Tips for reading the bible?

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Maria1993

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Hey everyone,I hope everyone is doing good tonight.

I’m trying to find a good way on how to read Scripture. I’ve read bits and pieces, but it’s time I start reading it. Thing is when I read a portion it gets hard to remember what I read…I have been having trouble with intrusive thoughts, but thanks to God they are gradually leaving! 😃 And just fighting them And ignoring them has left me almost energy drained, and I want to keep moving forward. I want to read Scripture and meditate on it so does anyone have any good tips to remember things?

Thanks in advance and God Bless! 🙂
 
Look up Jeff Cavins. He has put together a Bible Timeline program that really outlines the Bible and organizes the books in a chronology of salvation history. Very useful approach, in my opinion.
 
"I would like here to review the basic steps of this procedure. It opens with the reading (lectio) of a text, which leads to a desire to understand its true content: what does the biblical text say in itself? Without this, there is always a risk that the text will become a pretext for never moving beyond our own ideas. Next comes meditation (meditatio), which asks: what does the biblical text say to us? Here, each person, individually but also as a member of the community, must let himself or herself be moved and challenged. Following this comes prayer (oratio), which asks the question: what do we say to the Lord in response to his word? Prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, is the primary way by which the word transforms us. Finally, lectio divina concludes with contemplation (contemplatio), during which we take up, as a gift from God, his own way of seeing and judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us? In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul tells us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2). Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). The word of God appears here as a criterion for discernment: it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). We do well also to remember that the process of lectio divina is not concluded until it arrives at action (actio), which moves the believer to make his or her life a gift for others in charity.

We find the supreme synthesis and fulfilment of this process in the Mother of God. For every member of the faithful Mary is the model of docile acceptance of God’s word, for she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51); she discovered the profound bond which unites, in God’s great plan, apparently disparate events, actions and things.[297]"

–Pope Benedict XVI Verbum Domini
 
Pope Benedict XVI on Lectio Divina

“Note what Saint Jerome said in this regard: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (PL 24,17; cf Dei Verbum, 25). A time-honoured way to study and savour the word of God is lectio divina which constitutes a real and veritable spiritual journey marked out in stages. After the lectio, which consists of reading and rereading a passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements, we proceed to meditatio. This is a moment of interior reflection in which the soul turns to God and tries to understand what his word is saying to us today. Then comes oratio in which we linger to talk with God directly. Finally we come to contemplatio. This helps us to keep our hearts attentive to the presence of Christ whose word is “a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet 1:19). Reading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow into a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.”
(Message to the Youth of World Youth Day 9 April 2006)

“Among the many fruits of this biblical springtime I would like to mention the spread of the ancient practice of Lectio divina or “spiritual reading” of Sacred Scripture. It consists in pouring over a biblical text for some time, reading it and rereading it, as it were, “ruminating” on it as the Fathers say and squeezing from it, so to speak, all its “juice”, so that it may nourish meditation and contemplation and, like water, succeed in irrigating life itself.

One condition for Lectio divina is that the mind and heart be illumined by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, and that they be approached with an attitude of “reverential hearing”.” Angelus Nov 6 2005
 
This is just my own thing, if its not what you originally asked for then I apologize.

On most nights when I don’t have the most time but still want to get a little bit of scripture in my day, I’ll read two chapters or so from the NT, a psalm, and a proverb that coincides with the day of the month (31 proverbs = 31 days, so on the 17th I’ll read the 17th proverb), and I might hit a chapter of the OT.

I haven’t check out any of those “bible in a year” things, so if that is what you were asking for, I apologize once again for not being of much help.
 
Buy a Commentary. A Catholic one ideally.

It will explain all the subtleties you might miss that would have made perfect sense at the time it was written.

As an example, if someone writes he went to Las Vegas and got beat up, you understand he means he lost a lot of money gambling. But 2000 years from now, will they understand that, or will they think he was physically assaulted? Will they understand the significance of Las Vegas?

There are two letters to the Corinthians in the Bible. Corinth was wild. It makes modern-day San Francisco look mild. Knowing that helps to put some things into context, and lets you see why the fledgiling church there especially needed encouragement.
 
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