5 Ways to Implement a Bible Reading Plan
I’ve always been a “go with the flow” kind of person. Don’t get me wrong, I like structure and a routine, but I don’t need everything planned out in order to have a fun time or get things done. My husband, on the other hand, is a major planner. Whenever we go on trips, he has us plan everything out in detail. While this threw me off a bit when we first got married, I’ve learned to appreciate this quality in my husband and learn from him. Having a plan is a good thing. A plan not only helps you think about what needs to happen in the short-term but also in the long-term. A plan helps you be prepared and keeps you focused and on task.
What is the purpose of a Bible reading plan?
This is why Bible reading plans are so helpful. Reading plans help to bring intentionality and consistency to your Bible study routine, giving you exactly what you’re going to read each day and bringing structure to your study. They establish a habit of regular Bible study, as each day you continue to move forward in whatever plan you have chosen. This is the ultimate purpose of Bible reading plans—getting you in God’s Word daily. But how exactly do we go about implementing a Bible reading plan?
Choose a Bible study or Year in the Bible study
Finding and choosing a Bible study helps you to stay on track with your daily Bible reading and gives you a plan. What is great about Bible studies is that they’ve already done the work of giving you daily readings. There is not much that you need to do besides show up each day to complete the daily readings. Year in the Bible studies are particularly helpful in keeping to a Bible reading plan and rhythm, as the whole year is already planned for you. If you’re interested in a yearlong study, check out our list of yearlong Bible studies and find one that works best for you!
But you don’t have to choose a yearlong Bible study in order to have a regular Bible reading plan. You can choose a series of studies to do over a period of a time. Our Daily Grace Co. studies vary in their lengths, which makes it easy to have a reading plan that spans a month, two months, or more. For example, say that you want some Bible studies that give you a reading plan for four months. You might choose our six week study on the letters of John, our four week study on Job, our two week study on Psalm 23, and our four week study on Philippians, giving you just what you need for four months in the Word!
Go through the Bible study and make a plan to complete it
While Bible studies give you daily readings that help form your Bible reading plan, you will still need to make a plan for how to accomplish those readings yourself. This doesn’t need to be complicated! You can establish a daily rhythm of being in God’s Word by pairing your Bible study with your breakfast, choosing to read your Bible right after dinner, or reading the Bible during your lunch break. Find a natural time that works best for you, and bring your Bible study into that time. You could even form a Bible study with friends or people in your church and do that study together at a set schedule!
Use a calendar
Calendars are also a great tool to help you stay on track with a Bible reading plan. You can make a plan using that calendar by choosing which days you are going to read your Bible and penciling in the readings on those days. You could also mark each reading complete on your calendar, which not only feels satisfying, but helps you track your progress. We put out a prayer calendar each year that you can use with your Bible study—or you could use one of our planners to keep up with your readings!
Remind yourself that it’s about progress, not perfection
As you go about implementing your Bible reading plan, remember that perfection shouldn’t be an expectation for your time in God’s Word. While consistency in God’s Word is our goal as believers, it’s realistic that we will struggle in our consistency. There will be days when we oversleep. There will be seasons when it feels like we don’t even have enough time to take a breath. So if God doesn’t place upon you the burden of perfection, you don’t need to place that burden on yourself. Instead, aim for progress.
Aim to keep going in your Bible reading and not giving up, even if you miss a couple of days. There’s nothing wrong with starting at the place you left off and continuing to move forward from there. And if you want to catch up in your reading plan, you could group readings together and complete them in one study time or over the course of a couple days. You could even implement different ways to engage with God’s Word, such as listening to the readings you want to catch up on as you’re driving or going on a walk. But even if you don’t catch up, that’s okay too. All that matters is that you keep showing up and moving forward in your study of God’s Word.
So whether you’re a “go with the flow” person like me or a planner like my husband, consider how implementing a Bible reading plan could help to bring intentionality and consistency to your Bible study routine. And trust that as you go about that Bible reading plan, God will help to grow you not just in the discipline of reading His Word but also love and obedience to Him.
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