Q&A: Connecting with God versus Studying the Bible as a Textbook
A VerseNotes reader asked,
How do you stay connected to God through Scripture versus just studying the Bible as a textbook?
What a great question—one of the very first from the VerseNotes 7th anniversary survey, and a perfect place to begin our new Q&A series.
I’ll start off by agreeing with you: the Bible can definitely feel like a textbook. Especially if you’ve spent years in church, or sat through a lot of Bible studies, or attended a Christian school that turned the Good News into a graded assignment. The Bible can become something to analyze, decode, or defend—not a place to meet God.
So how do I stay connected?
I confess, I don’t always. Even while writing this article, I looked up a verse just to confirm the reference, and rather than pausing to reflect on its truth, I just wrote it down and moved on.
But there’s a better way, and here’s my answer:
If you don’t want the Bible to feel like every other book, don’t treat it like every other book.
1. Start with Prayer
Before I open the Bible—whether I’m reading my daily devotional, writing Chapter by Chapter, or looking something up—I try to pause and ask a question:
Why am I opening this book right now?
Sometimes the answer is obvious: I want to learn. Sometimes it’s desperation: I need help. Sometimes it’s habit—but even habits need re-alignment now and then.
The point is: ask the question.
Then invite the Spirit into your reading. Pray for God to bless and guide your purpose, your attention, and your response.
John Wesley said the Bible is “twice-inspired”: once when it was written, and again when it’s read. The same Spirit who inspired the words is present to help you receive them.
That’s how you keep Scripture sacred. Not by being precious with it, but by praying into it.
2. Recognize That Some Parts Are Textbooks (And That’s Okay)
The Bible isn’t just one book—it’s a library. And some books in that library really do feel textbook-y. That’s a feature, not a bug.
Chronicles is a genealogy-heavy, history-focused retelling of Israel’s past. Luke opens his Gospel by telling us he’s assembling the most reliable account he can. These authors are historians. They’re doing careful, faithful work to preserve a people’s story.
So if the Bible is feeling dry or academic, maybe that’s on purpose! Try switching genres. Move from the chronologies of Chronicles to the poetry of Psalms. From the precise logic of Paul’s letters to the raw humanity of the prophets. Try the gospels, especially Matthew or John. The Song of Solomon is a surprising way to reconnect to beauty, longing, and the God who created both.
You wouldn’t read a poem the same way you read a blueprint. Don’t read Leviticus the same way you read Luke.
3. Read a Different Bible (Literally)
My daily Bible is an ESV Study Bible. That means:
- Chapters and verses
- Thousands of footnotes
- Section headers
- Running commentary on every page
It’s great, and it works for me. But it’s also full of potential distractions.
If your current Bible feels like a reference manual, try a Reader’s Bible: no footnotes, no verse numbers, no subdivisions, just text. Just Scripture. Just story.
A beautiful new option I just heard of (from another VerseNotes reader) is called Immerse—a reader’s edition of the New Living Translation. It’s beautiful, approachable, and flows like a novel to help you read big swaths of Scripture without interruption. Other versions I’ve loved:
- The Word on the Street – A paraphrased Bible in urban/modern language (well, modern as of 2003).
- The Manga Bible – Exactly what it sounds like: Scripture in graphic-novel format. Fast, vivid, and surprisingly faithful.
- De Nyew Testament – A Gullah-language New Testament, gifted to me by my sister. Hearing Jesus speak in Gullah takes getting used to1, but feels like reading His words for the first time.
These three shouldn’t be your daily drivers. But they’re powerful when you need to see Scripture differently, and that’s often exactly what we need.
Here’s another practice that’s served me well: each year, I read a different version of the Bible—KJV, ESV, NLT, The Message. This year, I’m listening to an audio Bible. The format shapes what I notice.
Same Bible. New lens. Fresh delight.
4. Ask Better Questions
Asking questions is my love language. It’s the most reliable way I connect with God through Scripture, and it’s the backbone of everything I write at VerseNotes.
