5 Tips for Creating Healthy Bible-Reading Habits
Know God’s Truth
If we’re to stand in the battle, we must really know God’s gospel truth for ourselves in the deepest places of our hearts. We must be convinced that God’s word is true, truer even than what our circumstances and our hearts’ longings are telling us. Think of Isaiah’s warning to the king of his day:
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all. (Isa. 7:9 NIV)
In other words, when there’s crisis, danger, or threat, then that’s the time to be sure that God can be utterly relied upon, because his truth has already won our trust. We need to have the truth of the word so deeply in us that we are deeply convinced that it is true.
This means, quite obviously, that if we’re to stand firm, we need to be committed to engaging with God’s word. We need to develop habits that bless us so that we get the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. We can only walk with Jesus if we’re listening to his guiding voice (John 10:3–4). Those listening habits need to be put into place, which impact us weekly, daily, and moment by moment.
Resilient Faith
Lewis Allen, Sarah Allen
Lewis and Sarah Allen encourage and exhort believers to approach life’s adversities in a biblically grounded way by leaning on Christ and committing to his church.
Before we explore helpful ways to get into the Bible, let’s think about habits. Good habits are usually really hard to pick up—our lives are already so full of bad ones! Many people think that dieting or exercise or early mornings aren’t that hard, until they try them. Picking up bad habits takes no effort at all, and usually we don’t realize we’re doing them: negative moods, proud words, or carefully hidden and sinful use of money, internet, and phone. We obsess about things, habitually and destructively. Even what feels like impulse behavior—splurging money on purchases we don’t really need, wrong ways of using food or alcohol—are often habits we’ve slowly given into over time rather than sudden urges that came out of nowhere. And yet, growth in loving Jesus more and becoming like him comes down to the power of Spirit-shaped habits of living well. Yes, good habits are incredibly hard to form. Disciplined habits with eating, exercise, screen-time, all take effort and intention. But they’re far from impossible by God’s grace, and the joy and freedom they bring are incredible. Reading God’s word is a habit, and its effects bring more joy and freedom than anything else we could do. It takes time to form this habit into our lives, but the Holy Spirit is the power of God to make this habit stick for our great good.
So if your Bible reading has been a disaster, or at least far from what you want, don’t despair: the Spirit who gave the word longs to bring the word to us. We need to find the ways we can open ourselves to that word, and do so again and again, until tentative steps become the habit we acquire, maybe without even realizing it. He will help us with just that. Here are five simple steps to great Bible reading:
1. Fight for Time.
Make time, stick to time, and guard time. We need to start a commitment to God’s word by giving it time. If regular Bible reading is new to you, it will help you greatly if you decide to commit to the same time (pretty much) every day, finding a quiet place and time slot where you’re alert and not too distracted. Everyone’s different, but it’s hard to beat making Bible reading the very first thing you do each day. As the day goes on, your mind gets more crowded, time is more pressured, and it’s a bigger battle to stop and give attention to God’s word. And besides, if we want God to go with us into the day, shouldn’t we be hearing from him first thing?
2. Have a Plan.
Don’t read whatever you feel like in Scripture— a verse here, a chapter there—but instead find a good method of systematic reading. Go through books of the Bible, with a helpful book or podcast to help you learn, if you can. Aim to hear something from both the Old and the New Testament each day. Experiment with ways of reading the Bible and different amounts you can cover. Get advice and compare your habits with those of your friends.
Reading God’s word is a habit, and its effects bring more joy and freedom than anything else we could do.
3. Get Help.
Unless you’re careful, Bible reading can be all too mechanical and passive. Find ways to be an active reader, helping yourself to benefit from your Bible. Reading out loud is a great way to keep concentrating, so that God’s word really engages you. Write down your thoughts, either in your Bible itself, in a notebook, or on your phone. Underline what strikes you, even write out key verses. Put those verses on your phone, and set them as reminders to bring your mind back to God’s word through the day. Get recommendations for Bible notes or devotionals, and experiment with them. Challenge yourself to memorize passages that minister to you. That is really the best way to know Scripture truth.
4. Be Accountable.
Talk and discuss. Is there a friend you can swap texts with, sharing one verse or lesson that’s struck you from your reading? Sharing Scripture is a great way of being kept sharp, and it helps us to read the Bible more attentively, knowing that we’ll be talking about it with others.
5. Remember the Purpose.
Bible reading is not an end in itself. Bible reading is about looking beyond life’s trials and embracing God’s love in Christ as we fix our hearts on his promises. Enjoy that love, and discover how solid a rock it is when life is tough. You’ll discover practical guidance and overarching reassurance for each problem and challenge.
As people of the Spirit-ministered word, the apostle Paul says,
We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16–18)
This article is adapted from Resilient Faith: Learning to Rely on Jesus in the Struggles of Life by Lewis and Sarah Allen.
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