How Often to Read the Bible, Plus 9 Ways to Read More Often
For a long time I struggled spending time with God, reading His word every day. I began to view as a chore. Then it made me wonder how often Christians should study the Bible. What I discovered changed my time with God forever.
As a general rule, Christians should strive to read the Bible every day. Though the Bible does not command daily reading, it indicates that Scripture engagement ought to be a part of our daily life. How long one spends each day varies depending on personal schedules and bible study method used.
Reading the Bible every day is ideal. If you don’t yet, that’s okay. It’s a noble goal and you are not alone. In fact, most people don’t. So, let’s see how often people read the Bible and get creative on how we can more often.
How Often People Read The Bible
According to the most recent American Bible Society Study, “about 63 million American adults (24%) use the Bible—on their own, outside of a church service—at least once a week.”
The survey also shows a percentage of how often U.S. Adults read their bible.
- 10% use the Bible daily
- 4% use it four to six times a week
- 7% read the Bible two to three times a week
- 5% read it once a week, and
- 7% read the bible once a month
This shows that typically people will read or use their Bible at least one time a week. But what about Christians? How often do they read the Bible?
According to a 2019 Lifeway study, 32% of Protestant churchgoers read their Bible every day. While 27% do so a few times a week and 12% read the Bible once a week.
According to the chart above, 59% of Protestant Christians spend at least a few days a week in God’s word. This demonstrates many Christians desire to spend every day in God’s word.
Now, if you don’t spend every day in God’s Word that is okay. I don’t. I’d like to, but sometimes I’m tired, or lazy, or simply unmotivated. That’s not a sin. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a sin either. Why? Because the Bible doesn’t say it is.
How Often The Bible Says We Should Read It
If we are going to answer the question of how often we should read the Bible, it would be wise to see what the Bible has to say about the matter.
Numerous passages of Scripture indicate that the Bible ought to be integral to our way of life. However, there is no explicit command in the Bible about the frequency of Bible reading. The Bible is more concerned with our desire for God and His word than how often we read the it.
Nowhere in the Bible is there a command, “Thou shall read me every day.” Guess what that means? It means that failure to read the Bible daily is not a sin. You are not a bad Christian, or person, if you don’t read the Bible every day.
So, what does the Bible say?
Psalm 1 begins,
“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Psalm 1 is an introduction to the book of Psalms and describes the ideal follower of God. One who never walks in steps with evil and daily enjoys God’s instruction.
Also, God gave instructions to families on to teach their children about Him. In Deuteronomy He tells them, “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:7).”
These verses may seem to indicate that reading Scripture daily is required. But, in context, they simply say that engaging with and delighting in Scripture should be a part of our daily life. Whether it’s reading, meditating, storytelling, etc. Scripture should be infused into our daily life and routine.
The Bible is infinitely more concerned with our attitude in how we approach the Bible (and how we apply it to our lives for that matter) than it is our frequency of reading.
How Long You Should Read The Bible Each Day
Now that we’ve established there is no command to read the Bible every day, though that is certainly a good practice and desirable goal, when we do decide to read the Bible, how long should we read the Bible.
As a general rule people spend an average of 36 minutes reading the Bible in one sitting. The average Christian will spend 30 minutes or less on Bible study a day. Those who spend more are usually professionals in the field such as pastors or seminary students.
To answer this question I took an unofficial poll and got some interesting results.
I asked the question, “How long do you study the Bible?” Here are the results:
| TIME | NUMBER OF RESPONSES |
|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 1 |
| 15 minutes | 3 |
| 20 minutes | 2 |
| 30 minutes | 10 |
| 1 hour | 8 |
| 5+ hours | 2 |
Both 5+ hours responses were from pastors and/or seminary students. This time included personal study as well as sermon prep. So, they are outliers.
As you can see the most frequent response was 30 minutes to an hour. If you leave out the outliers and take an average of the rest you will get 36.5 minutes. Now, I highly doubt anyone will set a timer to exactly 36.5 minutes and be done when it goes off. But you never know…
Anyway, from this data we can see that the average Christian will spend 30 minutes to an hour studying the Bible each day.
9 Ways To Read The Bible More Often
So, the goal that I’m setting for myself is to read the Bible every day for 30 minutes. But sometimes I’m feeling lazy, or tired, or simply uninterested. That’s what stops me a lot of times, and I’m sure it does you too. So here are nine unique ways to get into the Bible more often:
- Listen to Audio Bible: Listening to an Audio Bible on your commute to/from work is a great alternative to reading.
- Use a Reading Plan: Using a bible reading plan can create some accountability for yourself and encourage daily reading of Scripture.
- Read with others: Reading the Bible with others is another way to create some accountability. It’s also a great way to love and encourage a friend in their spiritual walk.
- Replace Screen Time: Do an evaluation of your screen time. Chances are you spend more time staring at a screen than you realize. Take 30 minutes of that and give it back to God.
- Memorize verses: Another great way to engage with the Bible more is to work on memorizing verses. Memorize a verse a week.
- Verse-A-Day Challenge: Create for yourself a challenge to find and share a verse on social media once a day for a month.
- Bible Journaling: Practice Bible journaling. Get our your crayons, pens, paint and write verses down in an artistic way.
- Scripture Art Projects: Use Bible verses as inspiration for art projects, paintings, sculptures, etc.
- Bible Movie Night: Watch Bible related movies like, The Passion of the Christ, The Chosen, The Prince of Egpyt and read the corresponding passages in the Bible.
Honestly, some of these sound fun. I might just have to give them a go. Remember, the goal is not how much time you spend in God’s word, but finding joy and delight in God’s Word. What other creative ways do you know to get more engaged with Scripture? Let me know.
