Problems reading bible... serious answers only.?

Question

Please only serious answers. I have faith and have excepted Jesus, baptized, etc. But I have a difficult time with most of the bible. My beliefs are quite different than most of what I think I'm reading.
So I want to know which is more important. I try to do the right things and travel down the right path. I pray, maybe not as often as I should. But I have no interest in reading the Bible. I cannot comprehend the writings. I have tried study bibles and etc. but feel that the more fustrated I get, the less of the chance I'm going to try again?
Help, I'm starting to feel lost!

Answer 1

I have studied the Bible for 33 years. I can help you if you want. Just email me at [e-mail] and put Yahoo Answers in the subject line. The little answer box in this system doesn't allow room for expanded explanations on anything.

I heartily recommend that you pray when you read the Bible because the Holy Spirit will teach you as promised by God in His word. I can show you that too. Write out a list of your questions, and I will do my best to help you.

Answer 2

Greetings!

In order for me to give you a proper answer it would help if you gave some examples of what beliefs conflict with the bible and then I really think I may be able to help. However in the mean time I can only give you a a very general answer. In your life you have been probably influenced in a lot of the beliefs you believe in, whether they came from family friends, or peers, it doesn't matter. In order to approach the bible you must put everything on the table, be willing to repent and be humbled because once you do that, then all the testimonies in the bible become much more clear. For instance the one people always say to me from women especially is that the bible is sexist. They have a hard time looking at the bible, because what they have read has been interpreted incorrectly because of the biases and experiences they have brought to the text because of our humanl (sin) nature. You also must pray to Jesus and his father to open your eyes and it must be sincere, (the father and Jesus will know if it is not). Then, and only then will your eyes and hears be opened in order to understand what is is front of you. This is the very reason that the bible is in parables, all Jesus' teachings were in parables for this reason. So that only genuine believers would understand.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

When we put our faith in Jesus, that doesn't mean we only choose Him as our Savior. It means that we lay down our lives for Him - we choose Him as LORD over our lives. That's the way to salvation.

How can we let Him be LORD over our lives? Jesus says that its through obedience (if you love me, you will obey me).

We obey God through reading scripture and following it.

I suggest that you spend a lot of time reading the NT scripture. Ask God to open your heart and help you to read the Bible. Read the gospels slowly and get to know Jesus better and better. Then read the rest of the NT, which deals a lot with our Christian walks and with church life.

Then you can start on the OT. It can be very difficult and tedious at first - but as you grow in your walk, you'll understand the Bible more and more. And this is KEY to reading the OT - read it in context. By that I mean read the OT (and the whole Bible) as the story of God's redemption of mankind - that's the theme of all scripture. It will help you understand why certain things happen in the OT that you may not agree with.

I also suggest that you read with someone who is a "pro" with scripture - maybe a study partner or even a small group. We should all have mentors and those we look up that we can be discipled by.

God bless!

Answer 4

You're not alone. The Bible is a huge, old, and complicated book.

For starters, what version are you using? The King James version features antiquated language. It's beautiful, yes, but darn hard to understand at times. The New International Version is a little easier to navigate. Also, there's a great translation out called The Good News for Modern Man - it's in modern day-to-day English, and it has explanations in the margins.

You may contact me if you want to keep asking questions about this - on this webpage, you're more likely to get mean people just out to make fun of you. It's a rough world these days. Good luck and keep trying!

Answer 5

I have been in church, I have studied the Bible, etc. What most do not realize is that when the passage that states salvation is "to those that believe in Jesus", the English language screws it up. The original text reads "to those that follow". The problem is not if you go to church or read the Bible, all God wants any of us to do is to live a good life, lean on Him, not pray (I need this or I need that) but talk to Him as you would your closet loved one, and to treat others as you want to be treated. The bible tells us that the greatest thing we can do is to love others as Jesus loves us. So how does a church or a bible make you do that? It doesn't.

Answer 6

You are not alone. Many start off with difficulty. You only need to get together with someone that knows the Bible.
It could also be the section you are reading? Some parts you definitly will not understand until you have read other parts before.
Begin with John, and any part you don't get, write down to ask about it later. Enjoy it. You'll always find some wonderful new thing, even after years of reading.

Answer 7

The Bible can be hard to understand I have often heard that some of it is not meant to be understood. Don't give up though. I use to try reading it also and could not make heads nor tails of it, but I found out I was trying to do it on my own and now that I pray and ask God to help me understand it he does and the more you prayerfully read it the easier it gets. Hang in there! God Bless you!

Answer 8

when I was a new Christian I suffered the same thing. I felt the way I was living was good. when in fact it was not. I found that when I went to church and spoke with people of the same age and background I was able to join in and give my world view some times I was shown and explained to how this countered the bibles teaching it got me interested in reading those passages and that led to more reading etc. I would start in John and see where you go from there. there are alot of bible on tapes out there that you can listen to in your spare time. sometimes people are just not readers and pick up more by listening. it is not uncommon for people to start in a less than fun place to read in the bible such as deut. or numbers. they are hard to read and take alot of self control to handle the begats. sam begat jessi who begat paul etc. stick with it and make sure you are in a bible beleiving church that has a good sunday school that will guide you in learning. we just went through esther i thought it was boring before but after going through it in class it made great sense. they even have a movie on it its called "one night with the king"

Answer 9

Get thee to a good bible teaching church! And try the NIV, it's in more modern language. Is it the King James that you are reading? That can be difficult.

A good bible teaching church, with bible studies, will amaze you. You will learn with others and you will see how much better it is to fellowship and learn the bible with other believers.

It is very important for a Christian to know the word of God. Times are getting worse and worse, and your protection against the lies of the enemy (i.e., the culture of the day trying to tell you the bible is false), is knowing what is real, and that is the Word of God.

Answer 10

I recommend that you begin this growth today by:

1. Praying (talking to God) daily.

2. Reading the Bible daily. I would suggest you start with The Gosple of John, then the book of Philippians, then Romans. Later, you might want to read the whole New Testament starting with the book of Matthew.

3. Finding and getting involved in a Bible-believing church which stresses the free gift of eternal life

4. Finding a Christian friend to talk with for encouragement and support.

5. Telling others about your new life in Christ ad the gift of eternal life to all who believe in Him

You also can go to http://www.biblegateway.com/
to pick the virsion you want to try to read.

I also have the Gosple of John with notes that I could send to you email me at [e-mail] and I will get it to you as soon as posible.