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Depending on the translation, an English Bible has between 700,000 and 800,000+ words in it. [The internet gave me that stat, so it must be true!] The Bible is filled with instructions, stories of broken people God loves, examples of how God spoke to people in the past, and teachings on how Jesus came so we could be in right relationship with God.

Did you know the Bible mentions 3,237 people by name? Thanks again, Internet.  He spoke to many of those people. God ensured the words he spoke to people thousands of years ago would be recorded in the Bible. Why? Because those words were also meant for you and me to hear.

The third possible reason you’re not hearing God:

3. You’re not reading and studying your Bible.

Praying about something and feel like you haven’t heard God answer? Read how God responded to those 3,237 people in the Bible. It’s possible God’s answer hasn’t changed since someone faced your situation 3,500 years ago.

Suppose your spouse had to travel overseas for work. He or she sends you thousands of love letters, cards, emails, and texts but you don’t read a single one. Would it make sense to complain you haven’t heard from your spouse in a long time?

Suppose you’ve been given instructions on how to complete a project at work, but you don’t bother reading them. Would it make sense to complain you weren’t properly trained for your job?

Suppose you’re participating in a play. You’ve been given the script to read, understand, and learn your part. But you never bother opening the script. Would it make sense to complain you don’t know what you’re supposed to do on stage or what you’re supposed to say?

But I don’t understand what I’m reading!

This is a real issue for a lot of people. Maybe most people. They’ve given up reading the Bible because they just don’t understand what they’re reading. If that’s you, I hope you keep reading this blog. I’ll share several tips and encouraging thoughts on what to do when you feel discouraged and don’t understand the Bible. But for today, I’d like to share tips that will help you keep reading your Bible.

Tips to help you keep reading your Bible:

1- Follow a reading plan. 

Google will give you more Bible reading plans than you could imagine. Here’s links to various reading plans on biblestudytools.com and biblegateway.com.

2- Join or start a Bible study group.

A Bible study group can hold you accountable to regularly study the Bible. God may speak through other people in your group, helping you understand Bible passages you didn’t understand in your private reading. If you’re going through a Bible study book, the author may have many years experience of Bible study. Reading someone else’s Bible study insights is often helpful.

And you don’t need to know anything about the Bible to start your own Bible reading group. Just tell your friends you’d like to start a book club that uses the Bible as its main book. Pick the same book of the Bible to read and gather each week to discuss your thoughts.

3- Listen to the Bible.

The most popular free Bible apps for your smartphone have audio Bibles you can hear from within the app. You can find even more audio Bible versions online. Listen while you read along. Or listen while you’re walking or driving to work. I own two dramatized audio Bibles, The Word of Promise (New King James Version) and the NIV Dramatized Audio Bible. The music, sound effects, and multiple voices help me pay attention and keep track of what’s happening in the story.

4- Start with something easy.

If you start with Genesis and try to read your way through the Bible, you’ll likely burn out by the book of Numbers (or be grossed out by the book of Judges). If you’re new to regular Bible reading, start with something that’s easy. Read through the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Those five Biblical books are all written in ways where it’s easy to follow the plot. As a Christ-follower, you can’t go wrong becoming very familiar with the 4 books detailing the life of Christ. The book of Proverbs is also a great starting point. Read a chapter a day in Proverbs as you’re reading other parts of the Bible.

5- Watch the Bible

You can watch Bible movies that are word-for-word scripts from the gospels of Matthew (NIV translation), John (Good News Bible translation), Luke (King James Version) and the book of Acts (NIV translation). The popular TV mini-series The Bible and A.D. The Bible Continues are excellent for helping you visualize and understand important Bible stories.

 

Start reading! Keep reading! God ensured the Bible would be passed on through millennia because he wants to speak to you and me. Read your Bible daily to hear his voice.

