I absolutely cant stand reading the bible

[Margaret3110]

(The lord wants me to read 3 chapters every hour of the day every day)

That seems excessive. Are you sure that’s from God?

 

[HarleyER]

The lord wants me to read the bible more than i am willing to, i do it anyways due to our aggreement. When the times i set up with the lord come up to read the bible i absolutely lose it and hate the fact i have to sit down and get into the word. While im reading the feeling doesnt seem to go away... than i get mad and sometimes mock the word due to my absolute non-enjoyment or want of reading the word

(The lord wants me to read 3 chapters every hour of the day every day)

Any advice?

Just the fact that you're interested enough to be on a Christian site reading shows that you have a desire to learn.

Sometimes the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Instead of reading 3 chapters a day, have you considered a Bible memory program? Lots of them are out there. Instead of focusing on trying to understand the Bible, just take one verse, work on understanding what the verse is saying, how it applies to you, and commit it to memory. Once you have it memorized, move on to another. I think you'll find youself developing a great understanding of scripture this way. Plus, if you write it down, you can take your verses where you go during the day and practice them when you have time. This was an old Navigator trick.

 

[BNR32FAN]

It seemed to work fairly well for 1400 years before the Bible became widely available. If you are attending a church with scripture-based preaching and worship, you will hear much of the Bible over time. What you do with it -- how you apply it to your life -- is still up to you. I think Bible study is fine for those that are interested in it. However, reading is not required for salvation.

Actually there were numerous heresies during the first 1400 years of Christianity. Arianism alone overtook about half of the church then you had Docetism Nestorianism, Pelagianism and even Univeralism during the first 1400 years of Christianity. All of these were taught in the church.

 

[BNR32FAN]

Well, they read from the Bible and you hear them read it. At least that’s how it works in my parish. It’s not just a minister’s favorite verse and an hour of spin on that.

Some churches avoid certain passages and often skip around every Sunday. I don’t think I’ve ever attended a church that actually went from beginning to end reading the Bible.

 

[BNR32FAN]

Well even reading and studying the Bible for yourself can still lead directly to theological error. A great many denominations which have dubious doctrines, like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and the non-trinitarian Adventists, resulted from people reading the Bible*

This is why ecclesiastical authority is so important. And to verify which churches are teaching doctrine correctly, well, many people are not called to do that, but some people, including myself, were put in positions to have to study that. And the easiest way is to study the history and the doctrines of the early church and then look at the denominations in existence today, and see which churches are closest to the Patristic church of the first few centuries of Christianity, before certain controversial events such as the Chalcedonian Schism, the adoption of the filiioque, the East-West schism between the Orthodox and Catholics following a Roman Pope excommunicating the Patriarch of Constantinople, which was hardened by acts of violence towards Eastern Christians in the Crusades.

*usually the KJV as it was most widespread and lacked the doctrinal commentaries of the Geneva Bible and the Challoner Douai Rheims (by design, because it was needed by the Church of England, whose members at the turn of the 17th century ranged from Puritans to extremely high church Anglo-Papalists who would be members of the Roman Catholic Church except for the fact that it was illegal, and the Elizabethan Settlement that had unified these diverse groups in the Church of England essentially required that doctrinal commentaries such as those used by the Calvinists in the Geneva Bible and the Roman Catholics in the Douai Rheims be not included). However any scriptural version, even one with a commentary, is at risk of being misunderstood.

When I came to Christ it was in a faith alone eternal security protestant church. When I began to study the Bible for myself I began to lean more towards Orthodoxy teachings. Granted we can still arrive at heresies but I still think it’s better than blindly accepting whatever someone tells you about the word of God.

 

[seeking.IAM]

Some churches avoid certain passages and often skip around every Sunday.

I think that is a risk in churches organized around the sermon series, a focused set of sermons around a subject a pastor chooses to talk about - such as "a four week series on <fill in the blank>". It is less a risk in churches obligated to following a lectionary where the prescribed scriptures of the day are going to be what is talked about, and in the course of a three-year cycle much of the Bible is going to be covered, even those passages that are difficult to preach about.

 

[Margaret3110]

I think that is a risk in churches organized around the sermon series, a focused set of sermons around a subject a pastor chooses to talk about - such as "a four week series on <fill in the blank>". It is less a risk in churches obligated to following a lectionary where the prescribed scriptures of the day are going to be what is talked about, and in the course of a three-year cycle much of the Bible is going to be covered, even those passages that are difficult to preach about.