Every time I read, I ask:
- What is this verse really saying?
- Why is this story here?
- Who told this story?
- What does this tell me about who God is?
- And most importantly: How does this connect me to God?
Sometimes the answer is immediate. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) is easy-mode—Jesus mourns with us, even knowing resurrection is moments away.
But what about 1 Chronicles 1?
Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared…
Just a list of names. Textbook stuff.
But stop. Ask:
- Who are these people?
- What did they do?
- Why do we know their names?
- How are their names preserved?
Now read Luke 3:23–38. You’ll see many of those same names in the genealogy of Jesus.
The connection becomes electric: God knows our names. He folds ordinary people into His extraordinary plan.
Even in the driest lists, there’s a pulse.
5. Keep Reading Through Verses that Have Been Weaponized Against You
Practically every Christian has experienced some version of this.
It’s called “proof-texting”—getting hit with verses ripped out of context to control you, condemn you, win arguments, or support a political point. Maybe it was family, or your church, or angry people online. Maybe it was all of them. Maybe it still is.
Sometimes a verse has been used so hurtfully by people we know or love or trust that we can’t get past the pain to the God who wrote the words.
Let me say this clearly: I’m sorry. And also: keep reading.
God didn’t give us two or three verses to define who He is. He gave us an entire arc. A whole book. A history-spanning story with tension and mercy and sorrow and triumph.
You can’t understand the Cross without the Prophets.
You can’t understand judgment without Genesis.
You can’t understand grace without the Gospels.
There’s a lot of theology out there that hammers you with certainty and leaves no room for curiosity, compassion, or repentance. But that’s not what you’ll find in Scripture if you read the whole thing.
Here’s a topical example: I believe same-sex lust is sin. I also believe heterosexual lust is sin. So is anger. So is adultery.
Go read Matthew 5 for some vicious words from Jesus about people who single out just one of them.
As for me, I routinely wrestle with anger; as a man, lust is a regular struggle, too—and Jesus died for me. And for you. Hear this glorious truth:
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
If you’ve been hurt by a partial reading of Scripture, don’t stop reading. The whole story is better, richer, and more beautiful than whatever you’ve been told.
6. Write Down the Surprises, and Revisit Them
I’ve had hundreds of unexpected encounters with God in Scripture. Here’s one I still think about:
In Luke 2, a man named Simeon meets the infant Jesus at the temple. He’s old. He’s been waiting his whole life for the Messiah. And then one day, at just the right moment, the Holy Spirit leads him into the temple.
Wait. The Holy Spirit?
I had always thought the Holy Spirit didn’t show up until Pentecost. But here He is, long decades before Acts, calling Simeon by name. Moving him. Blessing him.
That moment changed how I thought about time and the Trinity. I wrote about it in one of my Advent articles, and now every year I’m reminded that not a word in Scripture is wasted.
Delight is fractal. The deeper you go, the more there is.
7. The Takeaway: Keep Opening the Book
Scripture is not just data. It’s a doorway.
It opens toward connection. Toward transformation. Toward the God who breathed it out and still breathes through it (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
You’ll go through seasons where Scripture is the best part of your day, and seasons where it’s all you can do to read one verse before falling asleep. Both are okay.
God meets you where you are. Just keep opening the book.
If Scripture feels flat, try a new version. A new question. A new prayer. Just keep opening it.
The more you return to Scripture—prayerfully, curiously, honestly—the more it will return to you.
Your Turn
Try this: Next time you read a passage—even one you’ve seen a hundred times—ask, “How does this connect me to God?”
Write down whatever comes.
Then come back tomorrow.
Got Your Own Question?
I’ll be answering more questions from the VerseNotes 7th Anniversary survey over the coming weeks. If you’ve got a question about Scripture, theology, or finding delight in God’s Word, just reply to any newsletter, drop it in the Commons, or email me at [email protected].
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John 15:1 in English: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” In Gullah: “A de true wine, an me Fada de one wa tek cyah ob de gyaaden.” ↩
