When i read the bible i feel no comfort. I don't feel anything actually. I want to feel peace, be comforted. But i feel nothing at all. Can somebody please help me?
Ask for it before you start reading. Ask God for wisdom, peace, and comfort. Ask that He opens up your heart, and that you may be made worthy to listen to His holy gospel. "Ask and it shall be given to you."
I once heard or someone once told me that even if you don't understand or feel comforted by reading the Bible, just by reading it, you are cleansed. (John 15:3-"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.")
Plus, perhaps the devil will try to deter you form anything spiritually beneficial so you should persist and not let him have his way.
Even if at the beginning you don't understnad or feel comfort, continue to read. In addition, read some spiritual books that you might find comfrt from or will help you to find comfort from the Bible. Start with something simple like the New Testament (Gospels, Letters of St. Paul) or the Psalms. The Psalms are beautiful--try reading those.
Dearest to Christ, may the Lord have mercy on you.
Why not try reading one of the Gospels all the way through, more like a story book, start with St Matthew, read all the way through, then St Mark, then St Luke, and then St John. Don't stop to analyse everything, just allow the overall message of the Gospels to soak into your mind and heart.
There is a burden which many bear from time to time of spiritual aridity. The Desert Fathers speak of it. This is when we need to keep on with a routine even though we feel little comfort. Pray at least one of the Agpeya hours each day. Begin it by telling God that you do not feel anything but wish to offer the prayer in any case. Read through the Gospels. Pray for others. Offer all of this to God even without any sense of His presence and He will reward you. But do not give up your usual practice of spirituality. Like a marathon runner who hits the wall, we sometimes need to just put one spiritual foot in front of the other for a while with no enjoyment but a commitment to moving on with hope.
The Lord sometimes wishes to test our resolve. Do we love Him only when we feel comfort, or will we love Him through hard, dry times as well.
Why not try reading one of the Gospels all the way through, more like a story book
What will we gain from reading the Holy Bible like a story book? After reading every passage we should use the acronym PATH (promise, i'm having a brain fart, i cant remember what A stands for at the moment.. but once i remember i'll post it ,teaching, and history) this way we can meditate and benefit from the Holy Bible. And we dont have to read much, understanding a verse is better than reading a whole chapter with no understanding. Plus this is the Holy Spirit talking, surely it should not be treated like a story book, every single verse can benefit us somehow.. and everything has more than one meaning to it. We can read a passage and look at it literally or read a passage and look at its symbolic meaning. The Bible is extremely deep spiritually, and if one just asks for the wisdom of understanding, God will enlighten the readers mind.
I am not sure that your suggestion works when someone is feeling very arid and spiritually dry.
There is no requirement that we should meditate slowly on every single verse or passage. There is in fact great value in reading the whole Gospels through to get a wider sense of the substance of the Christian message. I know many people who have knowledge of many verses but lack a clear understanding of the whole scope of the life of Christ.
There are times when God does not seem to come and meet with us. These times require patience and it is not always possible to carry on as if things were full of sweetness.
I dont know.. I still don't think it benefits us much that we read through the Gospel and get a sense of Jesus' life instead of understanding and living one good verse. There was a saint (i'm not sure who he is, but if your interested I can look him up and get you the name) who lived and understood ONE verse, yet he was illiterate (which means he probably had no or little understanding of the Holy Bible). I mean, yes it's good that we are knowledgeable when it comes down to our faith and the life of our Lord.. but I still feel that it's more important to understand little than to read a lot with no understanding. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I do think you are wrong, in the sense that without a knowledge of the whole our knowledge of a part will be distorted, and aloso in the sense that the original poster asked his question, if someone is feeling very arid then it is often too much to expect them to do more than read some passages and be in the presence of Christ in that way.
I am not sure why you would think it anything less than a blessing to read the whole of the Gospels?
It is indeed possible to learn a great deal from one verse, but it is not possible, outside of the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, to prosper without understanding much of the Gospel. One verse might provide an inspiration for a whole life, might bring about a radical change in lifestyle, but it does not seem to me that it would be healthy for a person not to have a grasp of the whole of the Gospels.
I am not arguing at all against the study of a small passage, but when a person's spirit is tired out and there is no sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit I think it is often too much to ask that a person conducts the indepth sort of exercise you suggest.
And I am convinced that we all need to know the whole of the Gospels thoroughly. Too many Protestants know a few verses but don't know the whole Bible.
Let's say I read the whole gospel, and I now know that God was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, crucified, and was resurrected. Ok, great. How do I learn from this? How will I gain comfort like geomike asked? Let's look at it in a different perspective, I read the verse "Love your neighbor as yourself". I live this verse by applying it to my daily life. I also feel the peace of God through this verse. I can keep taking a verse at a time until im done with the Gospel, instead of reading it all at one and benefitting nothing. It doesn't matter if one's spiritual level is dry or not to do this. Or does it? Please correct me if I am speaking wrongly.
I do not mean this critically at all, since it is clear that you love God and are growing in him.
But I think that if you do not know what is to be learned from reading the Gospels through, over and over, then you should do so until you do learn something.
