Today I want to share a few ideas that I shared with a young lady recently when she reached out having ‘lost the zeal’ to read her Bible. She wanted a list of ideas or ways to kick start her Bible reading again.  

Have you ever lost the zeal to read your Bible? 

Whether it’s at the early stage of becoming a Christian, and the whole faith is completely new, or you’ve been Christian for many years, we find the idea of reading the Bible can in certain seasons be challenging for one reason or another.  

For me reading the Bible is light-bearing, heart-healing, spirit-awakening, soul-watering, mind-renewing, whole-being-transforming & life-upgrading practice.  

The Bible tells us who God is, of His love, character, plans and sovereignty. She Read Truth put it like this, ”We believe God is the main character in every story and it’s our delight to find Him there”. 

I’ve had seasons in the past when reading the Bible was not a priority. I have personally experienced life when I was living without God’s word and I wouldn’t want to live that way EVER again. 

If you’ve lost the zeal for reading the Bible or need a new way to kick start your daily Bible reading again this one is for you! I’ve pulled together several ideas, tips and tools to help you read, get creative, accountable and re-ignite that passion and fire for the word of God once again. 

 

1. Download a Bible reading challenge.

Well-watered women have a great 30-day challenge called ‘Word before World’ that you can download for free. It’s fabulous because: 

• it goes through ‘why’ we read the bible 
• it helps with ‘where’ you read the Bible and helps you to create a time and space for bible reading 
• it gets you into the habit of reading the word daily 

Consider doing it with a group of friends for accountability – we did it as a Facebook group challenge and it was a game-changer for many of us!  

 

2. The Community Bible Experience.  

The Community Bible Experience is a fabulous revolutionary way to gather together and read the bible regularly and in a meaningful and engaging way! 

I’ve done it twice with my husband after we heard about it at our local church. We did the New Testament in 8 weeks. The Community Bible Experience wanted to look at the Bible as more like the love letter it is rather than a reference book, so they removed all the Chapters, verses and additional bits and pieces that were added to the Bible over time. Check out this cool video that explains why the removed chapters, verses and numbers: https://www.biblicaeurope.com/our-work/community-bible-experience/get-involved 

Our New Testament book was about £6.99. You can check out their website for all sorts of supporting resources, free resources, including audio versions, reading plans and other goodies. The keyword here is the community. You don’t have to read it on your own! Once you’ve made your purchases you can go to biblicaeurope.com/CBENT to access an e-book, an audio addition and children’s version as well as daily emails. 

 

3. Start Bible Journaling  

Reading my bible with a pen has been revolutionary for me when it comes to engaging with God through the Bible. I have a journaling Bible and the pages looked skittle-filled with all my colourful note-taking and I love it! However, I know some people feel uncomfortable writing in the Bible. But you don’t have to journal on the Bible itself. When you read the Bible just have your favourite notebook or journal with you, or a batch of plain cards or even post-it notes so you can scribble on as God speaks to you through His Holy Spirit during your daily bible reading.  

 

I look at it like this, if you were going to a really important meeting, or you were going to hear your favourite motivational speaker or your favourite preacher is in town to speak, you’d likely take a pen and a paper to jot down notes as they speak to you. You make a note of the bits that stand out. The best bits. The questions that arise. As you write you have to process what you’re hearing. Writing things down shows the speaker that what they’re saying is important to you, and gives you a record of the exchange. Later this gives you something to reflect on.  

If you don’t see the value in writing what God says to you, ask yourself this, “Where would we be if Moses and others of the Bible didn’t write down what God said to them’? 

 

4. Download a Bible Reading app.  

Devotionals, Bible Studies and daily Bible reading plans galore!  

Here are a few faves: 

• YouVersion 
• The Bible Project 
• She Reads Truth
• He Reads Truth
• Sprinkle of Jesus

With technology, you can have your Bible on-the-go via your phone or tablet, keep electronic notes, trackers, have commentaries etc all at the touch of a screen. 

5. Start a Bible Book Club 

 A Bible book club works exactly the same as any other book club: 

Gather with a group of friends.

Choose a book or books of the Bible.  

Set the pace at which you will read it.

Set dates for regular get-togethers to gather, fellowship and discuss what you’ve been reading.   

This is one of my faves, you can’t beat this! The Bible & fellowship! Not only will it get you reading your bible, but you’ll also have accountability, friends and you can learn from each other as you each share revelations from your daily bible reading. 

 

6. Set reading goals & a schedule 

 Simply choose a book of the bible you want to read, count how many chapters it has, decide when you want to finish it by and then schedule it all in your diary.  

For Example, you choose Proverbs, it has 31 chapters, and you want to finish it in a month, so schedule a chapter a day and you’ll reach your reading goal.  

 

7. Visit Christian Blogs 

 Many Christian Blogs have Bible reading plans and Bible studies so you can read to a schedule and take notes. We have one for Philippians on The Hope Table and many more coming soon, but there are loads of other options out there. You can download our Philippians one here https://thehopetable.com/resources/  

Christian blogs inspire me to look at the Bible with fresh eyes and a new perspective. They help bring an application of understanding of the word that I hadn’t considered before. Often that inspires me to read the it for myself. 

 

8. Read a different translation of the Bible.   

Bible translations bring the Bible from older languages (Hebrew, Greek & Aramaic) into a language that you and I can both understand.  

My mum loves to read King James Version and that’s what I read when I was younger. But I found that I spent more time in a dictionary figuring out what old English words meant than I did reading the Bible. When I was a young girl and a new Christian, Kings James probably wasn’t the best interpretation for me to use.  

