THE WORD

“Whether you are new to the Christian faith or are a saint of many years, the greatest means of growing in the knowledge of God is the simple reading of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation over and over again as a daily life discipline.”

—Paul Washer

Spend unhurried, undistracted time in the Word each day.

Start by spending 30 minutes a day, 7 days a week in the Word, preferably in the morning.

To succeed in doing this, we would recommend that you do a few things. First, set aside a specific TIME and specific PLACE to spend unhurried time in the Word with God each day.

You also need to pick a PLAN. Find a reading plan going through a book of the Bible that can guide you, and then stick to it. In our opinion, it’s better to start with a plan that reads a short passage of Scripture each day. This teaches you how to spend quality time in the Word, instead of merely reading for quantity.

Lastly, you need PEOPLE. While your walk with Christ is personal, it is not meant to be private. Invite other believers to join you on this journey. Not only will this give you good accountability, but if you’re struggling to spend time in the Word, odds are they are too.

H.E.A.R. BIBLE
READING METHOD

As you spend time in the Word each day, walk through each step of the H.E.A.R. outline.

The “H” in the HEAR acrostic stands for highlight. Read through the passage of Scripture that your reading plan has you reading on that particular day.

After reading through the passage (maybe even a few times), the “E” in the HEAR acrostic stands for explain. Think about what’s going on in that passage and in those verses. Study the text and strive to deeply understand what you just read.

Here are two, great resources to help you do so:

The “A” in the HEAR acrostic stands for apply. We don’t want to simply store up facts about Scripture and know all about God solely in our minds. No, as we read and study the Bible, we want God to apply His Word to our hearts, in hopes that He would mold, shape, and transform us to look more like Jesus.

As you apply the passage of Scripture that you highlighted, you can ask questions like, “What does this mean today? What is God saying to me? What would it look like to apply this verse to my life? How am I not applying this verse in my every day life?”

Don’t rush this process. Meditate on what God has said in His Word and patiently wait for Him to speak to you through it. Thomas Brooks once said, “It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.” Sit with the Word and refuse to move on until you hear God speak.

“Pray before you read the Bible, while you read it, and after you read it.”

—Joel Beeke

The “R” in the HEAR acrostic stands for respond. We want to be people who obey God and do what He says. We want our lives to be different because of our time spent with God through His Word.

Close out your time in the Word by spending time in prayer, asking God to now help you—and give you the strength—to live out the very truths that He just revealed to you in Scripture. More times than not, prayer is the key that unlocks the Bible, and it’s during this step that God draws ever near.

  • If you’re struggling to pray through the text, use this helpful outline: P.R.A.Y.—Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield

MEMORIZE ONE BIBLE VERSE A WEEK

Strive to memorize one Bible verse a week.

Add two to three, ten minute blocks of time to your weekly schedule to memorize Scripture. Pick a time when you are already prone to waste time or mindlessly do something, like scrolling through social media or Binge watching a show before you go to bed.

We’ve already made a list of 52 Bible verses for you to start memorizing each week.

We recommend that you take advantage of a Bible memory app to help you memorize and review Bible verses. Here are two apps that we really like:

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Prayer