Otherwise, I am not wishing to argue with you, and I pray that God will continue to bless you as he has and is doing in your study of the Scriptures.
Your right, I just assumed that people know the story.. but it makes more sense to be knowledgeable of the Bible before you get into depth. I agree. And I remembered the A in the PATH.. it's application ;D
Taishory, I believe the eseence of what Fr. Peter (and I) have said is that it's better to read some from the Bible than to not read at all. That's at least what I meant to say. Father Peter is right on--sometimes we are spiritually lukewarm and it's hard to feel excited to read the Bible--but that we must persist and read anyway, just like child who doesn't want to take his medicine.
When I wasn't reading the Bible, my FOC recommended I start with the New Testament (the Gospels and then epistles). However, I know someone else who started with the psalms. However, it may be more beneficial to begin with the Gospels and then read the psalms, because while they are beautiful, the psalms are enjoyed more when a person can relate to them and truly pray them (if you're at that level, it's a grat place to start--the psalms are short and inspirational). However, I know that the first time I read the enire book of psalms, I didn't enjoy them that much because they condemned me (actually, maybe that was a good thing). It kept saying, Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord, happy is the one who hopes in the Lord. this didn't apply to me, so I felt bad.
Anyways, to get back on topic, start small geomike. If you read a chapter a day of the Gospels, that's great. If half, that's still good. But persist and pray that God grant you the wisdom to read and act according to His holy Gospel.
I think we also need to remember that the Gospels were written essentially to be read out in public in the gatherings of the Christians, and the Gospel of Luke, for instance, is written as a letter to Theophilus and therefore might be expected to have been read as a single account of Christ which would be read all the way through.
I don't really mean that we should read the Gospels through to gain a mental or intellectual understanding of them, but it is only by reading the whole of a Gospel that we grasp more of what the author wanted to convey. We see the same phrases occuring, or a string of miracles that all teach the same thing, and we see that the Gospel is a coherent whole and was not primarily meant to be read in small chunks. Indeed the scriptures did not have verses or chapters, these are all much later, sometimes artificial, divisions.
That is not at all to decry an absolutely important study of chapters and verses. But the Gospels are not a haphazard collection of discrete verses, they are a unity, with a purpose, and it is by reading the whole Gospel that we can an insight into that purpose,
I think gaining comfort (which is good) is the most superficial benefit attainable from the Bible.
Sometimes I feel little to nothing from reading a Bible passage until a life crisis comes and that particular teaching becomes relevant.
Sometimes there are concepts in scripture that just don't seem to make any sense (to me), or are just odd (to me) and I end up puzzling over them for hours. I've recently realized that during those hours it was much more difficult for sin to enter my mind.
Sometimes the Bible gives me a great deal of discomfort. These are the most valuable because these are the times of real need when God is at work fixing something in my life.
[quote author=peterfarrington link=topic=8064.msg103765#msg103765 date=1244045088] Begin it by telling God that you do not feel anything but wish to offer the prayer in any case. Read through the Gospels. Pray for others. Offer all of this to God even without any sense of His presence and He will reward you. But do not give up your usual practice of spirituality. Like a marathon runner who hits the wall, we sometimes need to just put one spiritual foot in front of the other for a while with no enjoyment but a commitment to moving on with hope. Father Peter
i have tried this many times before. it works! also, like GArgiadis, i have spent hours trying to figure things out in my head and this is valuable too!
may God give you all peace and grace as you look into His holy book.
Comments
Peace.
Plus, perhaps the devil will try to deter you form anything spiritually beneficial so you should persist and not let him have his way.
Even if at the beginning you don't understnad or feel comfort, continue to read. In addition, read some spiritual books that you might find comfrt from or will help you to find comfort from the Bible. Start with something simple like the New Testament (Gospels, Letters of St. Paul) or the Psalms. The Psalms are beautiful--try reading those.
Why not try reading one of the Gospels all the way through, more like a story book, start with St Matthew, read all the way through, then St Mark, then St Luke, and then St John. Don't stop to analyse everything, just allow the overall message of the Gospels to soak into your mind and heart.
There is a burden which many bear from time to time of spiritual aridity. The Desert Fathers speak of it. This is when we need to keep on with a routine even though we feel little comfort. Pray at least one of the Agpeya hours each day. Begin it by telling God that you do not feel anything but wish to offer the prayer in any case. Read through the Gospels. Pray for others. Offer all of this to God even without any sense of His presence and He will reward you. But do not give up your usual practice of spirituality. Like a marathon runner who hits the wall, we sometimes need to just put one spiritual foot in front of the other for a while with no enjoyment but a commitment to moving on with hope.
The Lord sometimes wishes to test our resolve. Do we love Him only when we feel comfort, or will we love Him through hard, dry times as well.
Father Peter
Why not try reading one of the Gospels all the way through, more like a story book
What will we gain from reading the Holy Bible like a story book? After reading every passage we should use the acronym PATH (promise, i'm having a brain fart, i cant remember what A stands for at the moment.. but once i remember i'll post it ,teaching, and history) this way we can meditate and benefit from the Holy Bible. And we dont have to read much, understanding a verse is better than reading a whole chapter with no understanding. Plus this is the Holy Spirit talking, surely it should not be treated like a story book, every single verse can benefit us somehow.. and everything has more than one meaning to it. We can read a passage and look at it literally or read a passage and look at its symbolic meaning. The Bible is extremely deep spiritually, and if one just asks for the wisdom of understanding, God will enlighten the readers mind.
