I’ve found through personal experience and the testimony of Scripture that Satan, the world, and our remaining sin fight against us reading God’s Word. Why? Because it’s our greatest weapon against them. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we struggle to faithfully read our Bible.
What are your biggest struggles? Time? Forgetfulness? Or—dare we admit it—lack of desire?
Or maybe you just don’t know where or how to begin.
No matter your struggles, you can overcome them. In this episode, I’ll share three practical tips that can make a huge difference.
I’m Jean Wilund. But It’s All About Him! Welcome to a fun place to get serious about Bible study.
Tip #1. Develop an Unwavering Conviction—or Absolute Desperation
My whole Christian life, I professed a deep conviction that reading the Bible is vital. Except my life didn’t reflect my so-called conviction. My lack of faithfully reading the Bible every day exposed the truth. I wasn’t really convinced it was that vital. I didn’t really want to.
Back when my kids were in high school, I asked one of my daughters to lend me a hand with hauling in the groceries from the car. She said, “I wish I could, but I can’t. I don’t have opposable thumbs.”
After we stopped laughing, she helped me (opposable thumbs and all), and her clever comeback became our catchphrase whenever we didn’t want to do something. “Oh, I’m sorry, I wish I could, but I can’t. I don’t have opposable thumbs.” After all, if we don’t really want to do something, any excuse (or lie) is as good as another, right?
Well, let’s rewind back to when my kids were young and I was struggling to read my Bible faithfully. I told myself I couldn’t. I had three small children. I didn’t have enough time. Before kids, I didn’t have enough time because I had to get to work.
I had so many excuses for not faithfully reading my Bible, but the truth was I might as well have claimed that I didn’t have opposable thumbs. “I can’t hold my Bible. I don’t have opposable thumbs.” Like I have hooves for hands? No, the truth was what I lacked wasn’t opposable thumbs. What I lacked was true desire —an unwavering conviction.
Until absolute desperation set in.
Absolute Desperation
I wanted to be a great wife and mom—the best wife and mom—but I struggled with impatience, discontentment, and controlling my temper, which led to self-loathing, frustration, heart ache, and blame-shifting, which led to more self-loathing and so on. (It was not a fun carousel to ride.)
Finally, I reached my breaking point. Praise God!
My absolute desperation sent me running to my Bible. I’d tried everything else. It was time to try reading the whole Bible. I’d become convinced that if I didn’t do something, I would lose my mind and maybe even my family.
So, I set my alarm for 5:00 am. Every day.
Why 5:00 am?
I had three little kids. Early morning was the best time for me to read my Bible in peace. I was desperate. Desperate to know God and His great character, not how to become a good Christian, wife, or mom. I’d lost hope that that would ever happen for me. I just wanted to know God.
Well, before long, I saw God changing my heart without my even trying because I was finally really seeing God in His Word.
Unwavering (and Happy) Conviction
As I discovered more of His amazing character displayed in His Word page after page after page, my awe of Him grew beyond anything I had ever known before.
I began to love the things He loved and to hate the things He hates. God was transforming me through His Word. And the work is still going on.
My desperation developed into an unwavering (and happy) conviction that reading God’s Word really is the best thing I can do to know God—and to learn to trust Him, which leads to reflecting Christ, which leads to hope and joy overflowing from my heart, and wanting to read the Bible more. Now, that is a happy carousel to ride!
Are you like me?
Do you need to become desperate before you’ll be convinced and willing to give up something you love (like I loved sleep) to know God and His Word better?
I’m not saying you have to get up at 5:00 am. I’m saying, that if you’re not being faithful to reading your Bible daily, you need to do something different. You need to develop an unwavering conviction, otherwise God may bring you to absolute desperation like He did me. But if He does, don’t be discouraged. It’s a good thing.
Tip #2. Pray!
We will never become faithful and love reading our Bible without God’s help because, as I’ve already mentioned, almost everything fights against us reading the Bible. It’s a dangerous book to the Enemy because it transforms us from self-focused sinners into Christ-focused overcomers, who radiate peace and joy, rather than angst or anger.
Transformation is a lifelong process, but it is a faithful progression that God’s Word does in us. We can’t produce it in ourselves. God must do it, and He does it through His Word. So, we must pray.
Ask God, the Creator of time, to create (and then reveal to you) the block of time you need to read and study His Word. God loves to answer this prayer.
Trust Him that He will answer it and then prove your trust by making choices as if He’s already answered it. Believe the block of time is there. Look for it and then etch it into your schedule.
Be faithful. Protect the time from distractions like text messages, emails, or funny dog and cat videos.
Is God leading you to wake up early or stay up a little later? Maybe use your lunch hour? If you’re too busy, He’s definitely calling you to cut something out of your schedule.
Be willing to trade the less important for the more important. Or should I say, the mostimportant.
You will have to make sacrifices, but they will be more worth it than you can imagine. Consider this: whatever wesacrifice for time in God’s Word will never compare to the sacrifice Christ made for us.
Once you develop an unwavering conviction (or absolute desperation sets in), while you’re praying and looking for the block of time, you’re ready to jump into:
Tip #3: Prepare an Inviting Place and Plan
The more we love our place and plan, the more faithful we’ll be to it.
I’m a morning person, so while 5:00 am is early even for me, it’s doable. But I have friends and family whose motto is “Up and at ’em by the crack of noon.” Maybe 5:00 am won’t work for them.
We don’t have to be miserable to be faithful. On the contrary, I recommend you pick a favorite time and place.
If you visit my house, you’ll find my Bible and pen sitting next to my favorite down-stuffed sofa only a few steps from my beloved coffee maker, which I program every night to wake up before I do. When I needed reading glasses, I kept a dedicated pair with my Bible. Everything is always ready for me in my favorite place, so I don’t have to stumble around gathering my stuff.
If you live in a cramped space, you’re going to need to be creative. But no matter what your place is like, remember that God alone makes every place inviting. Dwelling on God even in a dingy prison cell is to be transported into the heavenlies in your heart and mind. Paul and Silas proved this in the book of Acts.
As best you can, create an inviting place and have your Bible, pen, glasses, coffee, tea—whatever you need—have it ready along with an inviting plan. And by this, I mean a good reading plan.
A Good Reading Plan
My favorite reading plans have us reading from the Old Testament and the New Testament every day. These plans give us variety and help us see how the whole Bible is connected.
A reading plan just keeps things simple. Print it, stick it in your Bible, and check it off as you go. I’ve listed some recommended reading plans on my website. Look for the link in the notes.
So, friend, whatever struggles you face in faithfully reading your Bible, developing an unwavering conviction (or absolute desperation), prayer, and an inviting place and plan can make all the difference.
Satan, the world, and our sinful flesh want us to give up our goal of faithful daily Bible reading. Don’t give up. Never give up. Like the psalmist in Psalm 119:30, may it be said of us, “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules [Your Word] before me.” If we do this, we’ll be like the psalmist in Psalm 34:8. We will “taste and see that the Lord is good!”
