8 Possible Reasons You’re Not Hearing God- Unopened love letters

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.