How long to read scriptures for each day?

[Sunday21]

How long do you read scriptures for each day? I read the lesson and associated scriptures over on a Sunday. I read the commentary on ldsliving and meridien magazine also on Sunday. I listen to scriptural roundtable on the lesson also on Sunday. Throughout the week, I retread a chapter or two for about 15-20 minutes. To make it more interesting, I normally read some from step by step through the Book of Mormon but the site has been down lately. My scripture reading feels really blah lately. Any ideas?

[zil]

Our stake president challenged us to spend 30 minutes each day studying the scriptures and the most recent general conference talks (for the latter, in an earlier year, he challenged us to re-read all of them before the next conference - which is pretty easy to do with 1-2 / week - I do 2 / week when there's no RS lesson to study, and 1 in weeks when there is an RS lesson - works out well).  It has been a blessing to heed his counsel.

I read the conference talks on Sunday.  The rest of the week, I study the chapters for the Sunday School lesson, the RS lesson and associated scriptures, and in weeks where that doesn't take up all six days, I'm working through the Old Testament.  Early in the month, I use one day to study the visiting teaching lesson (which can be stretched into 30 minutes if you actually study the topic).  Any other reading I do (such as that prompted by some posts here), is in addition to my usual 30 minutes.

As part of this, I'm training myself to be more flexible - in the old days, breaking off my Old Testament reading to go read something else would have driven me nuts because I tend to be a "start to finish and curséd be all interruptions" sort of person.

For making something more interesting, I think study rather than reading, letting yourself get sidetracked (ala "why would they footnote that word?"), pondering, and the institute manuals have always helped deepen my understanding.  Highlighting, commenting (journaling thoughts), tagging, linking, and similar things (made infinitely easier by the Gospel Library app - which changed my scripture study forever, once I recognized the possibilities and embraced them, forcing myself to give up the paper*) also help to increase understanding, recall, and recognizing patterns and relations between various scriptures.

FWIW.

*I still read paper for fiction, exclusively, and will as long as that's an option; but for things I need to study, it took a while to recognize the advantages, but now I have gone wholly digital - the tools and aids are just too useful and beneficial.  The only benefit from the paper was my ability to remember position on page and shape of paragraph, but I've found ways to replace that and am not hindered by its loss.  In other words, I'm madly in love with the Gospel Library app.

[tesuji]

I think recent prophets have suggested 30 minutes a day, although lately I've been lazy and just listen to the audio version on LDS.org, one chapter a day.

 I think if you stop and ponder what is really being sad, then the Scriptures aren't boring. Pray to have the Spirit with you and they will not be boring.

Section 1 in the Doctrine and Covenants, for example - you could give a whole talk on just about every single verse in there. Another example: I took a semester class on just Isaiah at BYU. It was fascinating.

 It might help you to also read books and commentaries. I like the Institute manuals, which are free on LDS.org. There are many other good books also. If you want to see how much depth there can be in the Scriptures, check out the books  and lectures by Hugh Nibley, for example.

It also helps to ask yourself questions about what you read, and to liken the Scriptures unto yourself.

Edited July 30, 2016 by tesuji

[An Investigator]

I read 5 chapters a day of the scriptures of a morning.    Im currently reading the Book of Mormon institute manual and i do two chapters a week,  i like answering the questions and stuff.  Other then that i read all my stuff for Sunday. 

[james12]

I submit that a focus on how much time is spent in the scriptures misses the point. Time reading the word does not equate to our lives being edified. The Savior himself clearly points this out when he tells the Pharisees the following: 

Quote

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:37-40 ESV) 

These people considered themselves masters of the scriptures and quoted them often and regularly. Yet note that when Christ came they did not see who he was. Why? Because despite their reading, they had never heard the Father's voice and his word was not abiding in them. They thought they would find eternal life by reading the scriptures but they were so far from the Lord that they wanted to kill him!

Focus instead on feeling the spirit of the Lord when you read. This may mean spending just a minute reading a verse and then pondering on it on and off during the day. I have been greatly enlightened by doing so. Or if may mean reading a book from start to finish (particularly if you are new to the gospel). Or perhaps, asking questions, in faith, of the scriptures and searching for the answer. I have found all of these methods useful. But in any case, the vital point is to receive enlightenment, inspiration, and even revelation. By doing so, your time in the scriptures will be a joy and you will draw closer to the Lord.

[zil]

4 hours ago, tesuji said:

I took a semester class on just Isaiah at BYU.

And there's an institute manual for it (unless it's one of the ones they've removed), and the BYU tv show with the professors sitting around discussing the scriptures has a season for just Isaiah!

