Developing a daily habit of reading the Bible is a practice that many Christians find beneficial for their spiritual growth and relationship with God. Key elements include setting aside a specific time and place for reading, starting with manageable portions, and reflecting on the text’s meaning and application to daily life. Prayer and journaling can also enhance this practice.
Practical Steps for Building a Daily Bible Reading Habit:
- Choose a Consistent Time and Place:Find a time and location that works best for your schedule and allows for focused attention, such as early morning or before bed in a quiet space.
- Start Small:Don’t feel pressured to read large chunks of scripture. Begin with a few verses or a short passage and gradually increase the amount as you feel comfortable.
- Reflect and Pray:After reading, take time to ponder the passage’s meaning and how it applies to your life. Prayer helps to internalize the message and seek guidance.
- Use Study Tools:Consider using a devotional guide, a reading plan, or other resources to help you explore the Bible more deeply.
- Journal Your Thoughts:Writing down your reflections, prayers, and insights can help you remember and apply what you’re learning.
- Don’t Be Discouraged:Life can get busy, and there will be days when you miss your reading time. Don’t let that discourage you; simply pick up where you left off the next day.
- Consider Joining a Group:Studying the Bible with others can provide support, accountability, and deeper understanding.
Benefits of Daily Bible Reading:
- Spiritual Growth: Reading the Bible provides guidance, wisdom, and encouragement for your daily life.
- Deeper Relationship with God: Regular engagement with scripture can foster a closer relationship with God and deepen your understanding of His character.
- Guidance and Direction: The Bible offers wisdom and direction for making decisions and navigating life’s challenges.
- Spiritual Strength and Resilience: Reading and meditating on God’s Word can provide strength and resilience in the face of trials.
- Understanding God’s Promises: The Bible reveals God’s promises and encourages hope and faith.
Other Habits that Complement Bible Reading:
- Prayer: Praying throughout the day, not just during Bible reading, connects you with God and helps you seek His guidance.
- Worship: Engaging in worship, both individually and corporately, can deepen your relationship with God.
- Serving Others: Living out the principles of the Bible through acts of service and love is an important part of Christian living.
- Community: Connecting with other believers through church attendance and small groups provides support and encouragement.
1st and foremost, giving thanks to God for a new day! Even in the darkest dungeon, Paul and Silas sang praises to God. The song of thanksgiving opened the doors of the prison. There is great power in thankfulness, and it is a weapon we can use.
The first thing I want to do today is give thanks for a brand new day, because life is truly incredible. I am so grateful to be alive.
Expressing gratitude for a new day is a common and meaningful practice, often associated with beginning the day with prayer and thankfulness. I start my day by acknowledging God’s blessings, particularly the gift of a new day and life. This practice is often rooted in the belief that each day is a fresh start, a new opportunity to experience God’s Love and grace.
A more detailed look at this practice:
- Recognizing God’s Sovereignty: Many believers acknowledge God’s control over their lives and the timing of events, trusting that He has a purpose for each day.
- Seeking Guidance and Strength: Prayers often include requests for guidance, strength, and protection throughout the day, as well as forgiveness for past sins.
- Focusing on the Positive: People often express gratitude for blessings, both big and small, known and unknown, including the simple gift of waking up.
- Sharing Love and Kindness: Many prayers extend beyond personal needs, including requests for blessings and well-being for loved ones, and for the ability to be kind and loving to others.
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
– Joshua 1:8
And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.
—Hebrews 9:27–28
Morning devotion, which involves spending time in prayer, Bible reading, and reflection, is important for fostering a closer relationship with God and shaping a positive mindset for the day. It provides a space for spiritual growth, guidance, and peace, helping individuals align their thoughts and actions with their faith and values.
Here’s a more detailed look at the benefits:
1. Spiritual Growth and Connection:
- Deeper Relationship with God: Morning devotion offers a time for focused prayer, reflection, and study of God’s word, fostering a closer connection with Him.
- Guidance and Direction: By spending time with God, individuals can seek His guidance and direction for the day, aligning their decisions with His will.
- Renewed Faith: Reading scriptures and reflecting on God’s promises can strengthen faith and provide encouragement during challenging times, according to some Christian sources.
2. Setting a Positive Tone for the Day:
- Focus on Priorities: Morning devotion helps individuals prioritize their day, reminding them of their values and the importance of living according to their faith, according to the Mount Paran Christian School blog.
- Gratitude and Joy: Starting the day with gratitude for God’s blessings can cultivate a positive and joyful attitude, setting a positive tone for the day.
- Inner Peace: Spending time in prayer and reflection can bring a sense of peace and calmness, helping individuals approach the day with a more grounded perspective.
