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Scriptures for Understanding the Bible Better

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Scriptures for Understanding the Bible Better

Scriptures for Understanding the Bible Better

At my church we are doing 21 days of prayer, and as part of this the church has provided an accompanying devotional booklet taking us through the book of Ephesians. The booklet comprises of daily reading passages of Ephesians in the English Standard Version (ESV). Both of my kids are going through the booklet each day as well, and they expressed some frustrations they were having. They mentioned that they were having a hard time understanding the Bible passages in the booklet.

I explained to them a few things that are helpful when it comes to understanding the Bible. I’ve written about these before:

 

Pick an understandable translation

I had a sense that what was troubling them the most was just the translation they were reading. Therefore, I told them that first I think it’s important to read in a translation or version that makes sense and is understandable to them. I emphasized that they don’t HAVE to use the reading in the booklet and suggested that they use their own Bibles or use The Bible App where they can pick from a variety of translations or even read passages in a couple of different translations to get a better understanding. I think this helped them significantly.

Pray for Understanding

Secondly, I shared that it always helps me to pray for understanding before I read (or even during my reading). There are a few verses that I turn into prayers that I have written in the front of my quiet time journal. I wrote down on an index card a couple of these verses as prayers for my kids to have to use as a prompt to pray before they read.

“God please open my mind to help me understand the scriptures.” –from Luke 24:45

“Give me understanding so I can learn.” –from Psalm 119:18, 27, 34, 73, 125, 169

Scriptures for Understanding the Bible better

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Why Read the Bible?

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Why read the bible?

Why Read the Bible?

If you are a Christian or have been in church for even a short period of time, you probably have heard that you should read the bible. For many this can seem like an overwhelming, daunting, or boring chore. So why do we need to push past those feelings that might initially stop us? Why read the bible? I find that it’s often easier to do something when we know the “why” behind it. This post will discuss several reasons WHY we should read the bible, but by no means is this an exhaustive list.

I believe the first and most important reason we should read the bible is to have relationship with God. The greatest commandment is to love God.

“And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 (NLT)

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT)

“Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’” Mark 12:29-30 (NLT)

The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 (NLT)

In order to love someone, you have to know them. In order to know them you have to spend time with them and learn about them. We learn about God by spending time with Him, and we do this by reading His Word in addition to spending time with Him in prayer and praise and worship.

Why I started to read the bible

Knowing God better wasn’t my primary reason when I first started a regular habit of reading my bible. To be completely honest with you, I initially started reading the bible out of desperation. Nevertheless, the end result was the same…my relationship with God grew.

I was raised in a wonderful Christian home and grew up in church. In spite of this though, I never really cracked my bible open outside of church. This was true for me up until the time I was in college. During that time my boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me, which was pretty devastating at the time. Nights were the worst, and I was unable to sleep. The only way I could find some peace and get some sleep was to read my bible before bed. I knew enough growing up in church that the bible was a place where one could go to find comfort and peace.

So I found a devotional book that someone had given me (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers*), and I started reading that and my bible every night to calm my anxieties and help me sleep. Sometimes I would fall asleep in my bed with my bible still open laying on my lap. I tease sometimes and say that the bible was the only thing boring enough that would actually put me to sleep! In all seriousness though, God met me there in my place of need and desperation at that time. I used to feel guilty about falling asleep while reading the bible or praying, and then one day I felt like God said to me, “What better way to fall asleep than by spending time with me?” Subsequently, my bible reading habit was started…and thus my real relationship with God as well.

Other reasons why we read the bible…

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Time Management–Priorities

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Time Management: Priorities...one thing is needed

Time Management–Priorities

“One thing is needed…”

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)

*This post was inspired by Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage of scripture.[1]

Many people often read this story and relate to one of the characters, either Martha or Mary. I relate to Martha. In fact, in the same situation, I can’t say that I would’ve reacted much differently than Martha did. If I was working hard and somebody else was just sitting around leaving me to do all the work by myself, I would’ve been irritated too! This is why it’s always been pretty convicting for me when I read this.

However, I think all too often most people read this story like I did and think it’s a lesson of how Martha was bad and Mary was good. Then about 5 years ago I got a different take on this story after reading Matthew Henry’s commentary. This isn’t a story of good versus bad. It’s a story of priorities.

Martha and Mary had very different personalities. Martha was probably a perfectionist (as many of us are), and Mary was probably a little more relaxed and laid back. Differences in personality are not wrong or bad. God does not want us to change our personalities—He just wants us to fix our priorities. Jesus wasn’t asking Martha to be more like Mary–He was just pointing out that Mary had correct priorities. Jesus also did not say that what Martha was doing wasn’t important—He just said “one thing” was necessary or needful (which was time with him or making him a priority). Like Martha, it’s so easy for us to get busy with the many things of life and miss out on the “one thing” that is the most important—time with the Lord. 

