How to Read the Bible Daily (with Bible Reading Plans!)

Want to learn how to read the Bible daily?

Getting in the habit of reading the Scriptures daily is actually easier than you might think… if you use the tips and a daily Bible reading plan like I’m about to share in this post!

You see, as I was writing my new book, Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women, I did a TON of research on how to read the Bible daily.

I wanted to know:

• How to start a daily Bible study habit
• How to keep a daily Bible study habit
• Which daily Bible reading plan really works
• How to actually enjoy your time reading the word of God

Now, I can’t wait to share everything I know about how to read the Bible daily with you!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps cover the many costs of running this site and allows me to help provide for my growing family. Thank you!

Learning How to Read the Bible Can Be Fun and Enjoyable!

By the way, if you’re truly interested in learning how to read the Bible daily, I’d love to invite you to check out my book: Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women! 

Practical, encouraging, and full of biblical truth, Fall in Love with God’s Word has everything you need to learn how to:

• Overcome 7 common obstacles preventing you from spending time in Scripture
• Discover the personalized Bible-reading routine that works for YOU
• Learn 15 easy ways to make reading the bible daily more meaningful and enjoyable
• Use Scripture to conquer sin, false beliefs, and negative thought patterns
• Experience fresh spiritual growth and passion for God’s Word.

Please visit Amazon.com or your local bookstore to learn more and grab your copy of Fall in Love with God’s Word (and its companion workbook) today!

How to Read the Bible Daily

Do you brush your teeth each day? Do you drive the kids to school, go to work, cook dinner, or pay your bills on time?

If so, you’re already an expert at creating and keeping habits! Whether positive or negative, you already have several habits you follow on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This means you are perfectly capable of following a daily Bible reading plan to make reading God’s work a daily habit as well.

You just need a few tips on how to start reading the Bible daily. And lucky for you, I have TONS of tips for them! (Teaching Christian women how to read the Bible daily is kind of my specialty.)

1. Choose a Time to Read the Bible Daily

As I was researching for my book, I found the #1 reason why Christian women aren’t reading the Scriptures daily is that we’re TOO BUSY!

We want to read God’s Word. We know it’s important. We know it’s something we *should* do.

And yet, all too often… we never do. There are simply too many people, activities, and distractions competing for our attention.

That’s why, the FIRST thing you want to do when learning how to read the Bible daily is set aside time for daily Bible study in advance. Simply choose a time that you think will work best for your schedule.

For example, you could read the Bible daily:

• First thing in the morning, before your children are awake
• In the bathroom
• Over breakfast (Have the kids read their Bibles too, or read together!)
• In the car (Listen to an audio Bible or show up to work 5 minutes early)
• At the gym (Again, audio Bible to the rescue)
• On your lunch break
• While cleaning the house
• In the carpool lane
• While the kids are napping/having quiet time/watching cartoons
• While your kids are at sports practice
• Over dinner (involve the whole family!)
• Instead of watching TV in the evenings
• While walking around the neighborhood
• In the bath (talk about relaxing!)
• Last thing before you go to bed at night

It doesn’t matter when you choose. Just pick something. Go ahead and do that now.

Tip: If you want an audio Bible, this is the daily Bible reading app I’m currently using: Through the Word. I love that it has both an eBible and an audio-Bible in one place, so I can seamlessly switch back and forth between the two as I’m reading the Scriptures daily.

2. Choose a Bible Reading Plan You Can Stick With

After you’ve chosen WHEN you’ll do your daily Bible reading, your next step in learning how to read the Bible daily is finding a Bible reading plan that works for you. Thankfully there are tons to choose from.

Here are a few of the more popular ones:

• The YouVersion Bible App: One of THE most popular daily Bible reading apps, the YouVersion app has TONS of daily devotionals, reading plans, and other content to help you learn how to read the Bible daily. Of course, I recommend the “Fall in Love with God’s Word” 5-Day plan!
• The First 5 App by Proverbs 31 Ministries: The First 5 App offers a community-based approach that helps you read the Bible daily. Join in the current study, or select any of the previous reading plans to get started reading the Scriptures daily. These can be read online or in the app.
• She Reads Truth Bible Reading Plans: She Reads Truth has a variety of short (7-28 day) Bible reading plans for women wanting to dive deeper into one particular topic or book of the Bible. These can be read online or in the app.
• BibleGateway Reading Plans: One of my favorite websites for reading the Bible online, BibleGateway offers a wide variety of Bible reading plans, including chronological plans, Old Testament and New Testament Bible plans, 90-Day Bible reading plans, seasonal plans, and even a daily Bible verse plan.
• The Bible in a Year: 365-Day Reading Plan by Biblica: This Bible reading plan is arranged into 365 daily Bible readings, each with an Old Testament passage, a New Testament passage, and a daily Psalm or Proverb.

Want a Way to Keep Track of Your Daily Bible Reading Progress?

When I was learning how to read the Bible daily, I loved checking off each book and chapter as I read them, so I could easily see my progress.

My NIV study Bible came with a built-in reading plan checklist right in the front. If yours doesn’t, you’re welcome to print off this Bible Reading Checklist to keep track of your progress.

It comes straight out of my Fall in Love with God’s Word WORKBOOK, but you’re welcome to have it for free.

Print it out and stick it in your Bible, or hang it on your fridge where you’ll see it often as you work your way through your daily Bible reading plan.

3. Make Sure You Have Everything You Need

You really don’t *need* much to learn how to read the Bible daily… Just a Bible (or even a Bible app) will do. However, there are plenty of Bible reading materials that can make reading the Scriptures daily that much easier.