Idk, I think it's an issue everywhere. Maybe less so in churches with a lectionary, but there is still much of the Bible that most people won't hear during those three years.

 

[RoBo1988]

The lord wants me to read the bible more than i am willing to, i do it anyways due to our aggreement. When the times i set up with the lord come up to read the bible i absolutely lose it and hate the fact i have to sit down and get into the word. While im reading the feeling doesnt seem to go away... than i get mad and sometimes mock the word due to my absolute non-enjoyment or want of reading the word

(The lord wants me to read 3 chapters every hour of the day every day)

Any advice?

As C H Spurgeon once said "don't make (Bible reading) a penance of what should be a pleasure"

 

[Yarddog]

The lord wants me to read the bible more than i am willing to, i do it anyways due to our aggreement. When the times i set up with the lord come up to read the bible i absolutely lose it and hate the fact i have to sit down and get into the word. While im reading the feeling doesnt seem to go away... than i get mad and sometimes mock the word due to my absolute non-enjoyment or want of reading the word

(The lord wants me to read 3 chapters every hour of the day every day)

Any advice?

It's possible that you may have an unclean spirit working against you. This can happen when Satan doesn't want to

The lord wants me to read the bible more than i am willing to, i do it anyways due to our aggreement. When the times i set up with the lord come up to read the bible i absolutely lose it and hate the fact i have to sit down and get into the word. While im reading the feeling doesnt seem to go away... than i get mad and sometimes mock the word due to my absolute non-enjoyment or want of reading the word

(The lord wants me to read 3 chapters every hour of the day every day)

Any advice?

There is a possibility that you may have an unclean spirit working against you. This can be causing the feelings you experience with Scripture. Satan was messing with me when I was first called into a deeper relationship with God, as a much younger man.

If God called you to read, then read. Three chapters shouldn't take very long. Call upon the Holy Spirit, which lives within God's children, to help you relax as you read

Never look back upon that which you were called out of.

God bless

 

[Margaret3110]

It's possible that you may have an unclean spirit working against you. This can happen when Satan doesn't want to

There is a possibility that you may have an unclean spirit working against you. This can be causing the feelings you experience with Scripture. Satan was messing with me when I was first called into a deeper relationship with God, as a much younger man.

If God called you to read, then read. Three chapters shouldn't take very long. Call upon the Holy Spirit, which lives within God's children, to help you relax as you read

Never look back upon that which you were called out of.

God bless

Three chapters every hour, though??

 

[Yarddog]

Three chapters every hour, though??

It shouldn't take long to read 3 chapters. Just think how blessed he will be.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Some churches avoid certain passages ...

Which is why it is interesting to chart it all out to see what gets covered and what gets skipped over time. In the Catholic liturgical year there is quite a lot that does get covered. So too for the denominations that follow the same or similar reading sets. Far more than the pastor who picks his own limited set of texts. But I really do get your point. What ISN'T covered? And WHY?

... and often skip around every Sunday.

Some of that is that certain readings are seasonal in the liturgical year. For example we finally wrapped up Christmas readings with Epiphany last Saturday. Except my guys observed Epiphany the next day, argh, which then means the normal Sunday readings got skipped and won't be heard until three years go by.

Lent starts February 14th so the Sunday readings will change to reflect that. And then Holy Week. It is appropriate to skip around for things like that. And Septuagesma Sunday. Oh, but we no longer do that for some reason.

I don’t think I’ve ever attended a church that actually went from beginning to end reading the Bible.

Starting in Genesis and plodding all the way to the Apocalypse? By the middle of Numbers the whole congregation would have left. I don't think that's necessarily the smartest approach. As a thought experiment it seems challenging enough.

In daily mass the readings often go through various books on a two year cycle, but even there the memorials for the more major saints can override that sequence. That's as close as we get to reading straight through.

 

[The Liturgist]

Idk, I think it's an issue everywhere. Maybe less so in churches with a lectionary, but there is still much of the Bible that most people won't hear during those three years.

