--- title: How to Build a Bible Reading Habit description: "Learn how to build a daily Bible reading habit in 4 simple steps: set a goal, schedule your time, find accountability and stay flexible." image: https://blog.iamsecond.com/hubfs/IAS-26-3000%209_24%20How%20to%20Make%20Time%20to%20Read%20the%20Bible%20Blog.webp --- - Shop - [Media Store](https://iamsecond.vhx.tv/) - [I Am Second Store](https://store.iamsecond.com/) - [Our Story](https://www.iamsecond.com/our-story/) - [Donate](https://www.iamsecond.com/donate/) [Log In](https://www.iamsecond.com/join/) [![](https://www.iamsecond.com/wp-content/themes/blackhawk/assets/img/i-am-second-logo-black.svg)](https://www.iamsecond.com/) - [Stories](https://www.iamsecond.com/film/) - [Articles](https://blog.iamsecond.com) - [Live Second](https://www.iamsecond.com/live-second/) [![](https://www.iamsecond.com/wp-content/themes/blackhawk/assets/img/i-am-second-logo-black.svg)](https://www.iamsecond.com/join/) [![](https://www.iamsecond.com/wp-content/themes/blackhawk/assets/img/i-am-second-logo.svg)](https://www.iamsecond.com/join/) [Log In](https://www.iamsecond.com/join/) - [Stories](https://www.iamsecond.com/film) - [Articles](https://blog.iamsecond.com) - [Live Second](https://www.iamsecond.com/live-second/) - Shop - [Media Store](https://iamsecond.vhx.tv/) - [I Am Second Store](https://store.iamsecond.com/) - [Our Story](https://www.iamsecond.com/our-story/) - [Donate](https://www.iamsecond.com/donate/) [Hot Topics](https://blog.iamsecond.com/tag/hot-topics) # How to Build a Bible Reading Habit K.R. Ledbetter September 30, 2026 | 5 minute read [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20blog%20from%20I%20Am%20Second&body=https://blog.iamsecond.com/how-to-build-a-bible-reading-habit](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20blog%20from%20I%20Am%20Second&body=https://blog.iamsecond.com/how-to-build-a-bible-reading-habit) ![](https://blog.iamsecond.com/hubfs/IAS-26-3000%209_24%20How%20to%20Make%20Time%20to%20Read%20the%20Bible%20Blog.webp) [![Back](https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/5261881/New%20Site/Images/backFilled.svg) Back to All Posts](https://blog.iamsecond.com/) If you peel back the layers of my personality, you will find at the very center... a list.  I’m strongly motivated by security, routine and predictability. I like to make a list for the day, and I especially like the feeling of checking off a task well done.   My strong tendency toward practicality helps me manage my life, work and home. Daily to-dos and seasonal house maintenance lists. Weekly health goals and annual wellness reminders. Lists of books I want to read, places I want to go and long-term life goals.   I also make a plan for what I’m going to read in the Bible, and if you’re looking to start reading the Bible more regularly,  you should make one too. Not that reading God’s Word is a mundane task to be crossed out. Nor that the list is a dictator that has to be obeyed at any cost. Rather, it’s a beginning point, a benchmark, a baseline.  If you have a plan, you can adapt it.  If you don’t have a plan, it can be awfully hard to [build a successful Bible reading habit.](https://blog.iamsecond.com/3-tips-for-consistency)   But how do you get from “I know I really should read the Bible” to “I choose to read the Bible daily”? Here’s what works for me.  4 Steps for Building a Bible Reading Habit  God is always ready to meet with me whenever I open the Bible. Not once has he been late or distracted. He is always ready to meet with you too. In fact, because he is able to do [immeasurably more](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%203%3A20-21&version=NIV) than we ask or imagine, he will use your habit of reading the Bible for his glory. While you can count on meeting with God to give your day hope and direction, you might also find that he surprises you with how your reading connects to your everyday life.  My approach for building a habit of reading the Bible every day is to make a list, [schedule my time](https://blog.iamsecond.com/how-to-set-faith-goals-youll-stick-to-in-2026), read with someone else and update my list periodically.  1\) Set a Goal  Your individual Bible-reading goal depends on where you are in your spiritual life. Perhaps you are building this habit for the first time ever, returning after a long break or looking for something that will stick this time. Maybe something big has happened to you — a career change, a new family member, a diagnosis, a milestone, a loss — and you need regular time with God more than ever.  When you sit down to write your list of what you’d like to read, keep in mind that there isn’t a right or wrong. Reading the Word isn’t a sprint. It’s a daily nature walk with our loving Father.  Throughout my life, I’ve made many different reading lists. Read one Psalm every day. Read the Bible in a year. Copy out Romans by hand a few verses at a time. Memorize one passage, then another.   The point isn’t whether I achieved them all (I didn’t) but whether I showed up (I did).  A pattern of reading that I’ve found helpful lately is to rotate through a New Testament book, an Old Testament book and a set of thematic passages. For example, here’s a list of some of my favorites: - New Testament: John - Old Testament: Genesis - Theme: Making disciples - New Testament: Ephesians - Old Testament: Ruth - Theme: Songs of praise 2\) Schedule Your Time  Once you’ve decided what to read, you need to plan when to read. Choose to read the Bible daily.  Many people prefer to read the Bible first thing in the morning, taking inspiration from [Mark 1:35](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201%3A35&version=NIV): “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Jesus prioritized communicating with God by praying before he did anything else and by ensuring he was free of distractions.   