Overview
Relationships require communication, and our relationship with the Lord is no different. But maintaining a feeling of closeness with our omnipotent creator can feel challenging when we can’t simply pick up the phone or grab a coffee with Him.
If you’re struggling to maintain a close relationship with God, you’re not alone. Recent research suggests that strengthening our relationship with God is a top priority for many (Lifeway Research, 2021). Doing so may enhance not only our spiritual well-being, but also our mental well-being (Culver, 2021). The question is how.
Our communication with God primarily takes two forms—prayer and scripture. We speak to God through prayer and He speaks to us through scripture inspired by Him.
In a previous experiment, we tested whether praying for 1 minute can make us feel closer to God. The results revealed that, indeed, even a brief prayer to our Creator can increase feelings of closeness to God.
In this experiment, we tested whether reading a few short verses from various books in the Bible can have a similar effect, strengthening our feelings of closeness to God.
If you’re struggling to maintain a close relationship with God, you’re not alone. Recent research suggests that strengthening our relationship with God is a top priority for many (Lifeway Research, 2021). Doing so may enhance not only our spiritual well-being, but also our mental well-being (Culver, 2021). The question is how.
Our communication with God primarily takes two forms—prayer and scripture. We speak to God through prayer and He speaks to us through scripture inspired by Him.
In a previous experiment, we tested whether praying for 1 minute can make us feel closer to God. The results revealed that, indeed, even a brief prayer to our Creator can increase feelings of closeness to God.
In this experiment, we tested whether reading a few short verses from various books in the Bible can have a similar effect, strengthening our feelings of closeness to God.
The Experiment
We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 307 Christians on an online academic research platform, Prolific, to test whether reading three Bible verses makes us feel closer to God. Participants were randomly assigned to either write about their day (a neutral “control” condition) or read three Bible verses.
We used two sets of different Bible verses to ensure the results weren’t just driven by the specific verses we selected. These verses are included below.
We used two sets of different Bible verses to ensure the results weren’t just driven by the specific verses we selected. These verses are included below.
Bible Verse Set #1
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. [2] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. [2] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
Bible Verse Set #2
Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
John 15:12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
John 15:12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
After completing the activity, participants were asked “How distant or close do you feel to God right now, at this moment?” on a 1-7 scale (1 = Very Distant, 7 = Very Close).
Results
Participants who read three Bible verses experienced about the same level of closeness to God (avg. = 4.97) as participants in the neutral writing condition (avg. = 4.72), (p = 0.190). The graph below illustrates this statistically non-significant difference. Contrasting this result with our prayer finding, it seems that prayer makes us feel closer to God about twice as much as reading the Bible.
The results did not differ based on participants’ gender, age, Christian denomination, importance of religion in one’s life, or how often one reads the Bible. We did, however, find significant positive relationships between closeness with God and frequency of reading the Bible, as well as age, frequency of prayer, and religion’s importance in one’s life.
Conclusion
Ideally, both reading God’s word and praying to Him would strengthen our feelings of closeness to God. But as is often the case in relationships, most of us love talking more than listening. The results of this experiment and our prayer experiment suggest that praying increases our feelings of closeness to God about twice as much as reading three Bible verses.
A few possible explanations are as follows. It could be that some of us just don’t enjoy reading, or that we fail to think about how the scriptures apply to our own lives. It could also be that the number of Bible verses matter, or the specific verses selected. Perhaps reading an entire chapter from a Book of one’s choosing or simply focusing on a single verse, memorizing it, and applying it to our own lives would yield better results. It’s certainly an interesting and important area for future research.
A few possible explanations are as follows. It could be that some of us just don’t enjoy reading, or that we fail to think about how the scriptures apply to our own lives. It could also be that the number of Bible verses matter, or the specific verses selected. Perhaps reading an entire chapter from a Book of one’s choosing or simply focusing on a single verse, memorizing it, and applying it to our own lives would yield better results. It’s certainly an interesting and important area for future research.
References
Culver, J. (2021). How Consistency in Closeness to God Predicts Psychological Resources and Life Satisfaction: Findings from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(1), 103–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520956710
Lifeway Research (2021). American Views on New Year’s Resolutions: A Survey of 1,005 Americans. https://research.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/American-Views-on-New-Years-Resolutions-Sept-2021-Report.pdf
Lifeway Research (2021). American Views on New Year’s Resolutions: A Survey of 1,005 Americans. https://research.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/American-Views-on-New-Years-Resolutions-Sept-2021-Report.pdf