Create a Consistent Bible Study Routine to Grow Closer to God

I grew up in church but never really had a consistent Bible study routine outside of school or Sunday services. The concept of reading the Bible by myself felt foreign. In my world, anything Bible related was reserved for Sunday mornings during church and the occasional prayer nights we hosted at home. 

It wasn’t until I moved to a new church in my early 20s that I started hearing our Pastor emphasize the importance of studying the Word for yourself because Sunday service wasn’t sufficient to grow or deepen our faith and walk with God.

As time went by, I became curious about reading and creating a consistent Bible study routine. I was familiar with  Bible characters from Sunday school and the well-known verses that I heard repeated over and over again, like Jeremiah 29:11. But one day, quite honestly, as life got harder and I realized that only God could truly help me. I finally reached for my Bible!

One night, I read a chapter, then struggled to stay consistent for 2 days and fell off again. We’ve all been there. I found myself allowing life and what  I thought were priorities to compete with my relationship with God. 

When people asked why it was hard for me to read the bible, my go-to answer was, “ I just don’t have time”. I was too busy with school, too busy working to pay bills. Frankly, sometimes I didn’t understand what I read, and that discouraged me.

Maybe you’ve found yourself in that place where you know you should be reading the Word and spending time with God, but you find it so hard to find time throughout the day to even read a verse. Between school, work, other life commitments, and figuring out what to eat for dinner, the day slips away. Before you know it, another day passes and you haven’t opened your Bible. Then weeks go by, and you feel further and further away from God. I have been there before. 

A Gentle Reminder 

You will never have all the time you want unless you are intentional about it. There’s a popular saying I hear a lot: People make time for the people they love. 

See, life will always throw things at us. There will always be one task after the other, and the list never ends. But in the end, you prioritize what matters most to you. That is why in the LORD’s Prayer Jesus says in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily Bread” The Word is literary food for our spirits. Just as our bodies need nourishment every day, our spirits need the Word every day to grow our relationship with God.

In case you didn’t know, the enemy loves it when you don’t read the Word because he doesn’t want you to walk in freedom and experience the abundant life that Christ died for.

Let me make you a promise, you will never regret prioritizing time with God. You will never regret switching off that Netflix show to read a chapter in Psalm. You will never regret waking up early before everyone else to learn what the word says over your life.

Ok I won’t leave you without tips on where to start

Practical steps to help you create a consistent Bible study routine

1. Schedule Time

Set a specific time every day for Bible reading and prayer. This could be something like the last 30 minutes every night before bed. If it helps, scheduled it in your calendar so you don’t plan anything else at that time. Do whatever it takes to make it a priority.

2. Start with a Bible Plan

Get a Bible plan that interests you based on the current season of your life. For example, if you are dealing with anxiety, or need encouragement in faith, joy, or peace, search for a plan that focuses on those topics. The YouVersion App has amazing plans to get you started. Doesn’t matter what you start with, as long as you start.

3. Choose the right Bible Translation

Choose a Bible translation that is easy to understand. I recommend the NLT, NIV, Message and TPT. These translations use simple and clear language to get you started. The goal is to eventually get to KJV (I’m not there either😅).

4. Stationary Ready to Write Notes

Grab some sticky notes or a notebook to write down what you read and understand, because trust me God will speak to you using His Word.

5. Have and outline to follow

I recommend using this outline to help you understand what you’re reading as you study the Bible. Feel free to change and incorporate other outlines that work for you.

• Who wrote the book?
• When was it written?
• To whom was it written to? (The audience)
• What does the text teach me about the Character of God?
• What personal lesson or promise can I take from this chapter?

I also recommend using an app called Bible Hub that gives you the meaning of words in Hebrew and Greek to help understand the cultural context of that time.

6. Give it time

Creating a consistent Bible study routine takes time. Experts say it takes about 90 days to build a habit. Like anything new, starting will feel hard. You will feel a lot of resistance especially when picking the Bible for the first or in a while. But remember, it’s in those moments when you don’t feel like doing something that you need to push through and get to the other side. That’s where growth happens.

7. Always Start with a Prayer

Start with a prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and open your eyes to understanding everything that you read.

Dear God, I ask that your word will feed me, empower me and fuel my faith. Father As I read your Scriptures through the power and help of the Holy Spirit, open the eyes of my understanding and grow my hunger & thirst for your righteousness. In Jesus Name, Amen. Ephesians 1:17-19 

Be Kind to yourself, we all start somewhere and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we build momentum over time. Don’t get discouraged.

One last recommendation I have for you is to speak the Word over your life. We all know words have power. I talk more about the power of speaking God’s word in your life in this post. I also created this downloadable document with scriptures you can read out loud. Be sure to go back to where the scriptures are pulled from and read the full chapter to get a better understanding of the context.

I hope these tips encourage and motivate you in your journey to grow a relationship with God.

One question I have for you today, Do you love the Lord enough to make time for him? 

Leave me a comment below on which step from the Bible Study Routine that you will be implementing to help you read the bible consistently.

As always, thank you so much for making it this far. Can I ask you for a favor? If this message spoke to you, please share it with someone who needs to read it. If you feel led, leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you and will make sure to respond.

Till next time, and God bless you.