If you’ve slipped on your daily Bible reading plan or are ready to set up a daily Bible reading plan to grow close to God, this is the post for you!
Whether you are new to the Bible or an old friend who has lost their way, setting up a daily Bible reading routine is going to be a fantastic use of your time!!
You are going to understand just what I mean when I start talking to you about brushing teeth… well, maybe I’ll just let that wait for the next paragraph.
So, like I was saying, setting up a daily Bible reading plan is going to serve your relationship with God and build a strong foundation as you seek a better connection with God this year!
My goal with this article is to help you:
-See how easy it can be to begin connecting with God daily
-Figure out what type of daily Bible reading process works best for you and demonstrate the power of the word of God
-Give you free resources to help you get started… today!
Where to Start When Reading the Bible
If you are ready to dive into your daily bible reading plan but are asking yourself where to start when reading the bible, my personal opinion is to just start!
It is easy to sit back and overthink how to get closer to God when in reality, he has given us such a great tool to
So often we can get caught up in trying to do things the ‘right way’ that we miss out on opportunities to just start! Say a prayer before you open the Bible and ask God to lead you to where he knows your heart needs to go that day.
You might be called to the book of Matthew or you may find yourself engrossed in the book of Psalm. Instead of worrying where to start, take a step back and pause so God can direct your path.
Where to start when reading the Bible can be accomplished by simply starting as stated above and here are a few more ideas:
-You can follow along a devotion book for daily bible reading prompts
-Join Ready, Set, Journal! free prayer journal challenge where I email you a daily scripture and journal prompt each day
-Start at the beginning, in the book of Genesis and read front to back
Most importantly, is that you start!
How to Read the Bible
As I mentioned above, I don’t think there is a wrong way to get started with the bible. A quick Pinterest search and you’ll easily find a guide to reading the Bible but here are a few things to consider as you begin to establish your own prayer habit with daily scripture!
I look at how I read the Bible today compared to even 2 years ago and I can see how I’ve evolved. From the beginning where I was just reading and trying to increase the breadth of knowledge to now where I’m learning to appreciate the meaning of meditating in God’s word, you too will continue to grow and evolve on your journey!
By no means am I perfect student of the Bible but I am eager to continue to grow my relationship with God and cheer on other women as they step forward to do the same!
Here is a little path I see when learning ‘how to read the Bible’:
The first step is to simply read the Bible! This will help increase your knowledge and begin to lay the foundation for building your relationship with God by increasing your scope of knowledge.
Next, begin spending time actively deepening your knowledge through things like Bible study and small group.
Memorizing elements in the Bible is a third step you can do as you spend time in daily scripture. Personally, I struggle with memorizing but I’ve found that memorizing is important for a few reasons:
-Memorizing makes me pause and really spend time thinking about the verse and the message behind it.
-They say you don’t understand something until you can teach it and memorizing verses has helped me be more prepared to talk to friends (or sometimes even myself!) and have more meaningful conversations around God’s love
-Scripture is an incredibly valuable tool to help turn away from temptation just as Jesus displays several times throughout the Bible
Then comes meditating on the Bible. I spend a lot of my time in this section now, really digging into the messages of the passage that I’m studying. I love to use my prayer journal as a way to capture my thoughts and help me reflect on what God is trying to show me.
5 Steps Towards Establishing Daily Bible Reading
Here are 5 simple steps you can take to begin incorporating daily scripture into your life and create the habits you need to sustain it.
1. Prayer Journaling!
The number 1 answer I give women when they ask me how to start connecting with God when they feel a bit overwhelmed is to start with prayer journaling!
Honestly, something about putting pen to paper brings a few moments of quietness in your hectic day and allows you to be more intentional in your time with God.
Using a prayer journal has helped me stay consistent in my daily bible reading plan and keeps me connecting with God on even the most challenging days. For me, and something tells me you will probably experience the same, the deeper level of intimacy with God came when I started journaling!
If you’ve never prayer journaled before, read through the How To Start a Prayer Journal Guide and join our free prayer journal challenge which will give you access to daily bible reading prayer journal prompts.
