and there's a place for reading it in detail.

uck51js9zml2yt

theological wrote: »

It's not impossible to read the Bible. I've read it through about 3 or 4 times. The more you read it though for familiarity the more familiar I am with it as a text and the more I appreciate the God who speaks through it. There's room for reading it in big pieces or even whole books and there's a place for reading it in detail.

The problem of solely reading sections to follow a thread is that you miss the point of the letter.
Each one written separately with no idea they were writing "the Bible".

How about the letter to Laodicea or the book of Gad or the wars of the Lord.
How about the very first letter to the Corinthians? We don't have them but know they existed.

Read the letter as a letter and as you begin to read more of them , you see they connect.

antiskeptic

Maria Quaint Bullet wrote: »

The problem of solely reading sections to follow a thread is that you miss the point of the letter.
Each one written separately with no idea they were writing "the Bible".

How about the letter to Laodicea or the book of Gad or the wars of the Lord.
How about the very first letter to the Corinthians? We don't have them but know they existed.

Read the letter as a letter and as you begin to read more of them , you see they connect.

A letter I can accomdate. Like I say I spend 4 odd years on Romans. But Numbers. So much to do, so little time.

uck51js9zml2yt

antiskeptic wrote: »

A letter I can accomdate. Like I say I spend 4 odd years on Romans. But Numbers. So much to do, so little time.

35 years of reading and numbers causes me to skip the first half of the book most of the time. There are a few gems of verses to be found though.

You can read Romans in a few hours

antiskeptic

Maria Quaint Bullet wrote: »

35 years of reading and numbers causes me to skip the first half of the book most of the time. There are a few gems of verses to be found though

.


There are gems all over the place, granted. But the OT is a bit of a trudge in a lot of places.

You can read Romans in a few hours

Indeed. All things being equal though, its like a quick blast on a sun bed vs a holiday in the sun. 😉