Why Reading the Bible Feels Hard—And What to Do About It

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I’ve been a pastor and missionary for over three decades, and I still have days when I close my Bible more confused than when I opened it. There. I said it.

For years, I thought admitting that would disqualify me from ministry. Pastors are supposed to have this figured out, right? We’re supposed to open Scripture and watch the heavens part. But here’s what I’ve learned: the struggle to read and understand the Bible isn’t a sign of weak faith. It’s actually part of how God designed the process to work.

If reading Scripture feels hard right now, I want to walk with you through why and what we can do about it together.

The Bible Itself Shows Us This Is Normal

One of my favorite moments in Scripture happens on a dusty road in Acts 8. An Ethiopian official, a man of significant position and education, is reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip approaches and asks a simple question: “Do you understand what you are reading?”

The man’s response is disarmingly honest: “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:30-31).

Here was a devout man, traveling home from worshiping in Jerusalem, genuinely seeking God through Scripture. And he freely admitted he was lost. He wasn’t ashamed of his confusion. He recognized that understanding ancient prophecy required help he didn’t have at the moment.

This moment matters because it shows us that needing guidance with Scripture is woven into the biblical story itself. God didn’t design His Word to be mastered in isolation.

We see this pattern elsewhere in the Bible. After the exile, when Ezra read the Law to the returned Israelites, the Levites stood among the people “making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read” (Nehemiah 8:8). Understanding required explanation. Clarity is required from teachers.

Even Jesus’s own disciples needed help. After His resurrection, Jesus walked with two followers on the road to Emmaus and “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Later that evening, Luke tells us something remarkable: “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).

If the disciples who walked with Jesus needed their minds opened to understand, we shouldn’t be surprised when we need help too.

Three Reasons the Bible Feels Hard

Understanding why something is difficult often helps us address it. Here are three common reasons believers struggle with Bible reading, and none of them have to do with your spiritual maturity.

The Distance Problem

Scripture was written across roughly 1,500 years, in three languages, on three continents, within cultures vastly different from our own. When you open Genesis, you’re stepping into a world without electricity, modern medicine, or democratic government. The original readers understood cultural references, literary conventions, and historical contexts that we have to work to recover.

This isn’t a flaw in Scripture. It’s actually part of its beauty. God chose to reveal Himself through real people in real times and places. But it does mean we’re reading someone else’s mail, as one scholar put it, and sometimes we need to learn about the original recipients to grasp the message fully.

The Expectation Problem

Many of us approach Bible reading expecting immediate emotional impact every single time. We’ve been told that if we’re truly spiritual, the words will leap off the page and transform us in the moment. When that doesn’t happen, we assume we’re doing something wrong.

Consider this reality instead: some Bible reading is like planting seeds. You won’t see the harvest today. You might not see it this month. But the Word is still working, still taking root, still doing what God designed it to do. Isaiah 55:11 promises that God’s Word accomplishes His purposes. It doesn’t promise we’ll always feel it happening.

The Habit Problem

Reading the Bible consistently requires building a habit, and habit formation is genuinely difficult. It’s not just a spiritual issue. It’s a human issue. We struggle with exercise routines, healthy eating, and regular sleep schedules for the same reasons we struggle with daily Bible reading. Our brains resist new patterns, especially ones that don’t provide immediate rewards.

This means that sometimes what feels like a spiritual problem is actually a practical one. And practical problems have practical solutions.

What Actually Helps

Let me share some approaches that have helped both the people I’ve walked alongside over the years and me.

Start smaller than you think you should. If you’re currently reading zero minutes a day, don’t commit to an hour. Commit to five minutes. Read one psalm. Read one chapter. The goal at first isn’t depth; it’s consistency. You can always read more once the habit takes hold, but you can’t build on a foundation of guilt from unrealistic goals.

Read with others. Remember that Ethiopian official? He needed Philip. We need each other. Join a small group. Find an accountability partner. Listen to your pastor’s sermons with your Bible open. The Christian life was never meant to be solo, and neither was Bible reading.

Use tools without shame. Study Bibles, commentaries, and reading plans aren’t crutches for weak Christians. They’re resources for wise ones. The Levites in Nehemiah’s day stood among the people explaining the text. Good Bible tools continue that tradition.

Pray before you read. This sounds simple, but it matters. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind to understand, just as Jesus opened the minds of His disciples. God wants you to understand His Word even more than you want to understand it.

Give yourself grace on hard days. Some days you’ll have rich, meaningful Bible reading. Other days, you’ll read a chapter and remember nothing. Both days count. God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on the quality of your quiet time.

Your Next Step

Here’s what I want you to do this week: choose one book of the Bible to read slowly. I’d suggest starting with Mark’s Gospel. It’s the shortest Gospel, fast-paced, and focused on who Jesus is through what He does.

Read one chapter a day. That’s it. Don’t worry about understanding everything. Don’t feel pressure to have a spiritual epiphany (If that happens, great. If not, no worries). Just read. When you finish Mark in sixteen days, you’ll have accomplished something meaningful, and you’ll have built momentum for what comes next.

If you miss a day, don’t quit. Don’t go back to day one. Just pick up where you left off. Progress matters more than perfection.

A Word of Blessing

As we begin this new year together, I want you to hear this: God is not disappointed in you for finding Scripture difficult. He’s delighted that you’re seeking Him at all. The fact that you’re reading these words, wrestling with this struggle, and looking for help proves that the Spirit is at work in you. Thomas Merton wisely said, “I believe that the desire to please you [God] does in fact please you [God].” (Emphasis added).

The Bible you’re holding contains the very words of life. It’s worth the effort. It’s worth the struggle. You are not walking this road alone.

May 2026 be the year your Bible reading moves from duty to delight. Not because it becomes easy, but because you discover that the God who inspired these words is meeting you in them, page by page, day by day.

Grace and peace to you.

Danny

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