Often I hear—and have experienced this myself—attempts to spend more time with Scripture being accompanied by a weight of guilt and shame. If we haven’t had a specific time set aside in our day to read the Bible and pray, we think that we also haven’t had “time with God” that day. We feel like failures as Christians, as if only those days we’ve succeeded in our Bible reading and prayer plans we’ve actually sought God, as if our failure to carry out a duty has resulted in God abandoning us that day.
I’ve come to believe that this mindset is harmful and even unbiblical. God’s Spirit lives inside believers as his dearly loved children (Romans 8:16). God doesn’t respond to one of his children beginning their day without a Bible reading and prayer session by withdrawing his Spirit and not being with his child that day. God hears our desire to live that day in his presence amid all of the challenges that can make that day difficult. He knows that some days our hearts are so weary we struggle to even verbalize a prayer. And on those days, God still hears the unspoken cries of our heart (v. 26). His love is always near, always drawing us to him, always giving us the strength to press on. Believers live each of our days in the presence of God.
God doesn’t respond to one of his children beginning their day without a Bible reading and prayer session by withdrawing his Spirit and not being with his child that day.
For the majority of church history, most believers in Jesus didn’t even have access to a personal copy of the Scriptures—they were reliant on the preaching and the teaching of those who did have access to Scripture to point them to the truths found in Scripture—of salvation through Christ and to Christ’s love and presence with them through the Spirit. They couldn’t have a daily personal Bible reading session—but God was with them.
Scripture is a powerful, God-inspired tool that points away from itself to Christ—the Word, living inside believers through his Spirit. Even if we haven’t read a particular verse or passage one day, that doesn’t mean the truth of the gospel to which all of Scripture points isn’t alive and vibrant in our hearts. Even if we haven’t said a specific prayer, that doesn’t mean we haven’t lifted up our hearts to God for help and strength to live out our day in a way that embodies Christ’s love.
When we stop turning Scripture reading into a duty or condition for experiencing God’s presence, it frees us from fear and guilt over the obstacles that can come in our way when we try to read it. We are free to try new, creative ways of immersing ourselves in the power of the story it tells. We are free to join other believers in living out together a lived rooted in a Scriptural vision. We can be freed to receive Scripture as the beautiful, incredible gift that it is. It’s always there for us, always filled with deep riches to shape our hearts and lives as we seek to live out Christ’s love.