50 minutes ago, james12 said:

Focus instead on feeling the spirit of the Lord when you read. This may mean spending just a minute reading a verse and then pondering on it on and off during the day. I have been greatly enlightened by doing so.

If you can do this, good, but too often people overbook themselves and find they've gotten to the end of the day and haven't done any pondering.  I think that is why so many of our leaders (including prophets) tell us to set aside a specific time, so that it can't get buried and forgotten by the other tasks of the day.  (I find the "overbooking" might be one of the biggest challenges for members of the church today - I hear the complaint constantly from many members that they don't have time for this or that gospel or church thing.  My response is a challenge to prayerfully find one time-consumer to remove from their life and not replace (because the Lord will replace it through promptings, if they let him).)

And, I wish to add, that the 30 minutes studying the scriptures challenged by my stake president included pointing out that this might be 5 minutes of reading and 25 minutes of pondering - the important point was that a greater (for most people) amount of time is spent "in the scriptures" or "feasting".  In other words, your counsel to ensure the Spirit is with you as you study can be met regardless of whether you do it all at once, or ponder throughout the day, and should be implicit when we discuss scripture study (though I appreciate the explicit reminder).

[Awakened]

Yeah, what a lot of people here said. It's not about the amount of time, it's about getting the most out of it that you can, whether it takes 5 minutes or 30 minutes. But MAKE SURE you set aside time for it. At least 30 minutes should be set aside so if you need to ponder and/or read more, you can without interruption.

Which brings me to my last point. Minimize all interruption of your scripture reading when you're actually doing it so you dedicate your mind fully to reading and feeling the spirit instead of worrying about this or that or someone texting you or etc.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Awakened

[james12]

8 hours ago, zil said:

If you can do this, good, but too often people overbook themselves and find they've gotten to the end of the day and haven't done any pondering.  I think that is why so many of our leaders (including prophets) tell us to set aside a specific time, so that it can't get buried and forgotten by the other tasks of the day.  (I find the "overbooking" might be one of the biggest challenges for members of the church today - I hear the complaint constantly from many members that they don't have time for this or that gospel or church thing.  My response is a challenge to prayerfully find one time-consumer to remove from their life and not replace (because the Lord will replace it through promptings, if they let him).)

And, I wish to add, that the 30 minutes studying the scriptures challenged by my stake president included pointing out that this might be 5 minutes of reading and 25 minutes of pondering - the important point was that a greater (for most people) amount of time is spent "in the scriptures" or "feasting".  In other words, your counsel to ensure the Spirit is with you as you study can be met regardless of whether you do it all at once, or ponder throughout the day, and should be implicit when we discuss scripture study (though I appreciate the explicit reminder).

I think setting aside time to read the ponder the scriptures is indeed important and I have no problem with the way your stake president outlined spending that 30 minutes. The problem is, that we as a society are so task oriented that many do not implicitly understand that we must allow ourselves space during our reading so the spirit may enter in. In fact, despite this being the most important aspect, we leave it out. Instead we create another task on our to do list. We focus our minds on completing the task and feel that we must accomplish some good thing (it may be getting through two chapters, or even trying to force ourselves to feel the spirit). However, as long as we are in such a frame of mind it is hard for the spirit to enter. Pushing in this way, over time, we feel weighed down by scripture study instead of lifted up. 

What I'm saying, is for that 30 minutes or 5 minutes, just forget what you need to accomplish. Just lose yourself in the words. You may lose yourself by searching the scriptures, or simply by considering one verse. In that space the spirit will come and what was a chore will become a joy. 

[Jane_Doe]

1 hour ago, james12 said:

I think setting aside time to read the ponder the scriptures is indeed important and I have no problem with the way your stake president outlined spending that 30 minutes. The problem is, that we as a society are so task oriented that many do not implicitly understand that we must allow ourselves space during our reading so the spirit may enter in. In fact, despite this being the most important aspect, we leave it out. Instead we create another task on our to do list. We focus our minds on completing the task and feel that we must accomplish some good thing (it may be getting through two chapters, or even trying to force ourselves to feel the spirit). However, as long as we are in such a frame of mind it is hard for the spirit to enter. Pushing in this way, over time, we feel weighed down by scripture study instead of lifted up. 

What I'm saying, is for that 30 minutes or 5 minutes, just forget what you need to accomplish. Just lose yourself in the words. You may lose yourself by searching the scriptures, or simply by considering one verse. In that space the spirit will come and what was a chore will become a joy. 

