Keep Bible Reading from Being Rude

Don't Ghost God. Respond in Prayer.

Photo by Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash

If you are gearing up to read through the Bible in 2025, or you are deciding how you will read the Bible and structure a devotional time, allow me to offer a quick encouragement:

Add prayer to your reading.

Whatever you read—whole Bible, Psalms, single book, Paul’s letters—add prayer.

Responding in prayer is essential for communing with God. Here’s a few reasons why.

1. Since the Bible is God’s word—his communication to us, through the centuries in histories, prophesies, and letters in the Bible—we should respond to his speaking to us.

2. Prayer is continuing the conversation with God. God spoke first (Bible), we speak second (prayer). He reveals. We respond.

3. To not respond to God’s words in prayer is to not fully communion with him.

Since prayer is continuing the conversation with God, if we don’t connect prayer to our Bible reading, we are abruptly and rudely ending the conversation. Imagine how rude it would be for someone to pour their heart out to you, or give you the greatest news or wisdom you’ve ever heard…and you just walk away. How rude?

Bible reading with zero response in prayer is rude. It’s ghosting God.

In regular conversation with others, we respond with amazement, interest, thanksgiving, celebration, rejoicing, and so on. The same is true in our Bible reading. Prayer is a response to God’s mighty deeds, marvelous grace, bountiful heart, and awesome attributes found in Scripture that connects with our lives. Bring the request. Ask for help. Confess sin. Enjoy his grace.

Don’t overthink it. And don’t under-think it either. This post on how I use a prayer journal may help.

Summary: Add prayer to your reading, even if it’s 30 seconds of response. If you struggle with prayer, I want you to realize that you already know how to talk. You do it every day. Just talk to God by responding to his word. You will become a better conversationalist over time.

Add prayer to your reading.

Keep the conversation alive.

Keeping communing with God.

You can even ask Jesus to teach you to pray.