3. Developing Spiritual Disciplines:
- Habit of Dependence: Morning devotion establishes a habit of seeking God’s guidance and strength, fostering dependence on Him rather than solely relying on one’s own abilities.
- Spiritual Strength: Regularly engaging in devotional practices can strengthen one’s spiritual life, providing resilience and equipping individuals to face challenges.
- Discipline and Consistency: Morning devotion encourages discipline and consistency in spiritual practices, which can positively impact other areas of life.
The Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:18) encourages giving thanks in all circumstances because it is God’s will for those in Christ Jesus. This means finding reasons to be grateful even in difficult times, as God’s sovereignty and plan for good can be seen in all situations.
- Scriptural Basis: The verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 is a direct command from God, emphasizing that giving thanks should be a regular practice for believers.
- God’s Will: By giving thanks, Christians are fulfilling God’s desire for them and aligning themselves with His will.
- Finding Gratitude: Even in challenging situations, there can be reasons to be thankful. For example, you might be thankful for God’s strength, His unwavering love, or His plan for good, even in the midst of hardship.
- Focusing on God’s Sovereignty: Giving thanks can help shift one’s focus from the negative aspects of life to God’s control and purpose in all things.
- Benefits of Gratitude: Being thankful can have a positive impact on one’s emotional well-being and perspective, helping to maintain hope and a sense of peace.
Several Bible verses in the KJV speak to the importance of habits, both good and bad. Proverbs 22:6 emphasizes the impact of early training, while Romans 12:2 encourages transformation through a renewed mind. Other verses highlight the need to guard one’s heart (Proverbs 4:23) and to avoid conforming to worldly patterns (Romans 12:2). Additionally, the concept of bearing fruit (Romans 7:4) and the consequences of one’s choices are also explored.
Here are some relevant KJV verses:
Positive Habits & Training:
- Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
- Psalm 119:44: “So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.”
- Proverbs 13:4: “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”
- Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Negative Habits & Consequences:
- Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
- Romans 7:15-21: This passage describes the struggle with sin and the desire to do good while still being prone to evil.
- Proverbs 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
- Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
- Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Other Relevant Themes:
- Bearing Fruit: Romans 7:4 uses the metaphor of bearing fruit to illustrate the result of living according to the Spirit.
- Transformation: Ephesians 4:22-24 speaks about putting off the old self and being renewed in the spirit of the mind.
- Consequences of Choices: Proverbs 16:24 highlights that gracious words are like a honeycomb.
These verses offer guidance on cultivating positive habits and breaking free from negative ones, ultimately leading to a life that is pleasing to God.
Habits that shape us are kay. Daily habits are key, as they define the day ahead. it’s an important topic; our life is formed by our habits much more than our hopes or new years resolutions.
When it comes to habits, have you ever had the opportunity to observe a master up close? To see their day to day rituals and the habits that allow them to execute what they do at a high level? My friend is a master mechanic and one of his habits is keeping all of his most useful tools within arms-reach in his insanely well-organized shop. This allows him to minimize movement and maximize productivity.
When you look at someone who has been successful in their craft, you often see a bundle of habits, often daily ones, that allows them to rise to a level of proficiency creativity and notoriety in their process and profession. Whether it is a highly skilled nurse or the pre-flight checklist habits of an airline pilot, healthy and repeated habits help us accomplish things with excellence we may not be able to do if we just left it to chance.
One of the things I’ve been pondering as I’ve been preparing this share is the question: Did Jesus have habits? Do we see Him doing things consistently, even daily, that would give us insights that we could apply to our lives as people if we are seeking to follow Jesus more closely?
As you read the 4 gospels, the books of the New Testament that are the collected accounts of the life of Jesus, I think you do begin to see some of the patterns and habits of Jesus’ life. And like all habits, they emerge from the soil of repetition. Jesus often used analogies in His teaching and with regards to habits, one analogy that is perhaps helpful when it comes to this topic is an agricultural one – a fruit bearing tree. Turn with me in your Bibles or on your devices to Luke 6. If we think of good fruit as healthy things that emerge in our lives in Luke 6:43-45, Jesus says the following:
“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
A good person produces good things from the treasury of things stored up in their heart. In other words, what flows out of you – your mouth, your actions – will be connected to what you have put into you. And healthy habits like spiritual practices – are a way of investing good things into the soil of your life so that you can produce good things on an ongoing basis. So what are your patterns of behaviour producing?
