Reading Bible daily is the foundation for our understanding of God’s Word. But how do we get started? What can we do to develop this healthy and necessary habit of regularly reading the Bible?
Here are some practical tips to overcome the difficulties of reading the Bible regularly.
1. Pray for a Hunger for God’s Word
In Psalm 119, we see the psalmist’s love and hunger for God’s Word. In verse 103 he exclaims:
“How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
We should have to get this kind of joy when we come to read the Bible. We simply need to ask God to give us a hunger for His Word. This is surely a prayer that God would delight to answer.
2. Fix a Time
Fixing a specified time to read the Bible will help you to make it a daily routine. As you do not forget to brush your teeth in the morning, you cannot forget to read the Bible if so. An excellent time is early in the morning before the busyness of the day begins. Other possible times are during lunch or before going to bed.
3. Read Consecutively
While reading, try to not jump from here and there. But a good strategy to regularly and consistently read the Word is to do so consecutively, chapter by chapter and book by book.
4. Turn your Heart to the Lord
Turning our hearts to the Lord is very important. Before we start our Bible reading we can pray simple prayers. Here is a short prayer given to you for your idea and help.
“Lord Jesus, I turn my heart to you right now. I open to You. Speak to me and wash me in Your Word today. Dear Lord, there is so much more for me to see in Your Word. Enlighten me more as I read today.”
Praying a simple prayer like this will help us be open to anything the Lord would like to speak to us through His Word.
5. Pray Over what you Read
The Bible verses will comfort us, convict us, or apply exactly to our situation. Other times, a verse may perplex us. Whatever the reflection comes in our reading, we can pray over it. We can thank the Lord or praise Him for the promises we find in His Word. We can also ask Him to show us the meaning of a certain passage or just talk to Him about a verse.