Anyone else have trouble reading the bible and staying focused?

This last few years the wife and I have been trying to get move involved with church (going pretty much every service) and trying to get closer to god and know him better.

I feel like praying each morning and night as well as all the services we attend are not enough. I feel like I need to do more, but not sure what.
I feel like maybe I need to delve deeper into the Bible and know it well.

Problem is, I have a short attention span and just can't stay focused.  I have a hard time with the YE olde timey speak and such...

Also, I plan to get saved this summer, when I don't have to chip the ice off the creek.  They do our baptismal in a local creek.

Get a NKJV or NASB. It will be a much easier read.

What church do you attend?

The ESV version makes the most sense to me.

NKJV is good.  ESV is a good choice as well.

I find that a good Bible study really helps.  There’s a Lutheran radio channel KFUO with different programs. I like the Sharper Iron podcast- it’s two pastors discussing scripture.  It’s an hour daily M-F.

I read it everyday but what works for me is too read 2 or 3 pages and then spend a hour or so thinkijg about what I just read.   I will also look up videos.on youtube of ministers discussing what I am reading.  I really like Michael Heiser but he passed away last April

You can't plan to get saved.

If you think it works that way, you don't know what it is.

It is not an outwards act or stuff you say or you putting the mental will power screws to yourself to yank yourself up by your bootstraps. It is not you being baptised.

That is mockery of God, who is real.


^^^^ This is not mystical and it is not gibberish speak.

It means in your mind you worship him and you do so truthfully, not lying, not making it up, not doing something you do not believe.

If you don't actually believe that you are wrong before God, that he is real, and that you CANNOT make yourself right with God ... if you do not also believe that Christ died for the wrongs you have put between you and God, in your place and for your sins - all you can do is heap more condemnation on yourself and make yourself a miserable wretch, when you realize you can't be good enough to make God take you.  ETA: the endless mountain of "be good enough to have God let me in the good place" is strewn with countless corpses of people who tried it. Don't go there.

God can't accept what we - you - I - have to offer him as good. For the simple reason that we don't have anything good to offer. I mean actually good, with no taint of anything wrong in it.  God cannot lie about a thing and call waht is bad good.

The only reason people who are saved (those who believe they are wrong wtih God and Christ died for their sins) ... can be called Good by God, is because Christ intentionally and willingly died taking the responsbility for our wrongs ... and he gives us the credit for what we don't deserve - his perfect life.


You can't plan to get saved.

You either believe the gospel mentioned above or you don't.

God will not be mocked or shoved around by our calendars.

A good commentary can help.

The KJV is written on the fourth grade level. Don’t read the Bible, study the Bible. Begin in Genesis. When you understand the first 6 chapters, proceed forward. If you don’t understand the book of Genesis, you’ll never understand the rest. I recommend the Bullinger Study Bible.
The 150+ appendixes are priceless.

Get a Quest (or similar) bible and use the study guide.  It takes you through the entire Bible grouping books and messages together in different ways...some go from O.T. prophecy to N.T. fulfillment, others group the books of the same author together, etc.  Regardless, each book is prefaced with information regarding when it was written, by whom, to whom, and an historical context to give you a perspective before you just start reading..

I've read the Bible through some number of times in different orders, using the guides and also just cover-to-cover.  Each time I pick up a different perspective (likely due to having learned a little more and likely due to me being in a different place in my life at the time.)

Also, another member here recommended Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Time Lines  You sound like something more visual than textual would help.  I'm the same way.

Pray for focus and understanding before you begin reading.

1st I think (my opinion) God can except me, if he decides my heart is good and pure, or he could choose to do other if he suspects my heart is dark, evil or bad...  
Just my opinions, you obviously have yours and think a great deal about them.

2nd I am sorry as I have misspoken and make a mistake in my terminology. I said "saved" when I meant "Baptized".  
As I said I am new to this and having some trouble in my studies, learning and comprehending.  I may not be as smart as you in this.  Again I am sorry, to you and to the Lord.

Do you really think I make a Mockery of the Lord or my journey into my religion? (I don't need an answer) his is the one that really matters.

But thank you for correcting me and showing me the way.

I go to a small non-Denominational church in rural Fredericktown.

I listen to YouTube channels, read different books on different parts of theology, listen to books on audible and listen to the Bible as well as sit down and read it. Right now my life is actually all God all day, probably close to 8-10 hrs a day of some various things listed above. I'm in the process of transitioning from one religion to another and trying to study through some things. I'd like to work on my prayer life and get to be where I pray at least 2-3 hrs a day in place of the books or videos.

Just a minor point, but those are not my opinions (things a person believes but only midly and for not very well thought out reasons).

God cannot be good and say that anything which isn't good ... is.

He'd have to lie to do that, and he can't lie. He *is* truth.

Noodle on it for a bit.

I don't see that you have any reason to apoligise to me or anyone else.

I pointed it out the way I did because God is not safe and he is not just a bigger more powerful human being. Approaching him wrongly is dangerous.  


I'm not smart in this.