For example, you might want:

• A good study Bible, in a translation you can understand (My post on How to Read the Bible for Beginners has a lot of good recommendations)
• A Daily Bible study or devotional that interests you (Here are 10 Popular Bible Studies I recommend)
• Free Bible study worksheets and printables (I have TONS of our subscriber freebies page)
• A pen, pencil, or highlighter, if you like underlining or taking notes

And of course, I highly recommend my book, “Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women“ for learning how to read the Bible daily.

Practical, encouraging, and full of biblical truth, Fall in Love with God’s Word has everything you need to learn how to:

• Overcome 7 common obstacles preventing you from spending time in Scripture
• Discover the personalized Bible-reading routine that works for YOU
• Learn 15 easy ways to make reading the bible for beginners more meaningful and enjoyable
• Use Scripture to conquer sin, false beliefs, and negative thought patterns
• Experience fresh spiritual growth and passion for God’s Word.

You can grab your copy of Fall in Love with God’s Word (and its companion workbook) both on Amazon.com or by asking at your local Christian bookstore.

4. Make Daily Bible Reading FUN!

I’m guessing you don’t have to find ways to motivate yourself to sleep in, eat chocolate cake, watch TV, scroll social media, or visit your favorite websites for Christian Women, blogs for Christian women, Christian Youtube Channels, and Christian podcasts. After all, these things are fun and enjoyable!

So why not find easy ways to make learning how to read the Bible daily more fun and meaningful as well? I have an entire chapter in my book, “Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women” full of ways to do this.

Here are a few ideas:

• Choose an easier Bible translation
• Take up Bible journaling
• Listen to an audio Bible while shopping
• Read the Bible with friends
• Read the Bible alongside a great daily Bible study or devotional
• Go to a coffee shop and order your favorite snack and hot beverage

Sure, you can try to rely on willpower and “force”  yourself to learn how to start reading the Bible daily, but if you don’t delight in reading God’s Word, you aren’t likely to stick with it. Instead, look for ways to make reading the Scriptures fun and enjoyable!

5. Hold Yourself Accountable to Read the Bible Daily

If you’re anything like most people, you’ll do great the first few days… then slowly fall right back out of the habit as life gets in the way. That’s why some form of accountability is SO important–especially when you’re first learning how to read the Bible daily.

You’re not a “bad Christian” if you forget a day or sometimes get distracted during prayer and daily Bible study. Give yourself permission to forget and know that you’re not a failure if you miss a few days (or months… or years….)

BUT if you do want to grow in faith, learning how to read and study the Bible for yourself is vital, and anything that helps you read more and get started back up again when you get out of the habit is a move in the right direction!

Here are a few ideas: 

• Find a friend who also wants to read her Bible every day and commit to texting each other every morning with one thing you learned from the passage you read that day.
• Print off a printable goal tracker and put an “x” in the box for every day you read your Bible. Surprisingly motivating!
• Decide that you will not do a certain task until you’ve read the Bible for the day. Common choices: check social media/email, shower, and get dressed. It forces you to read even if you’re not feeling it that day!
• Ask your husband or kids to check in each day. Even if they aren’t interested in learning how to read the Bible daily, chances are they’d be happy to ask you how your daily Bible reading plan is going.

6. Make a Plan to Overcome Obstacles

Unfortunately, no matter how much you want to learn how to read the Bible daily, there will always be distractions that get in the way. That’s why it’s a good idea to figure out what people, activities, or distractions are likely to derail your Bible reading plan, so you can make a plan to avoid them in advance.

If you find yourself struggling with reading the Scriptures daily, ask yourself:

• Do I need to read my Bible at a different time of day?
• Do I need to read my Bible somewhere else?
• Do I need a different daily Bible reading plan (something easier, harder, or more interesting)?
• Do I need to take care of specific distractions in advance?
• Or do I just need to stick with it long enough to make it a habit?

Please know: EVERYONE struggles with reading the Scriptures daily at some point. 

You are not a failure, and there is nothing wrong with you. It just means your Bible reading plan needs a bit of tweaking to make it perfect for YOU.

Ready to Fall in Love with God’s Word?

Reading God’s Word truly CAN be fun, enjoyable, encouraging, inspiring, and so much more.

If you’re truly interested in learning how to read the Bible daily, I’d love to invite you to check out my brand new book: Fall in Love with God’s Word: Practical Strategies for Busy Women! 

Practical, encouraging, and full of biblical truth, Fall in Love with God’s Word has everything you need to learn how to:

• Overcome 7 common obstacles preventing you from spending time in Scripture
• Discover the personalized Bible-reading routine that works for YOU
• Learn 15 easy ways to make reading the bible daily more meaningful and enjoyable
• Use Scripture to conquer sin, false beliefs, and negative thought patterns
• Experience fresh spiritual growth and passion for God’s Word.

Please visit Amazon.com or your local bookstore to learn more and grab your copy of Fall in Love with God’s Word (and its companion workbook) today!

Additional Resources for Learning How to Read the Bible Daily

Here at Equipping Godly Women, I have a TON of resources to help you learn how to read the Bible daily!

Here are a few additional posts you may enjoy:

How to Read the Bible (Easy Instructions for Beginners!)

How to Read the Bible Daily (And Make it a Habit)

Do You Truly Enjoy Reading the Bible? You Can!

How to Study the Bible for Yourself

Struggling to Read the Bible Consistently? Here are 7 Reasons Why

Do you struggle to read your Bible on a consistent basis? Which of these tips do you think would help you learn how to read the Bible daily? Do you have a favorite Bible reading plan?