A regular time of devotional Bible study and prayer is imperative for any believer. But I’ve found that most professing Christians who come to me for counseling do not read Scripture or pray with any consistency.
People neglect this life-sustaining habit for at least one of three reasons.
1. You Don’t Know What God Says About Reading the Bible
The Bible actually says quite a lot about the importance of reading, meditating on, and talking about God’s word. Let’s take a look.
Meditate on it day and night (and be careful to live it out): “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8
Delight in it over what the world has to say: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2
Love it like a treasure: “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.” Psalm 119:162
Rejoice in it frequently: “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.” Psalm 119:164
Live on it as your food: “But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”‘” Matthew 4:4
Examine it daily: “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11
Receive instruction and encouragement from it: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
Devote yourself to it in public: “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture.” 1 Timothy 4:13
… and in private: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Be taught and corrected and trained and completed by it: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Long for it: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2
Hopefully these passages are enough to convince you that you should be reading the Bible daily. But let’s face it: You already knew that you should be reading your Bible, and you don’t. You’re probably familiar with some—or even all—of the verses above, yet you still struggle to read Scripture with regularity.
Why is that?
2. You Don’t Believe What God Says About His Word
Unbelief is the greatest hindrance to your Bible reading.
Look back over the Scriptures you read above, and ask yourself:
- Do I really believe that my way will prosper as I know and obey God’s word?
- Do I really believe that I will be blessed as I meditate on it day and night?
- Do I really believe that God’s word is a treasure, a “great spoil”?
- Do I really believe that God saves, encourages, equips, trains, and sustains me by his word?
If you’ve struggled to read regularly, it is because you are not convinced that these things are true.
Consider what has taken priority in your life. Perhaps it is work, or busyness, or having healthy, happy, wholesome children. Are you convinced that prosperity in these areas comes from your own efforts, or from the Lord? Joshua 1:8 says that prosperity comes from knowing God’s law and living by it.
Or is “chill time” a priority? If you lose hours each day scrolling on your phone, listening to podcasts, or watching shows, it is because at some level you believe that whatever the screen has to offer is a greater blessing that walking with the Lord. Psalm 1 pits the “counsel of the wicked” against delighting in God’s word. Which do you believe is better?
If you have not been living as if God’s word is truly better and more beautiful and more necessary than all these things, take heart! God is calling you to come and freely receive his riches.
He says, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.” Isaiah 55:1-3
3. You Don’t Have a Doable Strategy
A third reason you may find regular Bible reading difficult is that you lack a realistic, repeatable plan.
Perhaps you try to do it all, and get discouraged that you can’t keep it up. You get excited about a “thru the Bible in a year” plan, but fizzle out after a few weeks. Maybe you love the idea of an hour-long Bible study time every day, filled with commentaries and word studies, but keep putting it off because you can’t seem to find the time.
Or maybe you simply don’t know where to begin. You’ve tried Genesis, but get lost in the genealogies. You dive into Isaiah, but can’t make sense of half of it. The gospels are a mixed bags of stories you’ve heard a million times along with weird discussions about how many swords to bring; Paul’s letters are “hard to understand” (to quote one writer); you can’t make heads or tails out of Revelation.
Let me encourage you on two counts, and provide a path forward. First, you don’t need to do it all. A chapter a day for the rest of your life is much better than four chapters a day for a month. Second, you won’t understand everything the first time, and that’s ok. The more you read, the more you will become familiar with the story and language and ideas of Scripture.
What to Do to Begin Reading the Bible Daily
The path forward is simple: You’ve read some of the Scriptures about the importance of knowing and loving God’s word (problem #1). Pray that the Lord would would stir your heart to believe those things (problem #2). Then, with the Spirit’s help, commit to a daily plan to read God’s word (problem #3).
Commit to a time to read. This is best done at the beginning of your day. Regardless of work, school, vacation, or anything else, you will always wake up and go through your morning routine. One important key to consistency is to make Scripture and prayer a part of your daily routine. Set your alarm clock for 15 minutes earlier and pray for the Lord to help you fulfill your vows to him.
Start with some of the narratives such as Genesis, Exodus, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, the Gospels, and Acts. Spend quality time with the poetry of the Psalms, the wisdom of Proverbs, the theology of Paul, the practicality of James, and the comfort of John. As your conviction grows that you absolutely need God’s word to live, the nourishment you receive from the Scriptures will grow too.
I’ve created a worksheet to make your daily devotions doable. It provides a structure to help you think through what you read, space to note your questions, and a method shaping your prayers around what you’ve read.
Best of all, it’s simple.
Here’s how to use it:
- Bible Time: 10 minutes
- Pray: Ask the Lord to bless your reading of his word.
- Read a short passage: a few paragraphs, or a chapter at most.
- Summarize the passage briefly, note any questions, and choose one important thing to focus on.
- Prayer Time: 5-10 minutes
- The goal is to pray biblically. As you write down one reason to praise God, one sin to confess, etc., first try to find these things in the passage you just studied.
- Another goal is to pray thoughtfully. Writing out reasons, topics, and ideas beforehand keeps your mind focused as you pray.
- We tend to pray the same things and focus on our own needs. This structure helps ensure that your prayers focus on God, self, and others using biblical categories and language.
Continue using these worksheets until it becomes natural. I suggest committing to at least 30 days, using one sheet per day. After that, you can continue printing out the sheets or use the same structure in a journal.