If you don’t regularly read the Bible, experiment with my 5 tips above. See which ones are most helpful to you. It’s hard to do something you don’t want to do. And it’s hard to continue doing something when you don’t see any benefit in doing it. So I’ve saved my best advice for last: pray God gives you the desire to read the Bible and gives you the wisdom to understand what you read. 

Note: I wrote these posts to help the people I serve at my local church. We’ve started a two month journey of fasting and praying 4 prayers. But feel free to read along even if you’re not part of our church. I pray you find my words helpful.

The second possible reason you’re not hearing God:

2.  You’re walking in repeated patterns of sin.

The book of James in the New Testament says “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). If everyone’s prayers are equally powerful and effective, why bother singling out “the prayer of a righteous person?” I could be wrong, but I think James is saying a righteous person’s prayers are more effective than an unrighteous person’s. When unrighteous people pray, James says they might just hear…crickets. No answer. No power. No effect.

A preacher named Isaiah who lived hundreds of years before Jesus said these words: “But your iniquities [a fancy word for “sins”] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Uh oh. If that’s true, things aren’t looking good for me. Could God essentially turn his back on me when I pray and give me the silent treatment because of my sins?

But…

James 5:16 has another sentence before the one about righteous people. Let me show you the whole verse:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

You see what James did there? He clued us in on how he’s using the word “righteous.” While you and I were counting up our list of sins, trying to see if God put us on the good list or the naughty list, James already gave us the answer.

“Righteous” people are followers of Jesus who confess their sins to each other.

Why do I think that? Because James assumes the Christians in this church who confess their sins and pray for each other will be healed. In other words, their prayers will be powerful and effective.

Does Jesus want you to stop sinning? Of course! But your absence of sin doesn’t make you righteous. Righteousness is a gift you receive, not a characteristic you seek. A man named Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, said “righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:22). Every time Christians confess their sins to each other and pray for each other is an opportunity to reaffirm the belief that only Jesus can heal their sinfulness.

Failure to confess your sins reveals the parts of your life you don’t think Jesus needs to save; you’re your own God in those areas.

If you’re giving God the silent treatment by not regularly confessing your sins to Jesus and other believers, don’t be surprised when God gives you the silent treatment, too.

If you’ve continually prayed about something but feel God is silent, ask Jesus if you’re walking in repeated patterns of sin. If he says “No,” ask Jesus to help you wait patiently until he answers your prayer.

But if Jesus reveals patterns of sin in your life, it’s time to repent. Confess to God how you have continually ignored him. Repent of your sin. Then confess your sins to other believers.  Seek help as you resist those sinful patterns, not because you’re striving for “righteousness” but because you want to honor the Jesus who forgave all your sins.

Note: I wrote these posts to help the people I serve at my local church. We’ve started a two month journey of fasting and praying 4 prayers. But feel free to read along even if you’re not part of our church. I pray you find my words helpful.

Prayers #1, #3, and #4 in our prayer journey assume God speaks to us today…assume he will talk to us about areas of obedience and about our future.

But what if I don’t hear God speak to me?

If you’re someone who feels you never hear God speak to you, I’ve thought of 8 possible reasons you’re hearing God. This list is not exhaustive but it’s a good starting point.

For the next 8 posts, we will consider a few possibilities.

The first possible reason you’re not hearing God:

1. You’re not a Christian.

Jesus said “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27). Jesus implies that he uses his voice to speak to his sheep. If you never hear God talking to you, maybe you’re not one of his sheep.

Am I saying God only talks to Christians? Of course not. God speaks to people all over the earth every day in all sorts of ways. But Jesus makes clear “his sheep” (read: “his followers”) are those who listen to his voice. To be a follower of Jesus is to be someone who listens to him talking. So if you never hear Jesus talking to you, it seems fair to ask if you’re a Christian at all.

