Yep! I’ve been there, and even recently. I know and understand just how difficult it can sometimes be to consistently read your Bible. Sometimes the busyness of our day can take over, sometimes we may just feel like not reading. And sometimes it can be that we are reading a specific Book of the Bible, but we may be finding it difficult to read and hard to understand, or perhaps we just don’t know where to start in the Bible or what to read next. And sometimes we can end up consuming content, such as blog posts or YouTube videos, that tell us we should be reading our Bible this way, or that way, or that we should be spending our Bible reading time a certain way. And we’re thrown so much information that we don’t end up opening our Bibles to read. Believe me I’ve been there.

But, I also know just how important, beneficial and valuable it is to open up my Bible and read the Word of God each day. It’s through God’s Word that we learn, we grow in faith, we let God speak to us through His Word, we learn and understand God’s character and nature, and His promises, and the Bible will transform our lives for the better. Which is why in this post I’ve shared 5 tips to help you to consistently read your Bible. 

This isn’t a post to tell you to do things a certain way, or that you should be doing it another way. No, this post is purely to offer my own tips that I have found to be very helpful, and to offer ways to inspire, encourage and equip you, in creating good daily habits to consistently read your Bible.

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1. Try using a Bible in One Year plan/Bible

My first tip is to use a Bible in One Year plan/Bible. It offers a unique way to read the Bible daily, which can be completed in short chunks each day, which enables you to read the whole Bible in a year. You can find many plans online that are free to download. Usually a quick search on Google or Pinterest can bring up different reading plans. 

There is also the Bible in One Year app by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel. This app is free to download on the app store, and has daily Bible readings along with a commentary from Nicky and Pippa. It’s easy to follow daily, and is great for enabling you to take it with you on the go to read wherever you may be. 

You can also get a Bible in One Year Bible. My husband David got me one as a gift while we were engaged, and I love having a physical copy that I can keep next to the bed and read. This Bible can also be used with the Bible in One Year app. So although the Bible readings are the same, it’s lovely to read the commentaries each day that go along with what I have read. The bible is dated daily for each day of the year, and is also numbered. So you can have the option to read on the day’s date, or to start from the beginning on whichever day you like. For each day there is a reading from the Book of Psalms or Proverbs, a reading from the Old Testament and a reading from the New Testament. Usually each day is a couple of pages long.  

2. Place your Bible next to your bed or in the room you are in

Now this something that I’ve personally found has resulted in good daily habits for consistently reading my Bible. I like to make reading the Bible one of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning, or when I get into bed at night. And by having my Bible next to me, I feel that this has really helped to produce those good daily habits. Especially when we may have our phones next to us too or anything else that may cause distraction from reading the Bible. I find that having my Bible next to me to be a huge help. 

When you want to have some quiet time with God and to read His Word, try placing your Bible in the same room that you’re going to be in. It really helps with not getting distracted by other things. It’s there ready for you in your quiet time. 

3. When you feel like picking up your phone to scroll through social media, open the Bible app instead

If you haven’t already heard of the YouVersion Bible app, I highly recommend checking it out and giving it a download. It’s an amazing app which is full of helpful tools to help you daily in your journey of faith, and also has the whole Bible on too, and in different translations. Plus a whole load of other study tools, videos, audio and more. I’ve actually written a couple of helpful posts if you’re new to using the app. You can find part one here, and part two here. 

I know exactly how easy it is to just automatically pick up my phone and start scrolling on social media. Sometimes I do it without even realising! But sometimes when I realise that I’m about to head on to social media, I stop, pause, and open up the Bible app instead, and either read the Bible on the app, or do a daily plan. It helps me to put my focus on what is important and to get into God’s Word. It’s a tip I definitely recommend trying when you’re about to grab your phone to scroll through social media.

It’s creating a good daily habit, and consistent Bible reading time.

4. Try letting it became a daily habit as soon as you wake up in the morning or before you go to sleep at night 

I mentioned a little further up that I like to spend time in the morning as soon as I wake up and when I get into bed at night, spending time in God’s Word. Usually in the morning the Bible app is what I open up first to view today’s verse of the day stories, and to maybe do a daily plan. I also like to sometimes grab my Bible before getting ready and either read my Bible in One Year Bible, or a couple of pages of my ESV Bible. 

At night when I’m in bed, if I haven’t already read my Bible in One Year Bible that morning, I like to read it before going to sleep. I also have some Christian books next to the bed, which I like to read sometimes too before going to sleep. I love to spend those moments having some quiet time, reading God’s Word, and reflecting on what I’ve read. 

5. Try Bible journaling

I love Bible journaling. It’s a wonderful way to let your creativity flow whilst reading God’s Word. I actually have a blog post all about Bible journaling and the journaling Bible that I use. You can find the post here. It’s a creative way to read scripture, meditate on God’s Word and a wonderful way to spend your quiet time with God. You can write down notes in your Bible as you read, write down any questions you may have, what you feel God is telling you, write down the prayers that are on your heart, highlight the verses that stand out to you and create Bible art. And lots more!

Although there are so many videos online which have Bible journaling tutorials, and videos showing how people use and decorate their Bible, Bible journaling is completely unique to you. For me personally I love to spend time writing in my journaling Bible. Sometimes I like to add a little bit of art, but it’s completely up to you how you use a journaling Bible. It’s important to remember that it’s ‘your’ quiet time with God. Don’t think that your journaling Bible has to look a certain way. 

I pray that this blog post will help you if you are struggling to consistently read your Bible, and that these few tips will help in creating good daily habits, and to spend time in God’s Word daily. 

If you have any questions, or would like to talk more about anything mentioned in this post, please feel free to either leave a comment below, or to contact me through my contact form. 

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