One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “How do you read so many books?” or “How do you read a book in a day?” Well, I think it’s worthwhile giving you a little history of how my passion to read developed.
I was not much of a reader before I became a Christian.
In fact, I had a speech impediment as a kid so I steered away from written and verbal communication. I also was a struggling student when it came to English. I still struggle getting the occasional verb, adverb agreement and things like that. But I was a C student. In fact, I never read much of anything in the way of books, literature, classic learning as the case might be.
The best I might do is fumble my way through a summary. Like when I was growing up we had these things called “Cliff Notes” which were these 15, 20 page summaries of the key ideas of major books that we should read. Then I would go into the quiz or the exam and I would do very poorly on that exam, because I learned very quickly that I not only I had a copy of the “Cliff Notes” but my teacher had a copy of the “Cliff Notes.” Anything that was taught in the “Cliff Notes” would not make its way onto the exam in order to truly test our knowledge.
But when I became a Christian, I began to have this desire to read the Bible. You know the Bible is a rather large book. In fact, it’s not just one book it’s actually a collection of 66 different books.
As I had this passion to grow, I dove into the Bible. Then I also had a passion to learn more about God and to read books about God. Then about a year later, when God called me into ministry, I knew that if I was going to leave my computer business and enter into this strange unknown world called ministry that I was going to have to learn.
I was going to have to learn quickly and I was going to have to learn a lot. I had some great mentors in those early days. But I knew that I needed to read. I very much remember praying and asking one of my mentors to pray with me.
“Pray that God will give me a passion to read. That I will be able to stay awake while I read. That I’ll be able to quickly absorb what I’m reading.” I can tell you that God answered that prayer. Since age 19 as I began this pursuit of ministry I have had this sincere and devout passion to read.
I don’t know exactly how it happened, God answered that prayer. I became a strong reader. I developed a strong memory. I developed this passion to learn and to grow because I know what God can do when you have that passion.
What if you began to pray and ask God to give you a desire to read more? Ask God for His help.
Your partner in ministry,
Nelson
P.S. I want to help you too! In my brand new resource “How to Read More Seminar,” I give you twelve simple steps to help learn how to develop and hone your reading skills so that you can grow as a leader more quickly and increase your capacity to read and comprehend more!
This opportunity ends August 9th!
Share This Post
© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.
About Nelson Searcy
