Is there something wrong with me?

[gray wolf]

Thanks everyone for your input.  I do want to read the Bible and pray.  But I just do not enjoy it and that is okay.  I memorize and study seminary work.  And I was not actually raised Catholic, lol.  

Daniel

[Guest]

I am a very devout believer....  

 

I go to church and worship often, I have been saved....

 

I seek God's will continually, I walk with Christ daily and I share Him with others....  

 

But here is the thing:  although I read the Scriptures twice a day and pray frequently, I don't really enjoy it... 

 

I know that I am commanded to do it and that I must to live in Christ.... 

 

Yet I cannot affirm that I wholeheartedly take pleasure in it....

 

but view them as essential duties....  

 

Is there something wrong....

 

here....

 

 

Beloved, His Desire

 

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

 

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelation 3:20-22

 

Is You

 

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:3-4

 

Love, Your Brother Joe

[other one]

Thanks everyone for your input.  I do want to read the Bible and pray.  But I just do not enjoy it and that is okay.  I memorize and study seminary work.  And I was not actually raised Catholic, lol.  

Daniel

Personally I have read the Bible so many times to me it is boring.....   however I find that I can listen to it and still be somewhat interesting.   I used to play it while I was driving and let my sub conscious mind take notes of what was being said.   You can come to some interesting things when your mind is working on it while you really are not paying attention to it.......    it will hit you that something is important and you can back up and focus on whatever it was that caught your attention.

[Keith]

I'm afraid I'm the dissenting opinion of the group. 

 

Reading the scriptures isn't a matter of law.  And we aren't to be ruled by how we feel.

 

Saturating ourselves in the Word is part of our battle armor that we're to put on daily.  It's how we nourish ourselves and grow in Him, and in our love for Him.  It's how we come to know Him deeply.  It reveals His will for us.  It's how we learn to hear His voice.  The words are God-breathed.  It's an expression of His unimaginable love for us.  His words reveal Himself to us.  It's part of our inheritance, full of promises and warns us of danger.  It's important to read so we don't fall prey to false teachings.  It prophecies future events and fills us with comfort.  It proclaims our victory!

 

How do we stand against all the calamity?  All the spiritual warfare?  How do we stand against the gates of hell?  How do we stand in such a defiled culture with all kinds of wrong ideas and wrong thoughts constantly bombarding us all day long?  Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:6, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." 

 

Would you describe your life as "constantly nourished on the words of the faith"?  This applies to everyone who identifies themselves with Jesus and His salvation.  Most people would have to say no.  The Christian life isn't easy.  It's not meant to be.  It's an uphill battle the entire way and it requires being constantly nourished by the words of the faith - scripture.  

 

Just as you need physical food on a regular basis, several times a day, how much more important is our spiritual food?   You cannot grow, or remain healthy, without constant nourishment on the words of the faith and dwelling with God in prayer.  It's imposible.  You can't lead your family, or be godly, or be an instrument of God without that constant nourishment.  It's essential.  If you don't, just like without physical nourishment, you'll become anemic and weak.

 

Even the person who recognizes that they aren't doing it, and determines that they're going to, can start out enthusiastically and read the bible for 18 hours in one day, wearing themselves out and then not read it again for weeks.  Just like you can't binge on food or water and be good for a few weeks, you can't do it with scripture, either.  And listening to sermons online, or reading the books of others, as good as those things are, do not replace developing and growing in your own time with the Lord for yourself.  Knowledge does not equate to experience or relationship.  Matthew 7:21-23 are a sobering reminder of how important it is to have that personal relationship with God, and for Him to know you through it. 

 

So much of the suffering professing Christians go through is a result of the lack of knowing God's Word.  Most don't even know they're in disobedience to God's will because they aren't reading the scriptures.  That's where we learn what the will of God is.  When we examine our lives, as per 1, 2, and 3 John, as well as James and Hebrews, one of the things we need to continually ask ourselves is this:  "What kind of relationship do I have with the Word of God?"  How much time do we spend reading His word and in prayer with Him?  That's how we get to know Him.  And how does that time compare with how much time we spend doing other things, like watching TV or being online?  That will tell us where our passion lies.

 

The Christian life isn't about DOING something, it's about BEING something - being conformed to the image of Christ and living in His presence.  We're a spiritual people and we live based on truth.  And if we're not governed by that truth, constantly being nourished by it, we cannot stand. 