It’s possible you’ve deceived yourself into some sort of ‘salvation by works.’ You think you’re a Christian because you go to church, put money in the offering plate, because you’re a nice person, because you’ve never cheated on your spouse, etc. But if you haven’t put your trust in Jesus as the one and only person who can save you and forgive you of all your sins, you’re not one of his sheep. If you don’t daily follow Jesus wherever he leads, the way sheep follow their shepherd, maybe you’re not a Jesus-follower at all.

Stop now and ask Jesus to show you if you are really one of his followers. I believe that’s a question he is happy to answer. If you hear him say “Yes,” tell Jesus you’d like to hear his voice more clearly. If you hear him say “No,” tell Jesus you want to start following him now. Tell Jesus you want him to take control of every part of your life.

After you’ve talked to Jesus, send me a message to share your prayer. I’d love to talk about your new journey following Jesus.

Note: Our church is fasting and praying these 4 prayers November 3-January 3. If you’re not familiar with the prayers, read that post first.

It seems like I get sick a lot and rarely feel like I’m running on full steam. I struggle to get out of bed every day. I keep a coffee maker in our bathroom. As soon as I get out of bed, I start brewing coffee and gulping down my daily dose of caffeine. So I went in for a physical a few weeks ago. The doctor’s office told me to fast for at least 8 hours before arriving for my blood work. In order to more accurately asses what’s going on inside my body, I had to abstain from anything that could throw off the diagnostic tests. All I could have for breakfast was black coffee. Luckily, I like black coffee.
I think that’s a helpful metaphor to explain the spiritual purpose of fasting. I often can’t clearly see what’s going on in my own (spiritual) heart. Really, that shouldn’t be surprising. In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:9), it says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ”

I guess that’s why David prayed “Search me, God, and know my heart (Psalm 139:23).” When I add fasting to my prayer life, I often more clearly hear God teaching me about my heart…thoughts, attitudes, and actions he’s pleased with and others he wants to change or remove. Jesus is always willing to share the results of his spiritual diagnostic tests on my heart. In some mysterious way I don’t fully understand, fasting spiritually and mentally prepares me for hearing Jesus’ words. Of course, that’s not the only benefit to fasting. But we’ll discuss other benefits in later posts.

I’ve challenged our church to fast November 3 – January 3. Some will fast from food. Those who can’t fast from food for medical reasons will be fasting from other things. Some will fast every day, while others may choose to fast from something one day a week. Ask God to show you how you should fast during this time. As you fast, you may suddenly hear Jesus talking to you about things you’ve previously been deaf to hearing.

There are several examples where the Bible uses the language of hunger and thirst to describe our longing for God. You might find these Bible verses helpful during your fast.

Our church is fasting and praying these 4 prayers November 3-January 3:

1. Pray Jesus will make you more obedient to Him.
2. Pray Jesus will increase your love for Him.
3. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called Pastor Chris to lead this church into the future.
4. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called you to stay with this church in the future.

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to “love” God, not “obey” God. So aren’t the first two prayers out of order?

First, I’ve challenged our church to pray these prayers concurrently, not consecutively. It’s not like I start praying #2 after God has answered #1. I’m praying all these prayers at the same time.
Second, “love” can be confusing. I love any dessert that has cinnamon as a main ingredient. I love my wife. I love my dog. I love God. At least, I think I love God. How do I know if I love God? What if it doesn’t always feel like I love God? Do I still love him?

In the Bible Jesus said “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching (John 14:23).  If we pray these prayers, and we allow God to answer these prayers in us however he wants to answer them, our increased obedience to God will increase our love for God. And our increased love for God will increase our obedience to God.

But if you’re like me, you feel you love God but you’re not always obedient. Or maybe you’re like my toddler son, who doesn’t want to obey until he’s had “one more minute” of playing. Is Jesus calling you to obey him about something? Have you ignored him or told him, “one more minute” instead of choosing to immediately obey?

Stop right now and ask Jesus if there’s something he wants you to do, or stop doing. If he shows you something, commit to obey him immediately.