If you are a believer and do not have a daily personal time when you study God’s word, pray, and meditate on what you read then you are robbing yourself of a close relationship with God.

Consider this verse in 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

You need to get to know your Bible because this is how God shares truths with you. But too often, there are excuses from Christians as to why they cannot have Bible devotions. And you should not have devotions just to “punch a ticket” either. But let’s look at some of the barriers to having regular personal devotions and a solution to each.

Barrier 1: I don’t have enough time.

This is a very valid reason for not having devotions and one we have to fight all the time. We don’t have enough time in our society today. I always recommend to the person without a lot of time to just pick one verse, read it, and meditate on it as you commute to work.

Barrier 2: The Bible can be boring sometimes.

If you are reading the genealogies or something equivalent to that you be certain it is boring. Reading the Bible completely is not always the best way to get the Christian involved in devotions. Use a daily devotional guide (there are free ones on the internet) with a commentary that has personal application. That way you can stay interested and engaged.

Barrier 3: I don’t understand the Bible.

You’ll hear people tell you to only use this version of the Bible or that version of the Bible. Use the version you understand. I like to use the King James Version only because of preference and nothing more. But if I need clarification on something I don’t hesitate to go to the NIV or some other translation where the wording is more contemporary.

Barrier 4: I don’t like to carry my Bible around or I haven’t bought a Bible yet.

The internet has great free online Bible sites where you can read the Bible anywhere you have a computer. Plus, many of these sites have multiple translations (like KJV and NIV) where you can have one centralized Bible study location.

The most important thing you can do is read a verse every day. And if you miss a day, don’t worry about it. Pick it up the next day.