 

And the scriptures are full of exhortations of the importance of reading God's word regularly, meditating on it day and night.

 

If you don't enjoy reading the Bible, don't let your emotions rule over you.  Persevere.  Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you an insatiable love for the scriptures.  But keep reading.  It's a fruit of self-discipline and you'll soon reap the benefits of it.  It's key to being transformed into the image of Christ and having your mind renewed.  Is the Word a reality in your life?  Are you experiencing it?

Edited January 4, 2015 by Almost Home

[gray wolf]

I don't have an issue with what you're sayng. I was just interested in what others experience. Scripture reading, prayer and witnessing seem to me a bit more like exercise actually. My flesh doesn't want to do it, but boy do I feel better afterwards and healthier. It is in line with what Paul advised in 1 Timothy 4:8

[Keith]

I don't have an issue with what you're sayng. I was just interested in what others experience. Scripture reading, prayer and witnessing seem to me a bit more like exercise actually. My flesh doesn't want to do it, but boy do I feel better afterwards and healthier. It is in line with what Paul advised in 1 Timothy 4:8

I'm glad you understand what I said.  I've been a Christian for almost 32 years now, so I know the struggles of battling the flesh and emotions when it comes to not wanting to read the Bible.  We all go through that, without a doubt.  We all have times when our eyes and ears dull and our emotions throw an big ol' hissy fit to get their way. 

 

But, I'll tell you, when I was younger and went through these periods more often, thinking something must be wrong with me, too, I would ask folks at my church for advice, just like you did here.  Nothing wrong with that at all.  But I wish people wouldn't have made excuses for me, enabling and coddling my emotions.  It resulted in a lot of wasted time.  I wish a man or woman of God would have grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes, and told me that my emotions don't have a say in the matter.  Not in the things of Christ and growing in Him.  Those emotions belong to the old, unregenerated man and he's dead!  I wish someone would have told me that every time I gave in to those emotions of not feeling like reading the Bible, praying, going to church, or just proclaiming my boredom of it, that it would make it harder and harder each time to lay it at the cross.  And when that happens, the heart grows harder and harder, too.

 

In America, we don't like people feeling bad about themselves.  We want to fix it if we can.  But, in doing so, we often hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in that person.  We want to take the feeling of conviction away, telling that hurting person that there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus!  And while that's true, conviction and condemnation are two different things.  And the Holy Spirit is often the One DOING the convicting to complete a work in that person!  If someone is feeling convicted, that's a GOOD thing!  Let them walk through it and let the Holy Spirit have His way in their life.  People might have good intentions, but good intentions easily become stumbling blocks to spiritual growth.  We are not the Holy Ghost, Jr.

 

It's very true that when we "feel" like reading the bible or praying the least, we actually need it the most.  The tongue, and our emotions, are the two most difficult things to tame.  But self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit. 

 

God bless you, brother!  Run your race to win!  Look ONLY at Him! 

[john14:6]

My wife and I have a devotional time most days where we pray and read our bible. Sometimes something will come up and we miss that time. I usually will feel guilty about not putting the Lord first in my life that day, but I have a song that I sing to myself & to the Lord almost every day and it seems to draw me closer to Him.

 

The song helps but of course there is no substitute for reading the bible.

 

That song is "It Is Well with My Soul."

[other one]

How many times have you all read the Bible????

[gray wolf]

I LOVE that song.  

[enoob57]

One of the things we must fight in our flesh is the use to's ... His Word Spiritually

is food for our new birth and by it we grow BUT if it is being taken in only by the

flesh aspect 'yeah I have read that many times' yawn... it is the vanity of religion.

We must bring ourselves into the place of meeting with God before we open His Word to

eat-> by prayer for His nearness and waiting upon His moving of His Spirit within!

God does not go by the clock of this world and I am evaluated by the self evident truth

of that waiting whether or not I am sincere in my desire to hear Him and be fed by Him!

When His Spiritual presence indicates to my simple small being that God in Spirit

is ready to teach/feed me then every letter formed in every word has the significance

of a rare wealth worth more to me than all else I have experienced in this world

and builds my faith to overcome myself and the world I am in for His Glory in this

specific day ... Love, Steven