well i believe that the best way to really gain understanding is to take it a scripture at a time, not chapters at a time.
i mean, we do need to read chapters and remember stories that inspire us and give us understanding.
but as far as real life changing truths, it is often you having a certain scripture in your heart and knowing that one scripture.
like when Jesus was tempted, he quoted single scriptures, not chapters or story summaries. just single scriptures that had changed his life.
you probly remember more than you think you do, just not all the details.
go back and read it again if you dont, read it slowly, read it over and over.
and like another brother said, pray before you read.
paul said that we are changed not by the LETTER but by the SPIRIT.
and what he meant was that simply obtaining a head knowledge of the words and sentences written and what they mean symanticly isnt enough.
the bible isnt life changing in the letters and meanings alone, it is life changing when the holyspirit moves on it and unveils it to you, and when he opens your spirit so you can receive the real life of the word.
if we simply read the bible and simply try to interpret the words and sentences for their meaning, we only learn in our brains, but thats not enough, it has to be spiritual and go into oure hearts and spirits, becuase the real person of us.
and thats why i think it is best to have the holyspirit with you when you open the bible so he can make it lifechanging.
and if that means you wait untill after prayer and worship then so beit.
but there are times when i open my bible and i can simply feel that im not ready for it and im receiving it, i need to go and pray and worship and then i can open my bible and really receive. sometimes it is when im praying God reminds me or talks to about a single scripture or passage, and then thats where i go to read.
becuase we cant read the scriptures without talking to the one who wrote the scriptures.
sometimes all you get out of the bible is one scripture, just one scripture that amased you and touched you, and thats fine. but take that one scripture and chew on it all day long, and it will become a part of you.
and then you can move on to the next one. and that may seem like small steps, but its not.
because their are people who can quote entire books of the bible off the top if their head, but are spiritually dead.
i know of usnaved college proffessors who can quote entire books, but are spiritual dead!
its not about how much of it you know, its about how much of it is working in your life.
and thats where being able to quote and beleive one scripture that has actually changed your life, is better than having perfect memory of entire books.
their are people who know the bible up and down, win every bible trivia, but cant pray away a simple cold, cant stop sinning, cant lead anyone to Christ, and dont really understand the bible.
becuase having a knowledge of it, doesnt mean you understand it.
and thats where you sometimes have to take it a scripture at a time, a scripture a day, sometimes just stay on one passage, one scripture, untill you really get a hold of it and it changes you, becuase thats what matters.
sometimes you can read entire books in a sitting, and it be for nothing becuase you dont even remember what you read, and it didnt chane you.
but the bible says in johua 1.8 to MEDITATE in the word of God.
not READ or SCAN the word of God.
sometimes you have to take just one scripture and meditate on it, think on it deeply and for a long time, say it to yourself, speak it, think on it, turn it over and over in your heart untill you really get a glimpse of it and what it means and untill it enters your being and becomes a part of you.
like how some people meditate, and just sit and concentrate and seem to lose themselves in something.
sometimes we need to just sit and meditate on the scriptures.
but not just read it.
this is how it works for me...
ill be reading, untill i see something that jumps at me, and i realise that is what God wants to show me and ill stop and focus on that scripture and meditate on it and realise what its saying and think on it for long periods of time and pray about it and ask God about it, i meditate on it.
i take the time to get that scripture and truth down in my heart.
becuase the bible says to hide the word in your heart, lest you sin.
its like the diffrence between tasting something, and swallowing something.
you have to swallow it and let it penetrate you and become a part of you, so when temptation comes it comes back up out of you and saves you, but it has become a permanent part of you.
take that scripture to prayer and let God unviel it to you and put it into you.
do word studies, get a strongs concordance if dont have and research the meanings of the words, youll be amased what you find alot.
well i pray that helps,
Lee.