I am a VERY task oriented person, and do literally add "study scriptures" to my To Do List (right under "Eat food today").  Depending on the day it may be "study scriptures for X time", and so I study for X amount of time, whether that be pondering 1 verse or a whole chapter.  And if I'm not done pondering it in that time, then I keep pondering until it's done: whether that's studying more that day, or having the topic be leftovers for tomorrow's study.  I don't force the topic or a strict regiment, but try to keep a healthy intake for my spirit--- iust like my To Do "eat food today".

[Sunday21]

1 hour ago, Jane_Doe said:

I am a VERY task oriented person, and do literally add "study scriptures" to my To Do List (right under "Eat food today").  Depending on the day it may be "study scriptures for X time", and so I study for X amount of time, whether that be pondering 1 verse or a whole chapter.  And if I'm not done pondering it in that time, then I keep pondering until it's done: whether that's studying more that day, or having the topic be leftovers for tomorrow's study.  I don't force the topic or a strict regiment, but try to keep a healthy intake for my spirit--- iust like my To Do "eat food today".

I am the same way. I need direction! I once found a list published by the church that had things like visit temple once a month with a family name. I was delighted!

[james12]

1 hour ago, Jane_Doe said:

I am a VERY task oriented person, and do literally add "study scriptures" to my To Do List (right under "Eat food today").  Depending on the day it may be "study scriptures for X time", and so I study for X amount of time, whether that be pondering 1 verse or a whole chapter.  And if I'm not done pondering it in that time, then I keep pondering until it's done: whether that's studying more that day, or having the topic be leftovers for tomorrow's study.  I don't force the topic or a strict regiment, but try to keep a healthy intake for my spirit--- iust like my To Do "eat food today".

38 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

I am the same way. I need direction! I once found a list published by the church that had things like visit temple once a month with a family name. I was delighted!

My point appears more nuanced then I first believed. There is nothing inherently wrong with "The List", in fact with the right frame of mind it may be a good thing. So let me ask, when you march through The List are you zeroed in on the effort alone, or can you still focus on how an event happens? Does The List make you feel weighed down when other things "get in the way" or can you push items on the list aside and still have peace in your day? 

Perhaps I can take from C.S. Lewis who explained it well. He said: 

Quote

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. ...It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind. We can only do it for a moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. (Mere Christianity, p. 198-199)

I have found that in the quieter life (not necessarily doing less, but being more at peace) the gospel can feel fresh and alive again. 

[Jane_Doe]

56 minutes ago, james12 said:

My point appears more nuanced then I first believed. There is nothing inherently wrong with "The List", in fact with the right frame of mind it may be a good thing. So let me ask, when you march through The List are you zeroed in on the effort alone, or can you still focus on how an event happens? Does The List make you feel weighed down when other things "get in the way" or can you push items on the list aside and still have peace in your day? 

Perhaps I can take from C.S. Lewis who explained it well. He said: 

I have found that in the quieter life (not necessarily doing less, but being more at peace) the gospel can feel fresh and alive again. 

Personally, having it on The List actually gives me more quiet and peace because it is on the same list as all the other important stuff, and when it's time to read scriptures everything else needs to just wait it's turn.  I'm not really focused on the motions themselves, more just that the goodness happens. Just like I when I eat physical dinner I don't care about whether it was done with a spoon, fork, at the table, or other place: just important that the nourishment was attained.

[Sunday21]

On July 31, 2016 at 10:58 PM, Jane_Doe said:

Personally, having it on The List actually gives me more quiet and peace because it is on the same list as all the other important stuff, and when it's time to read scriptures everything else needs to just wait it's turn.  I'm not really focused on the motions themselves, more just that the goodness happens. Just like I when I eat physical dinner I don't care about whether it was done with a spoon, fork, at the table, or other place: just important that the nourishment was attained.

I am with you! Love the list. If the item is on the list, I don't have to carry the reminder to do the thing in my brain.

[Traveler]

On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 8:32 PM, Sunday21 said:

How long do you read scriptures for each day? I read the lesson and associated scriptures over on a Sunday. I read the commentary on ldsliving and meridien magazine also on Sunday. I listen to scriptural roundtable on the lesson also on Sunday. Throughout the week, I retread a chapter or two for about 15-20 minutes. To make it more interesting, I normally read some from step by step through the Book of Mormon but the site has been down lately. My scripture reading feels really blah lately. Any ideas?

Many years ago my mission president said that in reality it is not necessary to read or ponder the scriptures every single day – just the days you eat.

 

The Traveler