This example also applies to reading the Bible. The most important moments of your day are the time you spend listening to God’s Word, so you should treat them that way.  It’s okay if you aren’t at your best in the wee hours of the morning. Consider pairing your Bible reading with an existing habit instead. Before you make your daily cup of coffee, read the Bible. Put on your gym clothes, read the Bible and then go work out. Immediately after brushing your teeth, read the Bible. Adding to something you already regularly do will help make Bible reading part of your everyday life.  It’s also okay if you don’t have habits that are just right for that technique. Consider putting “Read God’s Word” on your calendar like an appointment. Maybe you block off the first 15 minutes of your lunch hour on weekdays and schedule first thing in the morning on weekends. Or your availability changes every semester, so you read before class some days and between classes on others.   Most of us have schedules that vary day by day, but it’s important that every day always contains a few minutes to pause, focus and read some verses. Even if your time of day to read the Bible isn’t consistent, opening the pages every single day will be habit-forming.  3\) Be Accountable  Reading the Bible with others helps build external accountability, momentum and motivation.In other words, we’re all more likely to maintain a daily habit if we have a partner who will ask us about it. - Read with your family. Parents, siblings, spouses or children who are believers are all excellent accountability partners. Some of my most regular Bible reading occurred while my daughter was an elementary student and needed my help with her weekly Bible lesson. - Read with a mentor. If you are fortunate enough to be discipled by an older believer, discuss how your Bible reading is going. Ask for help if you need it. - Read with a mentee. If you are fortunate enough to disciple a younger believer, read along with them to provide encouragement and support. - Read with your church. Use your time in God’s Word to prepare for your next meeting. Plan to share what you learned, if appropriate. When I led a small group at my church, I would read my assigned passage and related verses throughout the week before my turn. 4\) Be Flexible  Nobody can read the Bible at exactly 6:00 a.m. for exactly 20 minutes every single day for their entire lives. That expectation simply isn’t realistic. No matter how excellent your initial plan is, it will need to adapt to changes in your life.   At an emotional low point in my life, maintaining daily habits became very hard for me. I knew that reading the Word was not something to quit during a difficult period of mental health. Yet continuing my plan to study the first five books of the Old Testament felt overwhelming, crushing, impossible. So, I set that plan aside and reevaluated what I was able to do.   Every day at noon, an alarm on my phone reminded me to read [Colossians 3:12-14](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=col%203%3A12-14&version=NIV). That was it. Those same three verses were my entire Bible reading for many weeks until I felt well enough to revise my plan again.  Reading the Bible is often a joy, but in certain seasons of life it can be a struggle. When this becomes the case for you, revise your Bible-reading plan.  - Make your goal more manageable. - Make your timing shorter or more flexible. - Change how you stay accountable. - Habits Are Daily Choices Habits Are Daily Choices  Really quick, let me tell you one more thing I’ve learned about habits. Habits are actually just choices we repeat.  When I choose the same actions again and again, I’ve built a successful habit.  I find it easy to choose actions with short-term benefits, such as playing with my dog (funny) or reading a novel (relaxing) or eating a cookie (delicious). What I find more difficult is choosing actions with long-term benefits — the actions that take self-discipline and commitment, such as exercising or learning a new language or reading the Bible.  Reading the Bible is one of the many ways we obey and worship God. He saves us. He loves us. He is worthy.  Time alone with God’s Word is worth choosing every single day!     ![K.R. Ledbetter](https://blog.iamsecond.com/hubfs/Kelly%20Ledbetter_2026_Square.png) ### K.R. Ledbetter K.R. Ledbetter lives in North Texas with her teacher husband, teenage daughter, and rescue dog. A lifelong lover of literature, she can usually be found with a book in hand but also enjoys traveling, quilting, and playing board games. One of her favorite Bible verses is Psalm 145:8-9. [More from K.R. Ledbetter](https://blog.iamsecond.com/author/k-r-ledbetter) [Leave a Comment](https://blog.iamsecond.com/how-to-build-a-bible-reading-habit#comments-listing) ## Related Content ### Search for what you’d like to read about [Learn To Live Second](https://www.iamsecond.com/live-second/) [View The Community](https://www.iamsecond.com/do-more/) ![](https://www.iamsecond.com/wp-content/themes/blackhawk/assets/img/footer-line.svg) - [Film](https://www.iamsecond.com/film/) - [Subscribe](https://www.iamsecond.com/#modal-subscribe) - [International](https://support.iamsecond.com/international) - [Contact & Help](https://support.iamsecond.com/) - [Our Story](https://www.iamsecond.com/our-story/) - [Donate](https://www.iamsecond.com/donate/) Get all the latest updates from I Am Second by signing up for the monthly newsletter! 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