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Reading the Bible
The bible is a library of books, letters and poems which describe different aspects of God’s relationship with his people – us. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘living word’ because we can relate to its words and feel that they are speaking to us personally. If you have never opened a bible, a good place to start reading is John’s Gospel in the New Testament, and the Psalms in the Old Testament.
Many publications provide daily bible readings to reflect on with a short passage to relate the bible verse to everyday life. You can also access daily bible reading online:
www.ucb.co.uk/word_for_today
Bible reading booklets containing a ‘verse for the day’ are also available for children and teenagers. These can be found in Christian bookshops - www.cwr.org.uk have a range that can be subscribed to.
Prayer
God made us to live in a relationship with him. Prayer is our conversation with God. We talk to him aloud or silently in our hearts and he answers us with comfort, wisdom and power outside ourselves. If you haven’t prayed before our advice would be to start simply and honestly wherever you feel comfortable. For some this may mean using books of prayers that can be read aloud. Others may use a bible passage as a starting point. Others may be familiar and comfortable with saying their own prayers aloud.
If you would like to pray aloud you can begin by saying thank you to God for all the good things in life. Thankfulness re-orientates our thinking. Next we can share with God all the things we are sorry for. God’s forgiveness wipes the slate clean and enables us to move forward freed from guilt. Finally we can ask God about anything, big or small, in our lives. This simple structure of ‘thank you, sorry, please’ can help us to begin.
Inspiring books
Sharing our faith with others can be a huge source of encouragement. Reading Christian books is a way of accessing this shared faith at our own pace. You can explore some titles that are available on these websites:
www.eden.co.uk
www.wesleyowen.com
The nearest Christian bookshop to browse around is Quench in Reading. Please see their website for directions www.quenchshops.com.
Other resources
Coming soon.