What Do We Do When We are Bored with the Bible?
What do we do when we are bored with the Bible?
Do you ever open your Bible to find the words blurring together?
Last week I woke up everyday before the kids and had about 20 minutes to read my Bible, pray, and drink my coffee in peace before the chaos crew climbed out of their sleeping quarters. It was beautiful. It was sweet, until I realized I only did it to check it off. I wasn’t really internalizing the words. They ran through my brain without a second thought.
I didn’t realize this until about 11am when I snapped at my four-year-old for something minor. I took a step back and realized my “quiet time” in the morning was just routine. And it wasn’t exciting or fun anymore.
I felt like a broken record in my prayers….”God help me…” “Give me focus…” “Help me be patient….” My Bible reading was stale and it was so hard to concentrate. I felt the world crowd into my thoughts. All of the things I had to do….pack lunches, get them dressed, laundry, breakfast…. The lists played in my mind like background music, drowning out the voice of the Spirit.
Bible study was suddenly…..boring. I surfed the internet looking for different Bible studies, but I knew changing the format wasn’t going to solve the problem completely. I needed a heart change. This week I’ve decided to do things differently – but it has more to do with my heart than my mind and methods.
What do we do when we are bored with the Bible?
I’ve decided to….
- Pray in my spirit and not on paper. I like to write my prayers in a journal, but I’m going to start just sitting and meditating on a passage and pray in my mind. Let the Holy Spirit lead my heart in prayer before I ever get started.
- Dwell on the Person of Christ. I’m all about God, but sometimes I neglect Christ. I am going to make a list of all of the things Christ does for me, is for me. And each day pick one thing to think about for just a few minutes before I read anything.
- Have a plan. When I don’t have a plan, I fail to be focused. So I’m going to be studying Genesis with my Bible Study Girls in my home this Fall. We just started last Friday, so I’m ready to have a place to go. A place to focus my Bible reading.
- Ask for fresh eyes. When I’ve read so much of a certain passage, it is easy to glance over it and lose sight of the living part of Scripture. I’m going to start asking each day for God to give me a fresh look at the Bible.
- Work on memorization. At the beginning of the year I began to memorize Psalm 90. I’m sad to say I’ve not gotten very far. I want to pick that up again, and choose one verse to mediate and memorize each day. Writing in on a card will be super helpful. I bought some metal rings, punched holes on index cards, and plan to use that to keep my verses all together.
How about you? What do you do when the Bible seems boring?
I’d love to know your thoughts and insight! I’m sure we all have been there, but we can come alongside and join arms – and say: Don’t give up! If you want to join my Bible study community, just go here to join.
If you are struggling with HOW to study the Bible, I’ve created a workbook for you. It is GREAT for beginnings and seasoned Bible study students. The pages are blank, but the questions are super easy but DEEP.
If you are bored with your Bible study, sometimes having a plan or a different method helps to make the Word come alive again! In my workbook, you will receive printable pages to use over and over again – and no matter where you are reading, you can use these pages to help you go DEEPER in your Bible reading.
