Reading the bible makes me anxious!

[dqhall]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

The Gospel of John seems to be more peaceful, like watching sheep follow a shepherd.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

Often when I go to pray, I will feel tired, or worse the devil tries to intimidate me. Satan fears prayer, and will mess with our emotions. Don't worry about those feelings God is for you and wants you blessed. It is just the devil making you nervous.

With time you will learn how to overcome these feelings. It is just a matter of resting in God's love for you, and persisting through the feelings. Tell the devil I will read this, and God is my protector, He will strengthen my heart.

 

[Richard T]

You are encountering resistance. If it is worse for you to go to a church where the word is really preached then I would be alarmed but not distraught. You need to push through the anxiety until you obtain the peace of God. You likely need help, from prayer to possibly deliverance. You have retreating too far and the devil does not want to lose ground. Your reaction might be to forget it, but the entire kingdom of God, is for you and longs for you to be more complete in Christ. Find someone that is experienced in such things and have them pray with you. Confessing scriptures out loud and putting on Christian music would also be helpful. Be sure to get rid of any object that might be demonic in your home as well. God bless!

 

[GTW27]

If i am going to be subjected to feelings of despair and depression and anxiety every time I read the bible, Im simply going to refrain from reading it.

How could one, who is truly a son, or a daughter, stop reading their Fathers Words? Do not these Words bring life? Are They not alive forevermore. "Heaven and earth my pass away, but My Words will never pass away." When I write these words to you, am I quoting scripture? I am not. These are my Fathers words, and they are alive in me, just as He promised to do. He keeps all of His promises. He has not, promised us a spirit of fear and anxiety. All spirits that appose The Lord of Glory must exit, when a person is truly born from above. There are no exceptions, for He is Holy and Lord of all. And all things are subject unto Him. What wells up inside you, is proof(to you) of where you stand, but like I told you before, The Door is right in front of you. And that Door is Jesus. He is The Door of the sheep.

 

[A71]

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...keep going
(Prov 9:10 just in case anyone thinks I pulled that out my head)

When I am driving in mountains I am terrified, but after a while you get the hang of it.

 

[Xavier Cane]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

God Bless you. I know the feeling. One suggestion, improving your spiritual health is the wrong mindset to have, as it is more religious in nature, but having a desire to draw near and understand God, that is real spiritual health, while the other is acidic, which may be why you are anxious. The sin nature always finds a way to try to get us to not seek God through His word, so my advice to you is to pray before you read and ask God to give you understanding, and give him your guilt and know you are forgiven...That is..if you have been born again..or at least trust God that he has saved you. Good luck!

 

[oldrunner]

A lot of good suggestions! It's an awesome thing to read the mind of God! If we are not at least a little anxious reading the Bible-at least some of the time, we may have wandered a little too far from the pilgrims path.

I mean, the Bible lays into us like a broadsword sometimes! (Hebrews 4:12) This is good and needed. Other times we are on the mountain top!

Hang in there brother! In the struggle is the glory. (Phil. 2:12, Ps. 2:11)
　

 

[Heart2Soul]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

I used to be like that....I think it was because I was so new to reading the Bible that all those thee's and thou's and verse by verse reading was just so unnatural to how I normally read books.
And to read something 3 or 4 times and still not get it....very stressful....I was a fast pace learner in school...and a speed reader (definitely cannot speed read scriptures)....so it wasn't until I would pray and invite the Holy Spirit to be with me through the reading of the Word that I began to actually understand what I read....and I would find a particular topic...i.e. Proverbs says to get wisdom.....seek it like for hid treasures...so I would cross-reference every single scripture related to wisdom and it interlocked with one another and made total sense. My anxiety went from 10 (being the highest) to a 0....none at all and can't stop....can't get enough!
Now when it came to Psalms.....nope couldn't do it...tried a hundred times....then the beginning of this year the Holy Spirit INSTRUCTED me to study Psalms....ugh...well I even created a thread on here asking for advice on how to study Psalms. I am currently on Chapter 77...but I keep going back and rereading certain chapters and verses so it is slooooowwww going....but I am beginning to understand the anguish David suffered and the enemy was a continuous threat against him.....He had no one to turn to but God.....well this definitely describes my life in the past few years.....so Psalms is opening my eyes to Sing Like David sang....to Dance like David danced and to Praise God continually trusting in Him to keep him safe against all attacks.....oh and how to have a repentant heart.