2. Make it Part of Your Routine, Not Just a Task!
You are going to need to establish a schedule for Bible reading because that step is going to be a HUGE part of helping you actually be successful with your daily Bible reading… or any other new habit that you are trying to create for that matter!
You don’t want your time in scripture each day to feel like just another task you have to cross of the to-do list before you can go to bed. You want it to become a part of your routine, like brushing your teeth! You know how weird it feels when you skip brushing your teeth? Yes, that is the feeling that you want to create when you don’t spend time with God each day, like something super important is missing from your life.
Think about how you can spend time in your daily Bible reading plan and schedule it into your day!
Making it visible on the fridge or your bathroom mirror, entering it in your phone as an appointment or carving out the same time each day is going to increase your chances that you actually spend time with God!
3. Prayer!
Yep, even in trying to create or stick to a daily Bible readying plan, prayer is a powerful tool! I have found that if you are struggling to get this dedicated daily time with God woven into your routine consistently, praying specifically for God to help you see what is holding you back can help move those mountains.
In our free series Where You and God Connect, we dive deeper into uncovering the things holding and how to take those first steps to finally move past it so you can accomplish what your heart desires, such as spending time connecting with God daily 😊.
4. Find an Accountability Buddy!
Let’s be honest, everything is easier when you have a friend along for the ride! Accountability buddies can help you on the days you feel discouraged and if you have any competitiveness in you, knowing that you are doing something with someone is bound to keep you engaged!
Ask a friend if they want to join you in a challenge of 30 days of daily scripture! Meet on the weekends for coffee and discuss what you have been learning, the changes you feel occurring in your life and cheer each other on!
I have found that communicating with my spouse about my desire to grow my relationship with God has been one of the best ‘accountability buddies’ so far!
Sharing with him that means I would like to start spending some of my time in daily scripture has been helpful because what that translates to in marriage is “hey babe, I am going to go into the other room and do my prayer journal and scripture reading so you are taking the lead with the kids for the next 20 minutes”.
That might not work for every relationship but I challenge you to be open and honest with your partner about why you want this time (to focus on your relationship with God) and how they can help you be successful (entertain the kids for a few minutes, help you wake up 15 minutes earlier etc.) before you say your partner wouldn’t be willing to take the lead on the kids to support you!
5. Pick up where you left off!
Whether you started a daily Bible reading plan and have fallen off track or are feeling guilty for putting your relationship with God on the backburner, don’t feel discouraged!
The point of what you are trying to do here isn’t to perfectly adhere to a plan… it is centered around building your relationship with God and that can only happen if you dust yourself off and keep going!
And next time you feel yourself telling yourself you don’t have time for 5 minutes in daily scripture or that you’ll ‘get to it tomorrow when you aren’t as tired’, remember you can do all things through he who gives you strength (paraphrased Philippians 4:12) so turn to prayer in that moment and ask God to help you find the time and energy to spend where your heart most desires, with him and his word!
Good Bible Verses To Include
Things can feel a bit overwhelming in the beginning and I totally remember what that felt like! In addition to the free Ready, Set, Journal prayer journaling prompts, I have also put together a few good Bible verses below that can help you get started on your daily bible reading!
Spiritual Growth Scriptures
Enjoy these spiritual growth scriptures!
“rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”- Colossians 2:7
“…so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…” Colossians 1:10
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”- John 15:5
Scriptures on Putting God First
Putting God first each day can be accomplished with intentionality, enjoy these putting God first bible verses to guide your heart and mind on this topic:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”- Matthew 6:33
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.”- Proverbs 3:5-6
“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” – 1 John 2:6 (my commentary: Jesus always put God first!)
Scriptures on Faith
Enjoy these scriptures on Faith!
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” – James 1:6
Daily Bible Reading Next Steps
My goal with this post was to get you feeling like you are prepared to take the next step into your very own daily Bible reading plan so by now you have a few great resources above to get started and can see just how easy it is, no prep necessary!
Now comes the fun part:
It is time for you to grab your Bible, say a prayer to get your heart and mind aligned with where God wants you to go and just start!
If you are ready to be intentional about growing past the things holding you back in life and want to do that while growing your relationship with God, I invite you to join us through the free faith based, personal development mini-series
Where You and God Connect!