It’s easy to get busy and miss out on the most important “one thing” —time with God.

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Admirable things about Martha

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What the Bible Says About Time Management

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What the Bible Says About Time Management

When I teach my life skills class at Glory House, the women’s restoration home where I volunteer, one of the lessons that we spend the most time on is time management. We typically park on this topic for at least a couple of months. I think time management is an area that’s a universal struggle, as well as on ongoing one. This is probably an area where we will all always be working, growing and improving.

With all the life skills lessons there, we learn both the practical and the spiritual side of the topics. I teach how to practically apply skills that will help them to be successful if life. At the same time though, God has a lot to say about all of those same topics too. Today’s post is based off of our first lesson that we cover on time management, diving into what the Bible has to say about time and how we spend it and manage it.

When covering time management, I like to first identify that good time management is a scriptural concept. Below are some of the verses from which we can draw out some beneficial time management lessons (these are not the only verses on things pertaining to time…but a good sampling). Then after looking over what the Bible has to say, we can evaluate our own time management skills, which we’ll discuss how to do at the end of this post. 

The Bible has a lot to say about Time Management. #timemanagement

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Consider the following verses and think about what they might have to do with our time management or how they could be applied to how we spend our time.

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Make a Habit of Taking Notes During Your Quiet Time

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Make a Habit of Taking Notes During Your Quiet Time

Recently in my college classes we talked about reading strategies. One of the things that we discuss is a strategy to be a critical thinker and reader. In turn this practice enables us to be a better learner and understand and retain information better. The strategy we learn is taking notes (or annotating) while reading. We tell our students that simply holding a pen or pencil in your hand creates an active reader of you. This is a great approach to use during bible reading and quiet times too.

Unfortunately, this is a strategy that has fallen a bit by the wayside for me during my own bible reading times. It’s something that I’ve always been so good about in the past. Lately though, I’ve grown a bit lax and more intermittent in taking notes or journaling during my quiet times. I guess I had gotten out of the habit.

I’ve noticed a pattern when I write notes less. I tend to remember less, and I notice a little deceleration in my spiritual growth. Sometimes I have even tangibly “felt” further from God. It’s been a noticeable difference for me in hindsight.

Lately, I have sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to go back to what I did before. I remembered that before I was more consistent in journaling and in taking notes during my quiet times. During those times of my life when I took more notes and journaled, I grew more spiritually.

“Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Revelation 2:5 (NIV) 

During times of your life when you take more notes and journal, you will grow more spiritually.

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Benefits of taking notes and journaling

I know firsthand of the benefits of taking notes. You’d think I’d be better about practicing what I preach! I guess sometimes even I need reminders. I’ve written before about why it’s important to write things down and take handwritten notes. Some of the advantages to taking notes and journaling I discussed in previous posts were…

  • Scientific research shows it’s proven to help with remembering the information better—we remember more of what we write down.
  • This article discusses how our brains are engaged more and we learn more when taking notes.
  • It helps the information to take root into our minds and spirit.
  • Writing things down gives us something to go back and reference later during a time of need or just as a timely reminder.
  • Writing things down can be a record and evidence of our growth and progress as we look back on our notes.
  • Our written notes can be a resource to share with others or from which others can learn.

Maybe my notes and journals aren’t just for me

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A Different Approach to Bible Reading

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A Different Approach to Bible Reading

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash 

A Different Approach to Bible Reading

During the first of the year many Christians often resolve to be more purposeful in their spiritual growth. The Bible dedicates a significant amount of scripture to the importance of reading and meditating on God’s Word daily and spending quality time with God through prayer and praise. Because we know this, one of the main spiritual goals or resolutions at the start of a new year is to start a regular bible reading habit. Often people get off to a good start. Then, like many New Year’s Resolutions, what started off as a good intention gently fades, and it never quite becomes a habit or routine.

Two years ago I wrote a post on Tips to Start Reading the Bible on a Regular Basis. This might be a good time to go back and revisit that post for some great tips and a story about how and why I started my bible reading practice. This week I’d like to resume and expand on that discussion because I recently gained some more insight on a better way to approach bible reading.

Typical approaches: Duty & Application

My pastor, Whit George, just shared a different approach with our church[1]. Pastor Whit said that many of us approach bible reading in a couple of different ways. First, many of us approach our quiet times and reading like a duty, out of obligation or out of guilt. This approach is not as meaningful. It is not really “delighting” in God’s Word as Psalms teaches.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2 (NKJV)

Secondly, others of us approach scripture like reading a self-help book or instruction manual. We read it only for application. Reading for application is not bad—it’s actually a good thing. However, this approach doesn’t work when you read something that you can’t apply or when you don’t get anything out of what you read that day. To be perfectly honest, I have been guilty of both the “duty” approach and the “application-only” approach.

A better approach: Read for relationship

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Tips for Understanding the Bible

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Check out some of these tips for understanding the Bible better...