 

[AnnaDeborah]

Now when it came to Psalms.....nope couldn't do it...tried a hundred times....then the beginning of this year the Holy Spirit INSTRUCTED me to study Psalms....ugh...well I even created a thread on here asking for advice on how to study Psalms. I am currently on Chapter 77...but I keep going back and rereading certain chapters and verses so it is slooooowwww going....but I am beginning to understand the anguish David suffered and the enemy was a continuous threat against him.....He had no one to turn to but God.....well this definitely describes my life in the past few years.....so Psalms is opening my eyes to Sing Like David sang....to Dance like David danced and to Praise God continually trusting in Him to keep him safe against all attacks.....oh and how to have a repentant heart.

I love the way we are all so different! The Psalms are one of my favourite books - I read a Psalm every day alongside my other Bible reading and use it in praise and prayer. I even sing them sometimes (be very thankful you can't hear that!!!) I sometimes struggle to find words for what I want to say, but there is always a psalm that says it for me! And I usually quote psalms to myself when I am going into scary or difficult situations. Now some of Paul's letters...I really struggle there. By the time I've got to the end of one of his sentences, I've lost track of what the beginning was about! And Leviticus and Numbers...

 

[Heart2Soul]

I love the way we are all so different! The Psalms are one of my favourite books - I read a Psalm every day alongside my other Bible reading and use it in praise and prayer. I even sing them sometimes (be very thankful you can't hear that!!!) I sometimes struggle to find words for what I want to say, but there is always a psalm that says it for me! And I usually quote psalms to myself when I am going into scary or difficult situations. Now some of Paul's letters...I really struggle there. By the time I've got to the end of one of his sentences, I've lost track of what the beginning was about! And Leviticus and Numbers...

Yes that is what many here said to do....sing them....and how perfect God's timing is because after I logged off here I turned my tv to Reflections...on Daystar....and for a whole hour it is nothing but scripture after scripture accompanied by song and music.....well this particular topic or focus was on praising God and nearly every scripture was a Psalm....what revelation I received....like the one that says in Psalm 66:4
…3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You. 4All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You; they sing praise to Your name.” Selah 5Come and see the works of God; how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.…

the way the author expresses such adoration of God and how his words of praise contain so much deep truths and substance that it makes my praise and worship look like a kindergartner learning the alphabet for the first time.....lol.

The Holy Spirit is so perfect in His timing in knowing when we are ready and able to receive His Word in the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of it as it pertains to us and where we are in our life....Learning to Praise and Worship and Adore God through the Psalms gives me chills and goosebumps as I realize more and more how awesome He really is......

 

[longwait]

I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

Maybe what you call anxiety could be you are getting convicted for some sin that you are committing.
If that's the case then the peace that you have been experiencing is not the real peace that God only can give but the false peace that the world gives.

 

[tdidymas]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

Ask God what your anxiety is about. Knowing the cause is half the battle of overcoming. Many of my answers came from the Bible, so don't stop reading!

It might be that your anxiety has to do with the idea that the Bible is God's word, and it is so lofty that we fear to know it lest we fall short of its holy words. When I first started reading it, I felt condemned mostly, especially on the pages of the New Testament. But the idea of getting the word of God into us is for that word to become our life, that we live it out because we know it. That takes growth, and it takes time, and lots of it.
TD

 

[carolina16]

Hi all, I want to improve my spiritual health and so decided to get back into reading the bible, but whenever I read scripture I find a horrible sense of anxiety coming up in me, its a similar kind of anxiety that you get when you withdraw from anti depressants (if anyone can relate), I also feel my sense of contentment and peace eroded when I read the word of God and pray.

I pray that God would speak to me through your replies.

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576/5000

The bible is the sword to the hearts born in flesh (everyone). It is a sword that pierces a dark heart. That's why it bothers. This always happens. In obedience is when you recite the Word begins to be rewarding.

On the other hand, reading about persecuted and tortured Christians (apostles) being a christian is logical that it does not cause peace. I think the person that want to read about that needs to have a lot of spiritual maturity to read those books.

I suggest you start reading the 4 gospels. One chapter per day, meditate the words of the Lord in that chapter, and put it into practice in your life.