This is part 3 of a series on personal devotional time. On Monday we looked at planning your time. Yesterday we discussed finding the right place and plan for reading. Today we continue with some practical strategies to help your bible reading.
If you struggle to stay awake, concentrate, or comprehend what you read (all common issues), here are some practical ways you might help yourself:
- Involve other senses in your reading. Whether you start to fall asleep as soon as you open the bible, or you just can’t read a sentence or two before you’re thinking about something else, getting your other senses involved can be a great help. Here’s a few ways to do it:
a. Read out loud.
b. Listen to audio scriptures.
c. Hand write a copy of the scripture you’re reading. This can be especially helpful in slowing down your thinking and helping you actually see what you’re reading.
d. Use maps and charts, especially for Old Testament Law or Narrative.
e. Print out copy of the passage and use it to circle things, draw arrows, write notes, etc… - Journal. For many people journaling is one of the most effective ways to enrich their time in the word. Here’s a few ways you could use your journal:
a. With each daily reading, you could write out certain things.
– a study of the passage (Setting, Time, Place, Events, People, Teachings)
– things you learn about God from the passage
for example: What He’s like, How He works, What He’s done in History…
– lessons the characters learned
– things you could apply to your life today
– ways the passage helps you: trust God more, resist temptation, know or enjoy God more
– questions you have about the passage
– answers to questions, when you find them
b. Keep running records of certain themes: (for example…)
– how you see God taking care of Israel
– commandments Jesus gives to His followers
– times God miraculously came through
– encounters people had with God
– how the big story is built as each part of the bible contributes to it - Memorize. See this post or the resources page for help with memorizing, and here’s a few thoughts to get you started, if you haven’t already:
Memorize verses that help you.
– on an index card or scrap of paper, write a verse from your daily reading and carry it around. Read it through the day when you have a second.
– keep a list of helpful verses and work through them one at a time till you’ve got them all.
– think through your struggles, find applicable verses, and memorize them to fight with.
2. Memorize larger sections of scripture
– you can memorize more than you think
– it is the best way to gain deeper understanding
– print out whole sections, break them down into manageable chunks, and give yourself plenty of time
In short, get yourself involved in your reading. It is interesting to think about why God decided that we would have His revelation written in a book. But that’s what He did. What this means for us is that it requires that we learn to be good readers as part of our spiritual growth. And good reading is always active reading. Read with a pencil in your hand. Interact with God as you read His word. Write questions that pop up in your mind. Stop and make a chart of a difficult verse to see if you can figure out what’s being said. Copy a verse that jumps out at you, and then stop and pray over it. Underline, circle, etc.
And the best part is it’s all just between you and God, so you can be yourself.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss ways to help our personal prayer lives.
Do you have anything you do that helps you in any of these areas? Leave a comment to tell us about it and bless everyone…