Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things

Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a new field. ... Spiritual reading, however, is different. It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. ...As we read spiritually ... we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words. Henri Nouwen Bread for the Journey

John Stott used to refer to this sort of thing as sitting under scripture and double listening: listening to the Word and listening to the world. On similar lines Søren Kierkegaard used to talk about the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Rather than reading in a utilitarian fashion to use the information for our own ends, reading can be for us spiritual formation where with discernment we can hear the voice of God challenging us or calling to us.