Reading versions in modern English might help if you’re hoping to read the Bible at a faster pace or in a more modern version of English for fluidity.  

I currently read a She Reads Truth Bible which is a Christian Standard Bible (CSB) which is an optimum equivalence translation. That simply means it’s formal equivalence, meaning word for word translation, with equivalents only used when needed because the word for word translation would make no sense in English.  

I find The Passion translation is so poetic and beautiful, I love hearing it. But I probably wouldn’t use it for a Bible Study because it’s not a literal translation. It’s an essential equivalence translation which means meaning for meaning. It’s another individual’s interpretation or paraphrase. But I would read it for enjoyment and its poetic elegance or to help me get a point across to someone else. 

My Spurgeons theology course included this a diagram of the spectrum from Fee and Stuart, p. 42 which I have adapted slightly. Line 1 includes the main English translations up to the 1970s. Line 2 includes the main translations since that time, some of which are revisions of earlier translations (e.g. RSV/NRSV, NIV/TNIV).  

Formal Equivalence (Literal – word for word)	Functional Equivalence (dynamic – thought for thought)	Free (Paraphrases of the bible for cultural relevance)
1. KJV, RV, NASB, RSV	NIV, NAB, GNB, JB	NEB, LB
2. NKJV, NASU, NRSV, ESV	TNIV, NJB, REB, NLT	The Message

You can also buy Bibles that have more than one on interpretation in it so that you can compare. 

So for example, you might use a Literal for study, equivalence for personal daily reading and a free if you were working with someone new to the faith. Of course, there’s no hard and fast rule, accept that we must always interpret whatever we read responsibly. 

 

9. Social Media Fast

How about giving up and old habit to make room for a new one?  

Quit something that drains and wastes a lot of your time to make room for a habit that is a better use of your time. 

It doesn’t have to be social media but a lot of people find that quitting social media and similar time-consuming distracting activities helps. 

Whilst you get back into your bible reading practice you might want to give up TV. Or only have them once your daily Bible reading is complete.  

Forbes quoted in Statista stating that global internet users spent 126 mins per day on social media in 2016, and 135 mins per day on social media in 2017. More recently according to Digital information world, we now spend 142 mins per day on social media. That’s a whole 2 hours and 22 minutes. According to research if you asked many Christians why they don’t read the Bible daily, they’ll say ‘they don’t have time’. 

Have you ever planned to watch one episode of your fave boxset or series on Netflix and then with the auto ‘play-next episode’, you’ve ended up spending 3-4 hours in front of the T.V?  

This one is about getting our priorities in order.  

Maybe there is something you need to give up to make room for what really counts?  

10. Join a Christian Facebook group   

If you’ve decided not to do number 9 and you’d rather keep social media, then make it count!  

Christian Facebook groups are a great place to meet like-minded people. We have Bible study resources uploaded in our group in FB group in the file section. You can join us here. Christian Facebook study groups are a dime a dozen. Well-watered women have one and so do many others. There you’ll always find Bible reading resources and people that will encourage and motivate you in the faith.  

  

11. Find Your Tribe 

Find a group of peeps that are interested in talking about Jesus and the word. Trust me they are out there. Ask your local church if they have a life group or a house group. Many churches have small groups that meet up during the week. There usually cover a range of activities but many have a group relating to Bible studies or Bible reading!  

If you can’t find one, start your own ?.  

 

12. Find a Bible Reading Plan 

Bible reading plan helps you to read through the Bible in ‘X’ amount of days. 

You can find them on some of the apps and websites mentioned above. You can find a Bible reading plan is scheduled out in some Bibles. There are Bibles specifically design to be read in a year, for example, in our last first-ever Instagram giveaway we gave away one of our prayer journals and an NIV Journaling, Bible In One Year, in which the whole Bible is dated started from January 1st   

A quick google search will give you plans for reading the Bible in one year, 180 days and all sorts!  

 

13. Supporting Books 

No book can replace reading the Bible. But some can help you enhance your Bible reading experience if you currently find it bland. For example: 

The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro – Cordeiro challenges you to sit intimately at the feet of the Saviour daily, why and how to journal, and how to connect with the divine mentors available to you in the Bible. 

Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin – How to study the Bible with both our hearts and our minds is the strapline for Jen’s book. Jen gives a step by step plan for a deeper dive into God’s word.  

Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown – Sensible shoes is a fiction that follows the stories of 4 women when they are drawn into a spiritual formation journey when attending a retreat centre. Through the book, Sharon’s writing takes you into a new understanding and of key spiritual practices. Again, this totally changed the way I read the word and reminded me that God’s word is LIVING & ACTIVE.

I’m sure there are many more but they are the 3 that pop straight to my mind straight away! Let us know in the comments if you have any book suggestions!

14. Pray 

Speak to God about it. Pray to ask God to re-ignite the passion for daily Bible reading and help you to see what He is sharing through His love letter to the world. To you. Ask God to highlight and remove distractions in your life and to give you understanding and wisdom. Welcome in the Holy Spirit and let the word of God, speak of God to you. Ask God to help you focus your eyes on Him.

As the opening scripture says, the scriptures bring us hope and encouragement. For us, it is essential for living.  Pray before. Pray during. Pray after. God is always open to communication with us.

 When asked if she’s ‘Bible-worshipper’, Jen Wilkin said this:

 

 

Ta dah! That’s all from me for today! I hope that you you found this post helpful.

Let us know in the comments what you’re going to read in the Bible next or what you’re currently reading? Also let us know if you’re going to try any of these ideas above. We’d love to hear from you.

With heart & hope

Shovorne Adams