Do you desire to read your Bible more this next year? If so, you’re not alone! Almost every Christian I know has said, “I wish I read my Bible more.” To back that, a recent survey done by Barna research in 2021 showed that only 11% of U.S. adults read their Bible daily. I wasn’t contributing to that statistic until about 12 years ago. I made a commitment to read my Bible daily, and through that, I have learned what it takes to be consistent. So here are my top 3 guaranteed ways to read your Bible more this next year. 

Do You Want to Read Your Bible More?

I’ve grown up in the church. If you were to ask me, “in your 30+ years in the church, what is the one thing Christians say they want more of?” Without hesitation, I would say that they desire to read their Bible more consistently. 

It’s said every Sunday in every small group and youth group. That desire is wonderful! God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, gave us His word as a gift to you and me. You’ve most likely heard sermons, radio hosts, and podcast influencers tell you that you should read your Bible more! Most evangelical churches encourage having a daily quiet time. But if it were that easy, then everyone would be doing it!

Does reading your Bible go a little something like this?

It’s 6 am. You make that fresh, hot cup of coffee, sit down in your favorite chair, and the house is perfectly quiet. But after reading the first paragraph, your eyes begin to close as you doze back to sleep. Or perhaps you “sense” a new phone notification. So you pick up your phone to check it out of habit, and 20 minutes later realize you lost time scrolling on social media? Or the real kicker…a kid or two or three wakes up too early, and quiet time has suddenly vanished.

If so, I feel you because I’ve been there too.

What makes the Bible so hard to read? Well, for one, it is a complicated book! 

Actually, the Bible is a collection of 66 individual documents from an ancient Middle Eastern and Roman culture, written across hundreds of years and preserved for another two thousand! There are cultural practices that do not make sense to us, ancient laws that seem harsh or impossible to keep, and the story is hard to follow because it’s not always in chronological order!

At first, I was going to give you the typical strategies for reading your Bible more like removing distractions, sitting in the same spot, and making it a habit.

But then I remembered my own journey. 

My Journey With Reading the Bible

Growing up in the church, I didn’t read my Bible daily. For 20 years, I memorized many stories and verses and even taught myself and others things about the Bible. I had absorbed so many amazing good and awesome things from being in Church every Sunday and Wednesday. But, reading God’s word daily, or even a couple times a week on my own wasn’t a practice I ever sustained. I tried many different strategies because I also wanted to read my Bible more and said so quite often. 

But I simply wasn’t doing it.

However, something shifted when I gave God the space to FINALLY get through to me. Ironically He spoke to me through His Word, and since that day, I haven’t skipped reading the Bible daily in 12 years! I was in college, and I felt that I wanted to read my Bible more so I had picked it up again. It was reading a specific Old Testament passage that my heart softened, and everything changed. 

Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” 

This verse stopped me in my tracks. 

“Do I really love God so much that I want to read His Word more? Even when it’s hard, or when I don’t understand something? Or when I’m bored or just tired?”

That’s what changed that day 12 years ago in my college apartment. My true desire to love God with all of my heart, soul, and strength met God’s word and were bound together by His grace. 

Why Should I Read My Bible More?

There isn’t a perfect strategy out there for reading your Bible more. Also, I want to remind you that this isn’t a salvation issue, and you certainly can’t increase God’s love for you by reading your Bible daily. The reason we want to equip you to read your Bible more this next year is that we simply want to you grow your roots deep God’s love and character! 

By reading your Bible more, you will experience a deeper walk with the Lord. You will get to know Him on a more intimate level, and you will learn His character. He will become like a trusted friend. Reading your Bible more will not only grow your roots deeper in Christ, but your own character will go deeper. This will play out in how you show up in the world and how you love others around you.

So, if your heart’s deepest desire is to love the Lord your God, and you want to read your Bible more this next year, here are 3 guaranteed ways that will help you do so! 

3 Guaranteed Ways to Read Your Bible More

1. You must first claim your identity as someone who reads your Bible and loves God. 

The thoughts we think and dwell on are powerful! Our thoughts lead to action. And it’s our actions that will lead us to grow deeper roots. That is why it’s necessary to change our thoughts. Instead of thinking, “I want to be someone who reads the Bible,” we can instead think this: “I am a disciple of Jesus who loves to read the Bible.” Do you see the difference?

