The Bible in Your Quiet Time

When our kids were little we made a stop at a local chain fast-food restaurant. Our kids liked the place, but the problem was that the last two times we had been there one of my children had ordered a hamburger with no onions, and each of those two times they got a hamburger with onions. I was determined that this visit would break the cycle, so I made it very clear when I ordered, “One hamburger, no onions.” I mean, how hard can it be to make a burger and not put onions on it? 

Well, you guessed it, for the third straight time I got a hamburger with onions. I almost lost it. Very bad thoughts came into my mind, but I didn’t say those thoughts. Why? Well, first, I remembered Proverbs 29:11, which says, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”  And second, I was wearing a t-shirt with the name of my church on it! So as I was wondering how I could purchase a t-shirt with the name of some other local church on it, I simply went up to the counter and calmly made my case, and I got a new burger, this time with no onions. I was so glad that I remembered that Bible verse, as I had just read it during my quiet time a few days before.

Last week we talked about the importance of having a regular, daily quiet time alone with God. It’s so very important for us to do this, but what do you do during a quiet time? We said that a quiet time is basically “time alone with God, usually spent praying and reading the Bible.” Today I’d like to talk about the “reading the Bible” portion of that definition.

Why should we read the Bible regularly? There are several reasons, but allow me to point out just a few truths about the Bible that may help us understand why we need to be reading it.

First, the Bible comes to us directly from God, and it’s literally his word to us. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The truth is that the Bible isn’t partly useful and partly useless; the Bible isn’t partly fallible and partly infallible. All Scripture, every part, is useful, every part has authority, it’s all life-changing, it’s all directly from God. In the Bible, God reveals himself to us, he tells us how to know him, he tells us how to get through life.

A second reason why we should read the Bible is that the Bible is absolutely trustworthy. Because it’s completely trustworthy, even when the Bible doesn’t make sense, we can obey it with confidence. Even when the whole world is against you, you can obey the Bible and know that you’re right!

I’m reminded of the old story about a man who was driving down the highway and his wife called and said, “Be careful! The news just said a man is driving on the wrong side of the road on the highway you’re on!” The husband replied, “One man? Honey, it’s unbelievable, but there are hundreds of people driving the wrong way today!” 

There are going to be plenty of times in life when we might be wrong and everybody else is right, but when we obey the Bible, we can know we’re right even if everyone else disagrees.

A third reason we should read the Bible is because it shows us how to live. Look back at 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and you’ll see that the Bible is useful for “teaching” (what to believe), “rebuking” (what not to believe), “correcting” (how not to live), and “training” (how to live). 

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

The Bible gives us direction for living, it helps us find the right path and helps us stay on the right path.  I need the Bible for direction, because on my own I don’t do too well.

And the final reason that I’ll mention here that we need to read the Bible is that in reading the Bible we encounter God personally. 

Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. The Bible is alive, it’s the very word of God, and as you read it prayerfully and expectantly God will move in your heart. His words have the capability of cutting through all the defenses you’ve placed in your life, all of the excuses, all of the incorrect thoughts and rationalizations you’ve made. If you ask him to, if you allow him to, God will change you from the inside out through the reading of his word.

Reading the Bible is a supernatural act, so don’t approach the Bible like you do any other book. When you read the Bible, acknowledge that you are completely depending on God to speak to you as you read. Ask him to not only help you to understand the text you’re reading, but also to speak to your heart through his Holy Spirit and through his word to show you what he wants to say to you.

Before you even start to read, tell God that you surrender to any leadings he has for you and to any insights you hear from him and that you will accept any truth about you that he uncovers. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes God doesn’t have any great truth to say to you on a particular day. He may just want you to experience him and experience more of him that day. 

I encourage you to start having a daily quiet time alone with God and make reading the Bible a part of that time. If you’re a Christian and you don’t have a desire to read the Bible, then start today praying that God would give you that desire. Maybe that’s where your quiet time should start.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ve tried reading the Bible before, but I got bogged down in Leviticus.” I know it’s important to read the entire Bible, and I applaud those who read the Bible through in a year, but that doesn’t have to be your plan. Maybe you should start by reading John or James, shooting for a chapter a day. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs, so you could start with chapter 1 on the first day of the month and read a chapter a day for 31 days. 

Like I said, you could shoot to read a chapter a day, but don’t feel tied to that. Stop when you feel like God is speaking to you, or as I like to say, “stop when God stops you.” That may require 2 or 3 chapters, or it may be a paragraph or a single verse. 

Make sure you read in a translation that speaks to you. I love the English Standard Version (ESV) for my study, but for my quiet time I most often read the New Living Translation (NLT). The New International Version (NIV) and Christian Standard Bible (CSB) are other translations I love. But find one that helps you, and get started. 

I’ve read the entire Bible multiple times, but while I’ve read the Bible through in a single year, I’ve only done that a couple of times. Some people love that, and you may too, but I found that it required so much reading each day that I was more focused on checking it off my to-do list than I was with hearing from God. But, of course, your mileage may vary. I will say that I really liked reading the Bible through in two years in this plan through the You Version app, which is what I did in 2017-2018.

Finally, one tool that has really helped me is the Life Application Bible. I love study Bibles, and I have a lot of them that I read and use regularly (maybe I can list those in a future post), but the LAB has really helped me to apply what I’m reading to my life, regardless of where I’m reading in the Bible. 

So I encourage you to set aside a time. Get a Bible, a pen, and some paper. (Use the pen and paper to write down any thoughts you have during your reading.) Ask God to give you the desire to read his word each day. Admit to God that without him this whole exercise is useless and that you need his supernatural help to see the text through his eyes and through his heart. Open the Bible, surrender this time to God, and start reading!

I challenge you to read the Bible every day for the next 6 weeks. Mark it on your calendar, set your alarm or put a reminder on your phone, whatever you have to do, and start. Every day. Six weeks. And see what God does in your life through his word.

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