There is a particular danger that belongs to Bible teaching ministry. It is possible to handle Scripture constantly and yet be quietly underfed by it. Many pastors can testify to the experience. The Bible is open every day. Passages are studied. Sermons are prepared. Lessons are delivered. Yet the soul feels dry, hurried, and thin.

The problem is not the absence of Scripture, but the way Scripture is being approached. When ministry feels demanding, we can begin to treat the Bible primarily as material. We read to produce. We scan to extract. We move quickly because there is always more to do. In the process, we can lose the simplest grace, the Lord Himself meeting us in His Word.

This article is a plea for slow reading. Not slow as a technique, but slow as a posture of dependence. Not slow in order to feel impressive, but slow in order to be nourished. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). If that is true for the church, it is true for the pastor too.

The Temptation to Read for Output

In pastoral ministry, Bible reading and Bible preparation overlap constantly. That overlap is unavoidable, and it is often fruitful. A shepherd should be a man of the Word, and the pulpit should be fed from the study.

But there is a subtle shift that can take place over years. Scripture becomes mainly a tool for public ministry. We read with an internal question running in the background, what will I do with this. How will I preach this. Where will I use this. Even personal reading begins to feel like preparation. We are never fully off duty.

When that happens, the Bible can lose some of its capacity to surprise, convict, comfort, and restore. Not because Scripture has changed, but because we are no longer approaching it as listeners. We are approaching it as workers. There is labour in the Word, and it is good labour, but the Word is also meant to be bread and water for the worker.

It is worth naming the danger plainly. Reading only for output trains us to treat Scripture as raw material rather than living voice. It also trains us to use biblical truth to serve our sense of competence. The heart begins to find security in productivity rather than in communion with Christ.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1).

If the Lord is your shepherd, then your first need is not always a better plan. Your first need is often to be led, to lie down, to be restored, and to be made to drink from quiet waters (Ps. 23:2 to 3).

What Slow Reading Actually Is

Slow Bible reading is not the same thing as reading fewer chapters. It is a way of reading that values understanding, worship, and obedience over speed. It is reading that aims not merely at information, but at formation.

Slow reading asks simple questions and refuses to rush past them. What is the author saying. Why is he saying it here. What is being assumed. What is being challenged. What does this reveal about God. What does this expose in me. What response does this call for.

Slow reading pays attention to the words on the page, but it also pays attention to the heart. It notices where we resist the text. It notices where we are eager to skip. It notices where we feel dulled and where we feel stirred. It is not driven by guilt. It is driven by hunger.

Slow reading is also content to stay small. It can take a paragraph, or even a few lines, and sit with them long enough for meaning to sink in. That is not laziness. It is realism. Our minds can move quickly while our hearts lag behind. Slow reading gives the heart time to catch up.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Ps. 119:18).

This is the prayer of a man who expects the Word to yield wonder, but only by grace. Slow reading begins with this kind of humility.

Why Ministry Pressure Makes Slow Reading Hard

Ministry pressure does not only fill the diary. It shapes the inner world. It creates a constant sense of being behind. It makes silence feel irresponsible. It turns rest into a luxury. Under that weight, slow reading feels like indulgence.

There are also seasons when the demands are genuinely heavy. Crises, grief, conflict, tiredness, and the relentless repetition of weekly preaching can all compress the soul. In those moments, the temptation is to survive on efficiency. Read quickly, pray quickly, prepare quickly, and move on.

But Scripture does not describe God’s servants as men who survive on speed. It describes them as men who abide. “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). That is not the language of hurried production. It is the language of settled dependence.

The irony is that when we feel most pressured, we often need slow reading most. Under strain, we need reality. We need perspective. We need God, not merely concepts about God. Slow reading presses us back into that reality, even if it feels costly in the moment.

Scripture as Communion, Not Merely Instruction

The Bible teaches, corrects, rebukes, and trains (2 Tim. 3:16). But it also does something deeper. It brings us into fellowship with the living God. The Word is not an end in itself. It is a means by which God makes Himself known, and by which He draws His people into trust and love.

This is why slow reading matters. It is not about achieving a particular feeling. It is about allowing space for communion. The Lord’s words are meant to dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). Dwelling is not rushing. Dwelling is remaining.

When Scripture becomes only instruction, we may learn much and yet remain spiritually tense. When Scripture becomes communion, instruction is still present, but it comes with warmth and worship. The mind is fed, and the heart is steadied.

This is not sentimental. It is biblical. The Psalms are filled with men who speak to God because they have heard from God. They are slow, honest, repetitive, and deeply rooted. They show us that the Lord invites His servants not only to understand truth, but to live in it.

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch” (Ps. 5:3).

There is preparation here, but there is also watching. That is the posture of slow reading. Prepare, then watch. Read, then wait. Hear, then respond.

Three Ways to Read Slowly Without Becoming Sentimental

Some pastors resist slow reading because it can sound vague. They fear drifting into impressionism, where the text becomes a mirror for feelings rather than a voice with authority. That concern is understandable, and it can be addressed with simple practices.

These practices are simple, but they are powerful. They connect mind and heart. They also help a pastor remain anchored in the text itself, not merely in reactions to it.

How to Separate Devotional Reading from Sermon Preparation

Many pastors ask the practical question, how do I read devotionally when my entire week is filled with preparation. The answer is not to build a wall between the two, but to create a small, protected space where the goal is different.

Here are a few ways to do that without adding burden.

• Choose a portion of Scripture that is not your next sermon text. Even a short section, a Psalm, a chapter in a Gospel, or a paragraph in an epistle. The point is not novelty, but freedom from immediate output.
• Read less, but return more. Repetition is not failure. It is one of the Bible’s own methods. Read the same passage for several days and let it sink in.
• Keep the goal modest. One clear truth, one confession, one act of praise, one request. “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11) is a modest prayer, and it is enough.
• End by looking at Christ. Ask, what does this show me about the character of God and the grace of Christ. The aim is not analysis, but faith.

These practices do not replace sermon study. They protect the pastor from becoming a professional Bible handler who is no longer personally addressed by God.

When You Feel Dry, Do Not Panic

Many faithful pastors read the Bible and feel very little. They assume something is wrong. They chase new methods, new plans, and new experiences. Sometimes the answer is simpler. Remain. Keep reading. Keep listening. Keep praying. Dryness is not always a sign of unbelief. It can be a sign of weariness, or grief, or simply a season where the Lord is teaching steadiness rather than sweetness.

Scripture itself gives language for this. “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me. Hope in God” (Ps. 42:5). Hope is often a deliberate act, not a spontaneous feeling.

Slow reading helps in these seasons because it removes the pressure to perform spiritually. It is content to sit under the Word, even when the heart feels dull. It trusts that God is faithful to His means. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Hearing is sometimes ordinary. Faith still grows.

Conclusion: The Pastor as a Man Who Is Fed

In ministry, you will always be giving something. Words, attention, time, counsel, energy. If you are not being fed, your giving will slowly become strained. You may still function, but you will lose joy, tenderness, and spiritual resilience.

Slow Bible reading is not a luxury for quiet seasons. It is one of the ordinary means by which the Lord keeps His servants alive. It is how a pastor remembers that he is first a sheep before he is an under shepherd. The Lord restores souls (Ps. 23:3). He does so through His Word, by His Spirit, in the steady patience of daily listening.

So read slowly. Not as a badge of seriousness, but as a simple act of dependence. Let Scripture be nourishment, not merely material. Let it address you before you address others. And when ministry feels demanding, let the Word remain your first refuge, because the God who speaks is still the God who feeds.