How can I force myself to read the Bible and pray?

Removed, not really answering your question. Sorry.

One extremely helpful thing I can recommend (if possible) is to find a small group. This can be other Christians in your life or even strangers online. I have been Face-timing with a group of 3-4 girls and we have a topic and discussion questions every week. They help to keep you accountable.

Another recommendation is to download the Bible.com app (if possible). I believe it's called YouVersion in the app store. Or you can also access it online. They have thousands of really great "Plans" that guide you through specific themes in scripture. Check it out!

It also helped me to keep a journal of my prayers. I was never the type of person to just talk out loud. Writing them down was comforting and it was nice to look back on them. You could even keep a blog of prayers online.

These are some of the immediate things that have helped me over the past year-and-a-half journey into reconnecting with God! Prayers to you!

Pray and ask God to help you to want to do it. Realize that by praying and reading the Bible, you are doing something to take care of yourself, like eating healthy. Also, sometimes we have dry spells during prayer, but just keep persisting. It will eventually end, at least for a while.

There are also audio Bible version online which you can play and meditate as you listen.

I read mine quite a bit but non the less I keep one on my bed stand. Last thing of the day get in bed and read just one chapter or one psalm or one proverb. You start by picking it up and not blowing it off. Open it, read. Pray after, if nothing else, then thanks and praise for your day, regardless how the day went. Why ? Because you got through it and guess what ? You weren't alone. God knew your every step, your every word, even your thoughts. So you made it, thank Him, He loves to hear from us !! Especially thanks and praise.

always remember it's the quality of prayer, not the length, that's important. the publican was justified by a simple prayer.

Not David said:

I want to but I don't do it.

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Greetings Not David,
Sometimes we have to rage, rage against the dying of the light. If you take one step towards God, He will help the rest of the way.
He does with me also I find when I pray and help others God does for me than when I work on myself.

I think it is important to find first what the Lord wants from us and then always remember that when reading the Bible. Without this, I think, a person might lose focus & feel adrift if the big picture gets blurred in between. Personally, I do not know where you are at but I think stating what might seem obvious is always reliable & should be renewed anyway.

The Lord basically wants us to repent, be charitable, pray, do works worthy of repentance, & keep His commandments. ( see: Matthew 4:17, Matthew 6:1-15, Acts of the Apostles 26:20-21, Ephesians 2:8-10, Matthew 7:12, & Matthew 7:1-12, Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 19:16-19, Romans 13:8-10 etc,

I think this active, living foundation is crucial for practical daily living in faith & then carefully read the Bible ( NT first).

One thing to remember also, most ancient believers did not have, or could even read, the Bible. I would also consider a quick study of the earliest known church manual called: The Didache which has much of what I described above ( sacraments in addition to). The Didache is only about 10 printed pages. See:

Didache

When I became Orthodox our parish priest introduced me to this document.

Everyone goes through a dry spell every now and then. I find that through life God actually reads the bible to me. Use this time to help others with what you know and without realising you will actually be reading the bible.

If you set aside 15 minutes a day(or start with less), it super easy to do.

If you want to be systematic in your reading. You can have something to check of or highlight chapters you've read.

You could also pick a few verses to memorize during the week.


Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Here you go OP :

Audio Bible NKJV - NKJV Audio Bible - NKJV Bible






.

Also, maybe these Orthodox prayer videos will help get you motivated :






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I tend to try and make an effort read at least a Chapter a day, and once I get going more times than not I end up reading 3. Some tips that help me are reading everyday, and a Chapter doesn't take very long. In addition I make sure that I have it accessible at all, or most times. So, I have an Orthodox Study Bible on my phone, and that's accessible from my laptop as well. That said I prefer a paper book, but don't always have that handy. Last, I read/pray at the same time everyday. This way it gets ingrained as a kind of habit, and it starts to feel odd when, or if I miss it.

On the prayer it helps me to keep a prayer rope on my person at all times. Of course I'm not there showing it off to everyone, and I try to keep my prayer as private as possible. Again though it's a matter of accessibility, and you may well have a moment here or there for some prayer. Doing this at the same time(s) everyday may be helpful as well, and as Fr. Matt said it doesn't have to be 1000 Jesus Prayers. I was instructed to start small, and set a goal for yourself, but make sure it's attainable. Making sure it's attainable is critical. Also, speaking about it with your priest would be helpful. You can ask about a prayer rule, and he will know best how to instruct you.

Not David said:

I want to but I don't do it.

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It's probably that you think you ought to want to, but don't want to.
And i can totally relate to that.
But i don't like reading at all, so that makes it harder for me.
So in stead i 'study' the subject and learn about the Bible content and context that way.
On line discussions about it often force me to look things up and read mentioned verses in context.
Still, i think i should read more Bible too.

As for prayer, i couldn't really pray in submission to God until i accepted the Prayer Jesus gave as an example:

Father in Heaven,
Your Name will be hallowed,
Your Will be done
Your Kingdom come.
....

Took me quite a while to be able to pray that and actually mean it.
Because by my human nature i want to be hallowed myself, and that my will be done and my kingdom will come.
Silly human..

Praying can give you super much adrenaline which will help you to get born again and bible can give you everything if you trust her.

Not David said:

I want to but I don't do it.

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Since this is the Orthodox forum; ask your priest how you should start.
Get a prayer book.
Ask your priest how to use it.

Just my opinion; learning how to pray is a beneficial beginning. That's a question the disciples ask Jesus and he responded with the "Our Father.."
A prayer book also helps in this matter.

Lord have mercy!

It's really quite simple. You put down your phone and pick up your Bible and read it. You excuse yourself from idle chatter and instead go to pray. Even just a short passage and a Our Father and a Jesus Prayer is better than nothing. Surely you can do it.

When I don't know what to pray, I pray the Psalms.

I stand up and begin reading aloud from Psalm 1.

There is an appropriate Psalm for wherever you are at any moment of any day.

When you find it, it will resonate in your spirit like tuning forks of the same note singing in harmony.

If the Byzantine Horologion has the relation to the Coptic Agpeya that all the sources I've consulted say it does, there ought to be both prayers and Bible readings in it. Maybe start there? I find that I get the most out of reading the scriptures when I do so in the context of the Church, as is intended. So I will look up the daily liturgical readings as connected to the Coptic Orthodox liturgy (the Southern US Diocese's website uploads the liturgical readings every day, including the Psalms, the Epistles, the Holy Gospel, the Synaxarium, etc.) and read them along with the other material. It is helpful to me to place the Bible in its proper context, whereas if it was just 'me and my Bible', I would probably struggle to get much out of it. Hence you see in non-liturgical Protestant churches many people will adopt a very liturgical-like approach to the scriptures, reading them daily according to a schedule given to them.

The alternative seems to be a rather random, slapdash approach where you just open the book to wherever and start reading so that you can say (to yourself or to others) that you're doing something good by reading the Bible like we all know we're supposed to. With due respect to those of non-liturgical traditions who may do this (usually saying that they were guided by the Spirit to what they should read), I don't find it healthy or edifying.