I'm a schmuck from the pews too.

Re: the mockery bit - because we are messed up we can and often do in our normal course of life make a mockery of God and other things.

God can't call what isn't good good, and we cannot put him under any compulsion of any sort.

For other examples, here's a thing to watch for: if the song being sung supposedly in worship of God could be sung to your girlfriend without it being utterly blasphemous ... something's not right.

Yes, you should seek God, but in truth, and never just outwardly.

I don't care for analogies, but reference to lewis's narnia may be useful here, even if the boosk have some real problems - people want treat the lion as if he is tame and safe, when he is not. He is a wild lion, who keeps his own perogatives.

Which makes his deciding to not give us what we deserve right now and his giving some good gifts they do not deserve stand out all the more.

He rewards those who seek him truthfully, in their inner man. No small few only play the act outwardly, to their very great peril.

Get the Life Application Bible. It really fills in a lot of the gaps and makes it relevant to you. I did the Bible In A Year thing using it and it really opened up my understanding.

I have nothing to add other than, may God guide you and your wife and fill your hearts with His Holy Spirit, may all that you do in life Glorify God Almighty and honor the Sacrifice his son Jesus Christ made upon the cross to save us from sin and death and give us everlasting life in the Father's kingdom.

The Deacon gave a pretty good sermon about speaking / praying to the Lord and having him answer .

Of course he can answer  as he wishes and hopefully we  are able to hear and comprehend .

A Huge way he speaks to us is thru simply reading the Bible .

The Deacon said its Gods words in human  Language .

Follow up . I haven’t yet watched it but our Deacon did recommend this video .

Http://tinyurl.com/4rz29mku

Hope this helps

Shepards Chapel TV broadcast out of Gravette Arkansas studies the Bible verse by verse.  The pastors are hard to take, but they know the Bible and break it down by verse.  They alternate an Old Testament book, then a New Testament book.  The third week of the month they play sermons at their church, so don't decide not to watch from that.  They typically sit at a desk when teaching.

I wanted to know G-d's word better, and finding this broadcast was an answered prayer.  I follow along in my Bible.

The father, Arnold Murray, can read Hebrew and can tell you what the original manuscripts say, and a lot of times, it's different than what we are being taught.  

I say hard to take because Arnold Murray will get on a point and just ramble and ramble the same thing over and over.  He is anti rapture, but has good reason for it.  And oddly enough, seems to think the entire Bible was written about the rapture not being true.  And anyone who doesn't know the real meaning is dumber than a 6 year old child.  But overall it's a very good teaching.  Arnold has passed on, but he recorded a lot of shows that still air.  His son alternates.

It airs on one of my local channels and I record it every day.  They do 30 minutes of Bible study, and answer questions for 30 minutes.  Give it a try.

Here is their website.  You can sample a couple lessons here.

https://shepherdschapel.com/

I have the "Hallow" app on my phone and they have the "Bible in a year" by Fr Mike. It's been really good and helps with the learning, each day is around 20 min, he reads a couple chapters then does a short talk on them. My wife and I have been greatly enjoying this and getting a lot out of it.

Judaizer and a modalist?

Hard pass.

Your loss.

The CSB is the Glock 19 of Bible translations. It's not the best at anything, but does just about everything pretty well.

Have you considered contemplation?

Think about God, his gifts or your questions about why. There's always either answers or support in scripture. One of the most awesome things about Christianity is that men long since dead have wondered the same things and looked for the same things. That's what makes it timeless.

Of course I believe the Bible is the word of God, but I myself find a profound impact when I am thinking it looking for something. Combining the scripture with my own thoughts and questions gets me closer to him.

Conversely, I will do the opposite. I will read a chapter and think about what that chapter meant. I like working it from both sides to gain understanding.

The sermon on the mount makes it very clear that we all fall short of the law.  If we try to justify ourselves by having a good heart or being a good person it's not going to work.  God's grace given to believers is the only way.

That's a foundational belief of Christianity and is probably one of the toughest for people to accept. Even the disciples had a hard time with it.  It's human nature and a cultural norm to think and believe that ones works are what makes them good enough.

Anyway, I like the NIV and NLT.  But.i do greatly prefer the lord's prayer from KJV.

From the sermon on the mount:

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

I don't know anyone who hasn't looked at a woman or man and not listed over them.  That's just one easy example.

Here's a link to the sermon on the mount:

NIV bible version.  you can select which version you want to try when on the website.

I've been a Christian for my entire adult life, not until 17. Did not grow up in the church, but have been faithful since. I've read it cover to cover, read parts in multiple translations, served as lay person in the church, then pastored after Seminary with an M.Div. I share all that to say that I can't sit for hours just reading the Bible. I enjoy it, I learn from it, I get inspired and convicted by it, but I don't reach a higher level of consciousness. Find a good translation that you can understand and enjoy. KJV is poetic, but there is nothing about it that gives the reader any greater experience than a good modern translation. I like NASB and ESV. Whatever version you choose is fine, I find those who insist on a certain translation to be suspect in their theology and understanding of God's work.