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As Christians, we know we’re supposed to read the Bible, but honestly many of us struggle with getting started or knowing what to do. Some of my most precious and life-changing moments in my Christian walk have been meeting with God in the Bible, and I believe that can be true for you too.

So, let me share a few tips I’ve learned to help you implement a more consistent time with God in the Bible, study the Bible better, and connect with God as you read His Word. In the blog How to Study the Bible, I’ll teach you my spin on a practical method you can use to read and study a passage a Scripture.

Some Tips Before You Start Reading the Bible

1. Choose a time and place.

Life gets busy and it’s easy to let other things overtake time I would have spent in the Word. I’m sure you can relate. I find that it’s easier for me to be consistent in spending time in God’s Word when I schedule the time and sometimes even the place where I’m going to do it.

Scheduling time with God isn’t about legalism. Just like with other things in life, scheduling time with God helps us prioritize and make space for the things that are most important to us. Find the gap in your schedule or time of day you can devote to spending time with God in His Word, even if the time has to be different every day. Choose a place or a few places you can go and meet with God without distractions.

2. Have a plan.

We’ve all sat down to spend time with God and found ourselves flipping through the Bible aimlessly not knowing where to start that day. Having a plan for what you want to read in the Bible before you sit down to actually do it can help add purpose and focus to your time with God.

The YouVersion Bible app has great Bible reading plans, some topical and some through books of the Bible (which I would recommend) to help you if you don’t already have an idea where you’d like to start. You can use one of those or pick a book that God is highlighting to, one you’re interested in studying or one your church or small group may be studying together at your church gatherings.

I recommend choosing one book of the Bible to read at a time and reading through that book, little by little (a chapter or portion of a chapter at a time) until you finish the entire book. Reading this way helps you grasp the full context and main themes of the book and how it fits into the overall story of Scripture instead of only knowing a few scattered verses or portions of Scripture, which is really important to interpreting and applying the Bible correctly.

Once you’re more familiar with Scripture overall and how to read it well, you’ll be able to bounce around from passage to passage sometimes, if you feel led by God to do so, without getting confused or taking passages out of context.

3. Remember your purpose.

While having a plan and schedule and study methods can be helpful, it’s important to remember that the goal of spending time with God is spending time with God, not simply fulfilling a religious duty or checking a task off your to-do list. You don’t read the Bible just to gain head knowledge only. You read the Bible to meet with God–to spend time in His presence, encounter Him personally, grow in your faith, and cultivate intimate friendship with Him as you learn about Him through Scripture.

If you feel God leading you in a different direction in your reading, or you don’t get as far along in your reading plan for the day because you God was speaking to you from a certain verse and you took time to linger and connect with Him, that’s okay!

4. Pray before you read and pray as you read.

Before you read, ask God to help you understand the Scriptures, to teach you and speak to you, to transform you, to reveal Himself to you, to help you remember and apply what you learn. (Here are some verses I like to pray: Psalm 119:18 // Luke 24:45)

Look carefully at the Bible passage you’re reading as you think through the kinds of questions we’ll learn to ask about a biblical text in How to Study the Bible. But also be praying to God and asking Him those questions and talking to Him about what comes to mind as you read the Word as well. From start to finish, make your time reading God’s Word a personal conversation with God.

5. Know how to study the Bible well.

Over my years of being a Christian, I’ve learned a lot from Bible teachers and theologians about how to read the Bible properly so we can avoid misinterpretation as we meet with God in Scripture, and it’s changed my life! Did you know that you can’t just read a passage of Scripture and ask what it means to you, or just read and skip right to asking how it applies to your life?

In order to read, interpret, and apply the Bible well, we have to draw the intended meaning out of the biblical text (exegesis) and not read our own conclusions into the text (eisegesis). If we want to understand what God’s Word means to us and how to apply His Word to our lives today, we have to first understand what the text meant to the original author and audience first.  

Now, you might be thinking, “don’t I have to be a Bible scholar to do that?!” Nope! You don’t! Every believer can learn to study God’s Word well. We understand the Bible through the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit and careful study of God’s Word. (John 14:26 // 2 Timothy 2:15)

To read a passage well, you essentially need to answer five main questions: What is the background of this passage? What is happening in this passage? What is the main message of this passage? What are the principles in this passage? What is my response to this passage? Read How to Study the Bible to learn a simple Bible study method you can use to dig into these questions!

Let’s Talk: Which tip from this blog do you think will help you the most and why? Discuss this post in the comments below.