Let’s answer the question of which is more important, Bible study or prayer …

It seems to be a persistent question among Christians: “Which is more important, daily time reading/studying the Bible, or prayer?”

Let’s broach answering the question with another question: Which is more important, breathing in or breathing out?

The same level of rationale for the second question exists for the first … with a “but.”

Time reading and studying the Word of God every day, and time talking with God, are both essential to living life as an adopted child of God. Soak in the fact they are essential! And the good news behind that fact is we don’t have to make a choice between the two, we can listen to God (that’s time in the Word) and talk to God every day of our lives.

But …

Okay, if there was some odd reason that we were forced to pick one over the other, there is an answer: Time reading and studying the Word (hearing from God) would have to be the pick.

That does not diminish the essential need and priceless value of prayer. Just as it’s a lifetime of conversations that bond a parent and child together, the same is true of prayer, which is our talking with our heavenly Father. God desires and delights in our conversations with Him, and they have a priceless shaping and molding impact on our lives in growing and maturing as His children.

But …

If we had a choice of our talking with God but not hearing from Him, or our hearing from God but not be able to talk back, the greater need would be for us to hear from Him. God holds our lives in His hands, and we are utterly dependent on Him for life itself. And how to navigate this world, the relationships in it, and all that the human experience entails demands knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that are supplied specifically from Him … necessary “stuff” He teaches us in scripture.

“Stuff” we need for living life.

God doesn’t need to hear from us; He knows us better than we know ourselves, and yet He desires to converse with us (far more than we actually do!).

But we MUST hear and listen to Him.

So, yes, if forced to just one of the two, it would be more essential to be able to hear from God than talk to Him.

But again, the wonderful news is we don’t have to choose (in fact, it’s best to combine the two together).

Just as we don’t have to choose between breathing in and breathing out, we don’t have to choose between daily time hearing from God or daily conversations with Him. And just as it would be wildly foolish to try to choose just one, breathing in or breathing out, it’s equally as foolish to choose just one method of our two-way communication with God.

Make both — time in the Word, and prayer — as essential to your life each day as breathing.

Scotty