Sermon Tone Analysis
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INTRODUCTION
Last week we looked at a topic that was supposed to take only one Sunday to complete
That topic was “How to Read the Bible”
Reading our Bible should be a top priority
And this year I am wanting to encourage you to read your Bible or read it more
In a recent poll conducted by Lifeway Research, 83% said “they are more likely to talk to God through prayer rather than reading from the Bible.”
So only 17% in this survey reads the Bible
We said last week that when we pray we are talking to God
When we read the Bible God is talking to us
Both are extremely important
Both should be a daily regular activity of the believer
Even the world recognizes the benefits of reading
One website notes that “6 additional minutes of reading per day can significantly improve…reading performance” (https://comfyliving.net/reading-statistics)
Another site said “reading can reduce stress levels by…68%” (https://whydoeseverythingsuck.net/blog/book-reading-statistics)
But unfortunately “Americans between the ages of 15 and 44 only spend 10 minutes or less of their day reading books” (https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/research/reading-statistics)
But if you committed yourself to reading everyday for at least “20 minutes every day,” you “will have exposure to approximately 2 million words annually” (Ibid)
Other sites noted these benefits:
Reading helps reduce mental decline by 32%
19% of reader say spending time with a book makes them feel less lonely
Reading for 6 minutes slows heart rates and eases tension
Lifelong readers have lower rate of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia than their peers
Reading increases intelligence, it gives knowledge
It makes you think
Reading God’s Word on a regular basis will cause you to know God
You will also know what He says about certain issues
But to get the most out of your reading, there are 5 ways you can read it
We talked about 3 of them last time
We said you need to...
LESSON
I. Read Prayerfully
Our reading should be done with the deepest reverence
No one can comprehend the teachings of the Bible in his own ability
He must have the assistance of the Holy Spirit
Remember “the Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmities, but not our idleness” (Spurgeon)
David’s prayed in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.”
David was praying that God would “unveil [his] eyes” (Manton)
He wanted God to “take away from [his] eyes what is before them to prevent clear vision”
So before you start reading your Bible, it is crucial to pray (Pickowicz)
Prayer and Bible reading go together
Prayer is talking to God
Reading the Bible is God talking to you
Next you must...
II.
Read Undistractedly
The number one reason why people don’t read the Bible is because they are too busy
George Barna said, “40%” reported that their Bible reading decreased because they were “too busy with life’s responsibilities.”
We said a second distraction is TV
If you are an average American 18 years of age, you have already amassed about 18,000 hours of TV viewing
Experts tell us that by the time a TV-raised American reaches the age of 65, he will have had an average of nine-and-a-half years of solid TV viewing
That’s 15 percent of a person’s life spent in front of the TV set! (Taken from A.C. Nielsen)
If on the other hand, a person went to Sunday School regularly from birth till age 65, he would only have had a total of four months of solid Bible teaching
Being busy and tired are a dangerous combination but you must push through it
Remember Jesus was busy but He kept it a priority to spend time alone with the Father
He is our example of how to keep the Father first
Matthew 14:23 says He spent time “by Himself to pray.”
Other times He would “slip away…and pray” (Lk.5:16).
Sometimes He would spend “the whole night in prayer to God” (Lk.5:16).
Other times it would be early in the morning (Mk.1:35).
If Jesus needed time alone with the Father, so do you and I
So you need to read prayerfully and undistractedly
Notice the third...
III.
Read Daily
In our day of technology there is no excuse to not read your Bible everyday
Listening to the Bible read can be done almost anywhere
But to read your print Bible you have to schedule time
If you are at places where you can’t listen to the Bible, then take your print Bible with you and make moments to read
Plus it can be a witness to others
Recently I was at the skating rink with my kids and I took my print Bible with me to read over the passage I had been studying
After I was done, a guy sitting next to me commented on me bringing my Bible and pulling it out in public and reading it
That led to some good conversation and it reminded me people are watching whether you’re aware of it or not
Always remember that you need God’s Word everyday
You need to feed on it everyday
Remember Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Adopt the same attitude that Job had where he said in Job 23:12, “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.”
I shared with you last week that there are many ways to read the Bible daily
One is to use a Bible reading plan
This helps you to stay focused
It gives you something to follow
It guides you each day in your reading of Scripture
One plan that I mentioned was the 5 X 5 X 5 plan developed by the Navigators
Did you start it last Monday?
If you didn’t use that plan, did you start with another one?
Did you do anything?
Did you have a “Medo-Persian hour — an unchangeable hour for our Bible Study’” (Irving Jensen, cited by Finzel, p.40).
Reading prayerfully, undistractedly and daily
Notice now the 4th way to read...
IV.
Read Repetitiously
Take the time to read the text a number of times
As you read the words, verses, and passages over and over again consistently, your familiarity of them will grow
At the end of one week, you will develop a good working understanding of what’s going on in the passages
At the end of two weeks, your critical thinking of the verses begins to intensify
And at the end of one month in the same section of Scripture, it becomes an old friend that you’re sad to leave when you move on to the next book of the Bible (Pickowicz)
Take a book in the NT and read it over-and-over once a month
You can select one of your choice or read the one we’re studying
Break larger books into smaller sections and read each section for 30 days (eg.
Revelation has 22 chapters - divide it up into 8, 7, 7)
While you’re reading, write on a 3 X 5 card the major theme of each chapter
Everyday when you read the book, look at the card and read through the list
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