All traditional lectionaries are one year. The three year lectionaries such as the RCL have specific problems. Now the proposed Year D would solve a lot of them, but I am also loathe at the prospects of adding yet another year, particularly when prior to 1969 all Christian denominations used one year lectionaries and many of those that still do read much more of the Bible in one year than an RCL or novus ordo Catholic church will read in three. Indeed even the three year Catholic lectionary has problems and omissions compared to the older lectionaries, particularly the Ambrosian, Mozarabic and Gallican lectionaries which unlike the Tridentine lectionary, included an Old Testament lesson in the Mass itself and thus did not depend on the laity attending Vespers, which has never been as popular in the Catholic church as in Orthodoxy or Anglicanism.

 

[The Liturgist]

Starting in Genesis and plodding all the way to the Apocalypse? By the middle of Numbers the whole congregation would have left.

Actually there are some churches like the Calvary Chapel that use this model, known as lectio continua, but it relies on virtuouso expository preaching more than on the Scriptural text, and indeed my fear is that this approach can actually distort the meaning of some books and also it can lead to an overemphasis on the literal-historicao exegesis of the Old Testament, which we can say based on the ending of the Gospel according to Luke, is inadequate, since Christ revealed the Old Testament to be Christological prophecy (and if reread using these hermeneutics, the Old Testament makes much more sense).

I also object to churches not reading from one of the four canonical Gospels at every primary Sunday service in a manner that stresses veneration. For example, the laity should stand when the Gospels are read.

 

[seeking.IAM]

By the middle of Numbers the whole congregation would have left.

LOL. I was thinking for the OP "whatever you do, don't start with Numbers!"

 

[The Liturgist]

LOL. I was thinking for the OP "whatever you do, don't start with Numbers!"

Numbers has an unenviable reputation but in my early childhood I tended to root for the underdog (Uranus was my favorite planet, AMC my favorite car maker, and my favorite airlines were Braniff, TWA, Eastern and Pan Am, and also Delta, so I suppose Delta was the exception to that rule), and my favorite railroad the Southern Pacific, so naturally I found Numbers fascinating. And I still greatly love Leviticus, mainly because of its function as the Euchologion for the hereditary priests of the Hebrew religion.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Numbers has an unenviable reputation but in my early childhood I tended to root for the underdog (Uranus was my favorite planet, AMC my favorite car maker, and my favorite airlines were Braniff, TWA, Eastern and Pan Am, and also Delta, so I suppose Delta was the exception to that rule), and my favorite railroad the Southern Pacific, so naturally I found Numbers fascinating. And I still greatly love Leviticus, mainly because of its function as the Euchologion for the hereditary priests of the Hebrew religion.

I like Leviticus but the genealogies take a special person and I’m not THAT special.

 

[RoBo1988]

If you read 3.2 chapters per day, you can complete the Bible in a year.

Many churches (mine included) encourage members to read the Bible in a year. I have been studying the Bible for around 35 years and can only remember 1 time when I read through it in a year. 1.5 to 2 years is more realistic to me.

J. Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible" program takes 5 years to complete the scriptures.

 

[The Liturgist]

If you read 3.2 chapters per day, you can complete the Bible in a year.

Many churches (mine included) encourage members to read the Bible in a year. I have been studying the Bible for around 35 years and can only remember 1 time when I read through it in a year. 1.5 to 2 years is more realistic to me.

J. Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible" program takes 5 years to complete the scriptures.

At the risk of sounding heretical, I am not sure that reading the entire Bible, which is properly understood as an anthology whose contents vary depending on the canon one adheres to, is of benefit, particularly if one becomes distracted from the Gospels and the other essential New Testament texts by certain Old Testament texts of a historical nature which are less important. For example, Esther, except for the longer version in the Septuagint which is more prayerful and evangelical, is a book whose utility for Christian readers not of Jewish ancestry I would join the likes of Martin Luther in questioning (but the Septuagint version on the other hand is greatly superior and should be sought out by Christians, also the Septuagint version of Daniel)

 

[RoBo1988]

At the risk of sounding heretical, I am not sure that reading the entire Bible, which is properly understood as an anthology whose contents vary depending on the canon one adheres to, is of benefit, particularly if one becomes distracted from the Gospels and the other essential New Testament texts by certain Old Testament texts of a historical nature which are less important. For example, Esther, except for the longer version in the Septuagint which is more prayerful and evangelical, is a book whose utility for Christian readers not of Jewish ancestry I would join the likes of Martin Luther in questioning (but the Septuagint version on the other hand is greatly superior and should be sought out by Christians, also the Septuagint version of Daniel)

Luther called the book of James "an epistle of straw" I believe.

I still think it's useful for teaching rebuking and correcting so that we might be made complete