The Apostle Paul talks about the necessity of changing our thoughts in Romans 12:2:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

If we continue thinking, “I should read my Bible” or, “I need to read my Bible,” we will continue to stay stuck. These thoughts only leave us wishing for more instead of becoming more. Or even worse, we feel guilty for what we aren’t doing.

Thinking new thoughts and taking new actions is the practical way we contribute to the process of Jesus transforming us! Seeing ourselves as Jesus’ disciples helps foster a desire to read His word. Then we will take action, feeling the transformation the Holy Spirit is doing within us, and want to read our Bible even more!

James Clear details the significance of our new actions this way in his New York Times Bestseller book, Atomic Habits (p.38):

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

Give yourself votes today by stopping right now and saying to yourself, “I am a disciple of Jesus who loves to read the Bible.” And then take it a step further. Make time to read a verse, a passage, or a chapter even before the day is over. 

2. Create anticipation – prepare ahead of time.

We’ve all been there. We have good intentions of reading our Bible, but then morning comes, and we are slamming the snooze button.

“I’m so tired, do I really have to get up now?” 

Then the negotiating starts, “well… maybe I could go out to my car over lunch and read my Bible on my phone! Or maybe, I’ll just hit snooze once and take a shorter shower…” Let’s be real. Once you pick up your phone at lunch, you are more likely to scroll social media because your brain wants a break. And that quick shower? It’s going to go long because that warm water feels so good early in the morning. 

Am I saying you shouldn’t listen to your body and power through waking up even when it’s, detrimental to your health? Absolutely not! Because love is a choice, there are times you get to push through the obstacles, in love and joy, to get up and read your Bible. 

For me, what has made that daily choice easier is preparation. Getting up early every day is hard (especially with 5 young children who get up through the night), but it’s easier when I’m looking forward to it. 

Here’s how I prepare the night before.

I program my coffee maker with my favorite grind and place a clean Yeti mug next to the machine. I set my Bible, Bible highlighters, and a morning snack next to my spot on the couch. I’ll go the extra mile and even place my preferred blanket by my spot. Lastly, I set my alarm for 4:30 am so that I can be up before the kids are up (which doesn’t always happen). I also try to be asleep early enough to make that early rise time happen.

These tasks may seem simple or insignificant. But this simple rhythm truly creates excitement for me the night before! It’s kind of like when you are looking forward to a date! The feeling of anticipation, the thought of delicious coffee, and knowing I can be up in a quiet home sitting with the Lord makes getting up much easier.  

What is one thing you could do to prepare for your Bible reading time each day?

How could you create anticipation?

3. Read in a community and/or have an intentional accountability partner.

One of the most guaranteed ways to read your bible more is to do so in a community. God did not create us to do life alone, and the same is true of reading His Word. Here is an incredible truth that is often underutilized:

We will have accelerated growth when living in community.

One example I have seen is a new and very popular workout gym in our area. Dozens of people I know are regularly attending and posting on Instagram, and they are feeling great! What changed is they joined this gym to become a part of a community. 

After college, I didn’t work out regularly. But, when I started getting together at 5:00 am with my best friends. I was so excited to go 3-4 days a week and did so for years after! No joke, we were in a garage in the “frozen tundra,” aka Green Bay, WI. I’m sure you can imagine that navigating snowy, icy roads to work out in 25 degrees (thank you, Brian Hendricks, for having a heater) isn’t what anyone would think of as a good time. But we didn’t miss it for anything! 

Learning to read your Bible more can work the same way. Finding a partner or a group who you can mutually check in with will make a significant impact in helping you to create a consistent habit. 

A habit that my wife, Kayla, has implemented is having daily accountability with her closest friends, Libby and Marni. Despite being 900 miles apart, they are in God’s word together, taking a brief intentional moment to share what they are learning. This daily practice has kept them going when they are tired, busy, and exhausted. Not only are they deepening their individual relationship with God, but they are also supporting each other to deepen their roots as well. 

Who comes to mind when you think of a reliable partner or group to hold you accountable this year?

How will you set up your accountability?

Let’s Do This!

So, are you ready to read your Bible more in 2023?

I want to encourage you, do not give up!

Even if you have tried building a habit 100x times before, it’s ok! God is so thrilled that you have spent that time with Him! He sees your heart’s desire to pursue a relationship with Him.

Remember, love is a choice! Take action to love Jesus today with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and all your strength. 

Stay Rooted in Christ,
Christian