🕯️ Part 5 – Why the Bible Matters
The Word of God in prayer, worship, and daily life
For Christians, the Bible is not just a sacred book — it is a living voice, speaking truth, calling us to repentance, shaping our hearts, and revealing God’s love. It is a gift given not just to be read, but to be lived.
🧎 The Bible Teaches Us to Pray
Scripture doesn’t only inform our minds — it forms our souls. From the earliest days of the Church, believers have prayed with Scripture, especially the Psalms. Jesus Himself prayed Psalm 21 LXX (22 MT) on the cross. The Gospels show Him teaching His disciples to pray, and His words echo throughout the liturgical prayers of the Church.
When we read the Bible with faith, God speaks to us personally — in times of sorrow, joy, doubt, or gratitude. Its words become our own prayer, helping us respond to God with trust.
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
— Psalm 119:11
⛪ The Bible Lives in the Liturgy
Every liturgical service is saturated with Scripture. Vespers, Matins, the Hours and the Divine Liturgy are imbued with psalms, and with readings from the Epistles and Gospels, and the prayers paraphrase and embody biblical language.
The lectionary — the Church’s cycle of readings — carries us through the life of Christ, the feasts of the Church, and the full sweep of salvation history.
The Word of God is not simply read — it is proclaimed, chanted, processed, and venerated, especially in the reading of the Gospel.
It is not just heard — it is celebrated.
📖 The Bible Shapes Our Life
The Scriptures call us to live differently — with faith, courage, patience, mercy, and love. They teach us how to see the world rightly: as created by God, broken by sin, and being redeemed by grace.
They challenge our complacency, comfort us in suffering, and show us how to love God and neighbor. In the saints, we see what it looks like to live the Bible fully.
Reading the Bible with the Church is not optional — it is essential. It is how we grow, how we discern God’s will, and how we become more like Christ.
“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
— St. Jerome