Last Updated on January 16, 2026
I’ve been reading my Bible for over 30 years, since I first received a “big girl” Bible at the age of 6. I haven’t always been very consistent with my Bible study habit, though. I’ve had seasons of great consistency and seasons where I barely picked it up at all.
In the last few years, I feel like I’ve finally gotten into some good rhythms, but even those have been interrupted by spiritually dry seasons, births of new babies, and particularly busy times. Sometimes, it’s just hard to make time to read the Bible.
As Christians, we all believe that reading and knowing more about the Bible is helpful and important. So often, God speaks to us through His Word.
The more we find ourselves in the Word, reading it, studying it, and letting it speak to us, the more opportunities we give God to speak into our lives.
We know it’s important, but, like so many things that we know are good for us, it’s so hard to do!
Whether we’re spending all our waking hours feeding a new infant, working full-time and managing a family, or acting as chauffeur full-time to teens, there are so many important things that fill our days that make us feel we just don’t have enough time.
So how can we work a Bible study habit into our overly full lives?
7 Ways to Build a Bible Study Habit
Here are 7 ways I’ve learned to make reading the Bible a habit in our daily lives.
1. Purposefully choose it.
You’re not just magically going to find time in your day to incorporate a new habit. You have to purposefully choose to make time and space for Bible study by deciding what it is you are going to drop in order to make time for it.
Trading social media or TV time for Bible study is probably a better long-term choice (though, I know, still hard to make).
You can also look at times in your day where you do have a little extra margin or where you could listen to Scripture, even if you aren’t able to read (i.e., waiting to pick kids up from school/daycare, commutes, time during practices).
2. Start small.
You’re not going to go from having no Bible study routine at all to reading the Bible an hour at a time. That’s probably not sustainable.
Set a small goal for yourself to begin, maybe five or ten minutes of study a day. After you’ve met that goal for a week or two, consider upping it, if you feel like you want more.
Read this next: 8 Best Bible Studies for Busy Moms in 2025
3. Utilize all the tools.
There are so many tools out there to both help you read/listen to the Bible as well as learn more about what you’re reading. You can find Bible reading plans galore online.
Tools like YouVersion provide plans and an audio Bible. There are also apps like Lectio 365 or Pray as You Go that provide a section of Scripture to listen to each day, along with questions to reflect on.
If you want additional information about what you’re reading, there are tons of free tools out there, like The Bible Project (they have a website, videos, and a podcast) and The Listener’s Bible Commentary (a free podcast).
5. Know yourself.
Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. If you hate getting up early in the morning, don’t try to start an early morning reading time. Try working some reading time into your afternoon or evening.
If you absorb more information by listening than by reading, consider listening to the Bible instead. If writing helps you to process what you read or hear, incorporate journaling into your Bible study time.
If you need accountability and structure, try joining a Bible study at your church or through an organization such as BSF International to keep you accountable.
6. Have a plan.
Think through the when, where, and what. Decide on a place and a time when you want to read or listen to the Bible. Put it in your calendar if it helps. Make a plan and stick to it.
7. Don’t be afraid to change it up.
Yes, we want to be consistent and give the plan we made a chance. However, once you’ve made your plan and tried it out for a week or so, don’t be afraid to adjust if something’s not working.
Even after you get into a good routine, don’t hold onto it too tightly. Seasons change in our work, parenting, and marriage. If what you’ve been doing isn’t working anymore, there’s no shame in changing things up.
8. Give yourself some grace.
I always find it comforting to remember that for most of Christian history, the vast majority of people could not read. They had to rely on the Scriptures they had memorized or what they heard read to them in church to hear God’s Word. But God was still speaking to them. God was still at work.
We are extremely blessed to have the Bible so readily available to us. It’s such a gift, and one that we shouldn’t take for granted. However, we don’t have to live in fear that if we miss a day or two of Bible study (or even for months or years during a hard season) that we will miss some huge revelation from God in our lives. God is so much bigger than that.
While creating a Bible study habit isn’t necessarily easy, it is simple. Any time we spend in God’s Word, trying to better understand Him and ourselves, is time well spent.