When Doubt Creeps In During Bible Reading

You sit down with your Bible, ready to seek God, but almost immediately a voice begins to whisper Is this really true? Did this really happen? How do I know any of this is real? If you’ve ever experienced doubt in your Bible reading, you are not alone and you are not broken.

Even committed Christians encounter moments when their faith collides with skepticism, when the truths they profess feel distant or fragile. For some, this experience is a spiritual battle more than an intellectual one. And that’s exactly why it matters. Because the battle over your Bible is a battle over your joy, your peace, and your hope.

Here are six Scripture-rooted ways to resist the inner skeptic and stay anchored in truth.

1. Pray Before You Read

Begin every time in the Word with an honest prayer: “Lord, help my unbelief.” Echo the desperate cry of the father in Mark 9:24 who said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” This prayer isn’t just poetic it’s warfare. You're asking God to fight for your faith against the lies that seek to steal it.

Doubt does not disqualify you from engaging Scripture. In fact, your prayerful honesty invites the very help you need.

2. Ask for Spiritual Sight

We often long for hard evidence, like Thomas who said he wouldn’t believe unless he touched Jesus’s wounds. But when Jesus appeared, Thomas believed without ever needing to reach out (John 20:27–29). Why? Because he saw something deeper Christ’s glory.

Ask God to give you this spiritual vision. Not just mental agreement, but soul-deep conviction. When you open the Bible, pray, “Lord, let me see Jesus.” True seeing is spiritual, and it comes by grace.

3. Meditate on Christ’s Kindness to Doubters

Jesus didn’t shun the doubting. When Peter began to sink in the waves because of fear, Jesus didn’t rebuke him harshly. He reached out His hand and saved him (Matthew 14:30–31). Let this truth settle into your heart Jesus is kind to doubters. He meets us in our sinking moments, not with shame, but with grace.

Remembering Jesus’s patience can help disarm the shame that often comes with doubt. You’re not the first to feel this way and He’s still reaching out.

4. Surround Yourself with Strong Faith

The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. Scripture commands us to “exhort one another every day” (Hebrews 3:12–13) and to imitate those with strong faith (Hebrews 13:7). Sometimes, your faith is strengthened simply by being around those who believe deeply, who have wrestled through doubts and come out stronger.

Find these voices in person, in books, in sermons. Let their trust in God be a steadying hand when yours feels weak.

5. Trust the Body of Christ

In 1 Corinthians 12:21, Paul reminds us that the eye can’t say to the hand, “I have no need of you.” That applies to you too. There are scholars, pastors, mentors, and friends in the Body of Christ who have labored over the same doubts you face and found wisdom and clarity in God’s Word.

Don’t ignore the treasure of insight within the Church. When your understanding falters, seek help. We’re meant to lean on each other.

6. Keep Reading Anyway

Perhaps the most important encouragement. Don’t stop reading your Bible. The enemy’s tactic is simple use your doubt to separate you from the source of faith. But Scripture is clear: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Even when it feels hard, even when it feels dry, plant your roots deep in the Word. Psalm 1 promises that the one who meditates on God’s law day and night will be “like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3). That kind of rootedness doesn’t wither in doubt it endures through it.

God Can Handle Your Questions

Your doubt doesn’t scare God. He invites you to come with your honest questions, your fragile faith, your inner skeptic. He doesn’t demand perfect understanding He calls you to come and see. To come and taste. To come and trust.

So, open your Bible tomorrow not to perform, but to plead. “Lord, let me see Your beauty here. Fight for me. Help me believe.”

Then keep reading. Keep praying. Keep showing up. Because the Word that once split seas and raised the dead is still alive and it’s still strong enough to steady your faith.

Struggling with Scripture? You’re not alone. Share this with a friend or subscribe to our newsletter to find more encouragement in the fight.