Many people don’t read the bible because they simply don’t understand the bible or don't know where to start reading. A mobile prayer app will help you to start reading the bible. Indeed, the bible is a comprehensive work of literature that can appear overwhelming at first glance. Many people make the mistake of opening the bible to the book text of revelation where the complexity and symbolism quickly discourage them from reading the other parts of the bible. And, if they do read other parts of the bible, what they do read seems boring and requires too much background to understand it. So, they set it down and walk away, some never reading it again. A shame, because the bible is a wonderful compilation of God’s word expressed in history, prophecy, poetry and the Gospel's accounting of the life of Christ expressed through the apostles.
The Bible is composed of two basic parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is composed mostly of important Jewish history and prophecy with the book of Psalms and Proverbs leaning towards a more poetic presentation of the word of God. The New Testament, on the other hand, is composed of the first four books of the apostles: Matthew, Mark Luke, and John, and these four books discuss the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. After these first four books text is the book of Acts, which is a history of the beginnings of the early church after Christ rose from the dead and went into heaven. The apostle Paul writes the bulk of the New Testament with letters to the church in Rome (Romans), the church of Corinth (Corinthians), and others including Colossians, Ephesians, Thessalonians, and others. The end of the New Testament is, obviously, the book text of Revelations, which discusses end-time events.
Okay, so where do you start to read the bible so that you get a crash course on the background of the Bible? The best book to start reading and understanding the bible is the book of John (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and JOHN). This single book is all that one needs to read to start their lifelong journey in bible reading! This book will introduce you to Jesus in a way that no other book will and allows you to understand who Jesus was and why he came to earth.
There are many opinions as to the exact procedural approach to reading the rest of the bible but I am going to suggest a couple of ideas to you:
1. Always pray and ask God to bless your reading and understanding of his Word before you start reading. This way you have God’s guiding hand illuminating your mind as you progress.
2. Ask God to guide you in the book that he wants you to read. Ask God and then open the book to where your heart tells you to read. Even if it doesn’t make sense, read at least a few paragraphs… God will sometimes guide you this way and bring you back around some point in the future so it ties together.