Tips for Understanding the Bible

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post that included a prayer to help understand the Bible better when we read it.  However, even after praying at times there are still things we don’t always understand right away. There are occasions where we may want to do a little further study when we are having trouble understanding.  Today I thought I’d share with you some of my own processes and tips for understanding the Bible based on things that seem to help me, personally.

I’ve been a consistent Bible reader and “student” for many years now, and there are STILL things I don’t understand. It might be a word, a custom, or it might even be when the Bible seems to contradict itself.  We’re not crazy, abnormal, or unintelligent if we read some things that seem a bit confusing or out of whack!  Even pastors who have been studying scripture for decades have questions and don’t always understand everything that they read.  Take heart…we’re in good company! 

We’re not abnormal or unintelligent if we read things in scripture that confuse us!

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A different take on struggles with understanding

Recently, after reading some of his devotions on my Bible app, I started following a guy named Dave Adamson.   He has an Instagram feed with daily photo devotions that are always absolutely amazing!  One of his posts this week fit right in line with how we struggle when we read the Bible at times. Dave had some tips for understanding the bible when we struggle based off of the story of Jacob, who was renamed Isaac.  He posted a picture of his girls wrestling on the lawn at the National Mall in Washington DC.  He compared it to how we wrestle with God and with scripture sometimes…

“See, I used to carry a lot of guilt whenever I questioned a paradox in Scripture or disagreed with something I heard in church. But there’s a story in the Bible of a man named Jacob who one night literally wrestles with God. By morning, God walks away from the fight and changes Jacob’s name to Israel, which in Hebrew means “struggles” or “wrestles with God.” This name is prophetic, signifying that God’s people will always wrestle with Him. The ancient Jews believed God invites you into this wonderful wrestling match with Him. Author Athol Dickson says, “What if God placed these paradoxes within the Scriptures to cause me to struggle for the truth? What if it is the struggle he desires as much as the truth itself?” When you wrestle with God, He’s right there with you, just like my daughters are with each other in this picture. So the next time you struggle with faith, that’s not a time for guilt, but celebration. God is inviting you to wrestle with Him so you can be connected with the Creator of the universe.”[1]

I love how he used this analogy to free us from some of the guilt of having doubts and questions.  You can also see more of Dave’s amazing photo devotions on his reading plans on the Bible app (YouVersion): 7 Hebrew Words Every Believer Should Know and 7 More Hebrew Words Every Believer Should Know.  Dave also has a photo devotional book called Chasing the Light.

God wants us to understand

Nevertheless, like I said before… God wants us to read our Bible and to understand it. He doesn’t want it to be difficult or overwhelming for us. Because God is not a God of confusion, we should be at peace and not in a state of confusion. Scripture is given to us to help us, not to hinder us. It’s meant to be useful for us.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16(NLT)

So on to the tips!

8 Tips for Understanding the Bible:

  1. Try these 8 tips to help you understand the Bible better

    Find a translation that makes it easy to understand the Bible verses and passages

  2. Read a verse or passage in multiple translations
  3. Use a Bible commentary
  4. Read related verses or cross references
  5. Use a concordance
  6. Ask someone else
  7. Look up or research what you don’t understand
  8. Pray more specifically about a particular part that you don’t understand

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Prayer to Help Understand the Bible

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Say this prayer to help you understand the Bible better...

Prayer to Help Understand the Bible

Sometimes it’s hard to understand the Bible, which can be very frustrating. Often this will tempt us to just stop and give up trying. This is especially true if we’re not in a habit of reading it on a regular basis. However, I will say it gets easier the more consistent we get in our reading habit. Today, I’d like to share some scriptures and a prayer based off of scripture that we can pray to before we begin reading in order to glean the most out of our reading session.

God wants us to read our Bible. He also wants us to understand the Bible. He doesn’t want it to be difficult or overwhelming for us. We should be at peace and not in a state of confusion. God is not a God of confusion. Scripture is given to us to help us, not to hinder us. It’s meant to be useful for us to help us lead a successful, happy, healthy and prosperous life. It is effective and powerful and always relevant to any and every situation we face.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) 

Scripture is effective and powerful and always relevant to any and every situation we face.

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There is simplicity in Christ

Pastor Beth Jones explained once that we don’t have to understand all of the complex parts of the Bible to learn about Jesus and have relationship with him. Beth compared it to driving a car. You don’t have to understand all of the inner workings of a car engine to be able to drive the car.

Similarly, you don’t have to be all deep and philosophical and intellectual when reading scripture. He’ll help you out along the way. You’ll grow in knowledge and understanding as you walk with him. In fact, Jesus liked to keep things simple. It was the other religious leaders of the day that tried to make things confusing, complex, and super formal. He’ll meet you where you are and help you to understand little by little.

“But I fear, lest somehow, he serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)

 Scriptures to use when we need to understand the Bible 

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