Different Kinds of Bible Reading

So you’re wanting to read your Bible more, but you’re intimidated by the prospect. That makes sense. The Bible can be hard to read and understand. 

Because of this, sometimes Christians fall into the trap of thinking the Bible is just above their heads. And again, this is understandable. The Bible is complex and it takes work to understand it. Beyond this, if you’re a part of a healthy church, than you’re hearing sound and theologically rigerous preaching regularly from your pastors. When you hear your pastors, week after week, use some historical, contextual, or linguistic tid-bit to seemingly unlock the real meaning of the text it can become really intimidating. It’s easy to hear an excellent sermon and just think “I could never find that in the text” and just assume that really understanding the Bible is beyond your reach. 

But you must remember two things: 

1 - Your pastor likely spent between 8 and 20 hour studying, praying, and writing to bring you that sermon. You are hearing the fruit of hours of work. Your pastor wouldn’t come to those conclusions the first time they heard the text read either. They spent time studying and considering the text to bring you those inturpretations and teaching. 

2 - You have the same Holy Spirit your pastor does. He is the one who illuminates the scriptures to believers which means you have the same access to the word of God through him. 

So don’t be intimidated by your Bible! Reading your Bible is the single most influential practice you can engage in to see your faith grow! If you want to know God more, you will have to read his word more. So how do you go about reading it? Well lets talk about the four most common ways someone might read the Bible and how each one might benefit your faith journey. 

1 - Bible Study

This is probably what you think of most when you think of Bible reading. Bible study is exactly what the name says. Its studying the Bible. You’re going to do this type of reading with a notebook and pen in hand and a stack of resources around you. While there are different types of Bible study they are all going to center around doing your best to understand the cultural and historical elements that make up the text and help define its original intended meaning. Study will then be directed toward identifying the larger theological and doctrinal teachings shown in the text. Bible study lands at personal application after doing this work. 

Bible study is a fruitful and important discipline for every Christian and you don’t need a seminary degree to do it. There are tons of readily avaiable resources and methods that help believers of all levels of maturity and training to engage the scripture this way. An amazing introductory tool to this kind of Bible reading is to simply get a study Bible. These will have notes at the bottom of each page and the beginning of each book to help you in interpretation. I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible and the Life Application Study Bible. 

2 - Devotional Reading 

Devotional reading is similar, but uniquely different from reading for study. Devotional Bible reading leans into the supernatural authorship of the Bible by the Holy Spirit. Devotional reading involves steeping the reading in prayer and asking the Holy Spirit go guide you to an immediate and personal application of the text. Rather than do the whole process of discerning the author’s original message and the larger theological truths, devotional reading engages the text as you read it in the moment and trusts the Spirit to work through the text and your own heart to bring you to conviction and application of your faith. 

Devotional reading is best done along side intentional prayer journaling to keep track of where you feel the Spirit guiding you and cross referencing. Cross referencing is the work of connecting whatever text you are reading to other scriptural texts that speak to similar issues and themes. Most Bibles have cross references written into the margin and this work is especially important in devotional reading to help you actually follow the voice of the Holy Spirit rather than your own mental and emotional whims. 

3 - Prayer

This one may sound strange, but it is not just perfectly accepitable, but incredibly beneficial to pray the scriptures. Some scriptures are written as prayers for believers to speak to God, but beyond this, praying scripture helps align your own heart and will with the heart and will of God. When you are praying scripture, you can be confident that you are praying in line with the heart of God. Often praying the scripture will help direct your prayers to more personal thoughts and requests after the initial scriptureal grounding. Most of the Bible can be incorporated into your prayers, but a great place to start is in the Psalms. 

4 - For Pleasure 

I’ll end with the most simple and most overlooked method of Bible reading. This is simply to read the Bible for pleasure. The Bible is the word of God and the greatest story ever told. Sometimes we put so much pressure to ‘get something out of it’ in study and devotional reading that we can miss how simply delightful the scriptures are. The poetry is beautiful, the history is intriguing, the stories are timeless and all of it speaks the heart of God and the deepest desires of the human heart. 

It is a wonderful and good practice for the christian to take time to read the Bible, not to learn or grab an application, but simply to learn the story and enjoy God. You might consider finding a ‘readers Bible’ the removes the individual verse markers and margin notes so that it reads more like other books. 

All this is to say that the Bible is an absolute treasure!

God has given us his heart for us encapsulated in this wonderful book. As a Christian with the Holy Spirit, you have access to the very heart of God for you. This is his revealed word! Jump in, enjoy it, and explore the depths of God’s love for you!