Peace.
There is no requirement that we should meditate slowly on every single verse or passage. There is in fact great value in reading the whole Gospels through to get a wider sense of the substance of the Christian message. I know many people who have knowledge of many verses but lack a clear understanding of the whole scope of the life of Christ.
There are times when God does not seem to come and meet with us. These times require patience and it is not always possible to carry on as if things were full of sweetness.
Father Peter
Peace.
I am not sure why you would think it anything less than a blessing to read the whole of the Gospels?
It is indeed possible to learn a great deal from one verse, but it is not possible, outside of the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, to prosper without understanding much of the Gospel. One verse might provide an inspiration for a whole life, might bring about a radical change in lifestyle, but it does not seem to me that it would be healthy for a person not to have a grasp of the whole of the Gospels.
I am not arguing at all against the study of a small passage, but when a person's spirit is tired out and there is no sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit I think it is often too much to ask that a person conducts the indepth sort of exercise you suggest.
And I am convinced that we all need to know the whole of the Gospels thoroughly. Too many Protestants know a few verses but don't know the whole Bible.
Father Peter
Let's say I read the whole gospel, and I now know that God was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, crucified, and was resurrected. Ok, great. How do I learn from this? How will I gain comfort like geomike asked? Let's look at it in a different perspective, I read the verse "Love your neighbor as yourself". I live this verse by applying it to my daily life. I also feel the peace of God through this verse. I can keep taking a verse at a time until im done with the Gospel, instead of reading it all at one and benefitting nothing. It doesn't matter if one's spiritual level is dry or not to do this. Or does it? Please correct me if I am speaking wrongly.
Peace.
But I think that if you do not know what is to be learned from reading the Gospels through, over and over, then you should do so until you do learn something.
Otherwise, I am not wishing to argue with you, and I pray that God will continue to bless you as he has and is doing in your study of the Scriptures.
Father Peter
Peace.
I believe the eseence of what Fr. Peter (and I) have said is that it's better to read some from the Bible than to not read at all. That's at least what I meant to say. Father Peter is right on--sometimes we are spiritually lukewarm and it's hard to feel excited to read the Bible--but that we must persist and read anyway, just like child who doesn't want to take his medicine.
When I wasn't reading the Bible, my FOC recommended I start with the New Testament (the Gospels and then epistles). However, I know someone else who started with the psalms. However, it may be more beneficial to begin with the Gospels and then read the psalms, because while they are beautiful, the psalms are enjoyed more when a person can relate to them and truly pray them (if you're at that level, it's a grat place to start--the psalms are short and inspirational). However, I know that the first time I read the enire book of psalms, I didn't enjoy them that much because they condemned me (actually, maybe that was a good thing). It kept saying, Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord, happy is the one who hopes in the Lord. this didn't apply to me, so I felt bad.
Anyways, to get back on topic, start small geomike. If you read a chapter a day of the Gospels, that's great. If half, that's still good. But persist and pray that God grant you the wisdom to read and act according to His holy Gospel.
I don't really mean that we should read the Gospels through to gain a mental or intellectual understanding of them, but it is only by reading the whole of a Gospel that we grasp more of what the author wanted to convey. We see the same phrases occuring, or a string of miracles that all teach the same thing, and we see that the Gospel is a coherent whole and was not primarily meant to be read in small chunks. Indeed the scriptures did not have verses or chapters, these are all much later, sometimes artificial, divisions.
That is not at all to decry an absolutely important study of chapters and verses. But the Gospels are not a haphazard collection of discrete verses, they are a unity, with a purpose, and it is by reading the whole Gospel that we can an insight into that purpose,
Father Peter
Sometimes I feel little to nothing from reading a Bible passage until a life crisis comes and that particular teaching becomes relevant.
Sometimes there are concepts in scripture that just don't seem to make any sense (to me), or are just odd (to me) and I end up puzzling over them for hours. I've recently realized that during those hours it was much more difficult for sin to enter my mind.
Sometimes the Bible gives me a great deal of discomfort. These are the most valuable because these are the times of real need when God is at work fixing something in my life.
[Just in case anyone cares what I think]
Begin it by telling God that you do not feel anything but wish to offer the prayer in any case. Read through the Gospels. Pray for others. Offer all of this to God even without any sense of His presence and He will reward you. But do not give up your usual practice of spirituality. Like a marathon runner who hits the wall, we sometimes need to just put one spiritual foot in front of the other for a while with no enjoyment but a commitment to moving on with hope.
Father Peter
i have tried this many times before. it works!
also, like GArgiadis, i have spent hours trying to figure things out in my head and this is valuable too!
may God give you all peace and grace as you look into His holy book.
69? 12? etc...
read pslams about peace, and comfort. And you will gain those elements in your heart thru the wisdom of Jesus Christ !
+mahraeel+