When we look at the life of Jesus, He clearly had some rhyrhms and patterns of life. Some habits that bear exploration. There are two good books that examine the life of Jesus through this lens. One is called the and The Jesus Habits by Jay Dennis and the other The Jesus Priorities by Christopher Maricle. In his book, Maricle makes a helpful observation:
“Isolated incidents reveal little about an individual, but reflecting on patterns of behavior reveals the content of a person’s character and the values that person holds. The way we spend our time and resources is an expression of our values. Jesus told us this himself when He taught us that “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44). So reflecting on how Jesus spent his time should be instructive. What did He say over and over again? What did He do repeatedly?”
The way Jesus spend His time and resources is an expression of His values just like the way you and I spend our time in an expression of our values. And if you read through the gospels, there are at least 5 habits that Jesus engages with, many daily, that are instructive for us. Some are not so much “things to do” but more mindset habits. So let’s dive in and I want you to think as we explore each one “how true is this of me?”
5 habits of Jesus – Habit 1
(1) COMPASSION – more than anything else, Jesus healed people
Mark 1:41 – Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And again in Matthew 14:14 – Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Compassion characterized the way Jesus moved through his days.
But it made me also pause and ask myself the question “is my life characterised by compassion?” I am finding that more challenge in this season because compassion requires margin. So one of the habit checks I have had to perform this January has been to look at my calendar and see if I am over scheduled or pushing too hard. When I sense myself waining in compassion, it can sometimes be related to being in a hurry. The pace that Jesus set was purposeful but very person-centred and this seems to have allowed Him to tap into compassion more readily than I sometimes can. What is your compassion capacity currently?
We are in a season where more compassion is needed – in your interactions with retail workers, with family members or teachers. Can I admonish you to lead with compassion in conversation? Compassion comes from somewhere deeper than just an adjusted schedule, however. When you look at the life of Jesus, one of the habits you see him engage in daily is the habit of
2) PRAYER – Jesus was in daily, active conversation with God (seeking God’s will; being thankful; expressing need)
One of things I love as you read through the prayers of Jesus is the incredible variety. Some were super short. Some were prayers asking God the Father for guidance and insight. Some were prayers of praise or thanksgiving. Some were born out of places of deep pain and anguish.
If were to take the accounts of Jesus life and reproduce them in calendar format, there would regularly be blocks of time – some short, some longer – devoted to active conversation with God in prayer. It was a keystone habit for Jesus. So let’s pause for a moment and let’s consider a few tips if you want to grow in making prayer a regular part of your routine in 2022.
I’m going to suggest a few ideas for you to consider: some may work for you, some may not. There are just some things I’m trying. Here’s one idea
Idea: USE WRITTEN PRAYERS (eg – Book of Common Prayer)
Depending on the tradition you grew up in, this may be a very familiar practice or it might feel odd and almost inauthentic to borrow someone else’s words to talk to God. There is a rich and powerful tradition of written prayers for personal and corporate use that we have to draw on as a Christian community.
I love how writer Emily P Freeman put this in her newsletter this week “I’ve realized the gifts and relief that can come from borrowed prayers. When uncertainty permeates the moment, whether because of a devastating national tragedy or a personal season of doubt, a regular practice of praying familiar words not only counts, but could be a radical act of faith.”
With respect to praying borrowed prayers, find something that works for you. I love the Common Prayer app. I own more copies than is reasonable for a lower church pastor of the Book of Common Prayer. You might use the Lord’s prayer or some other prayer prompt. Give it a try!
Another Idea: USE ALARMS & REMINDERS (eg – praying Luke 10:2 at 10:02 AM each day). I have a friend who sets an alarm on phone every day for 10:02 AM. He pauses what he is doing and he simply says a few simple words based on Jesus’ prayer in Luke 10:2 where Jesus says “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields”.
You might have a loved one who is sick or struggling or wayward. Choose a time and set a reminder or alarm – make it a habit to seek God on this. If you are anything like me, if you only pray for them when you remember, they may not get much prayer coverage in that area of your life in 2022 J
Last quick idea in this category of making prayer a habit:
Idea: ENGAGE YOUR BODY (eg – kneeling; palms up / palms down)
Even through I am a morning person, I find morning prayer hard. My mind starts to wander, I go through my day, then my monkey brain kicks in and I jump over to thinking about random things – TV shows I’ve watched or new clips or phone calls I should be making. One habit I find helpful is putting my body into the position I want my soul to get into. So for me, it can be helpful to kneel. This posture of submission also makes my knees hurt a bit so it keeps my middle-aged mind from wandering as easily.
Here’s another prayer practice that involves our bodies: A few weeks back, Constance led us through an exercise at our prayer times which we have weekly from 9:45-10:15 AM upstairs called “palms up / palms down”. She invited us to take our hands and put them palms up and to imagine in there something or someone what we felt we were carrying and that felt heavy.
Then after spending time in silence, we were invited to turn our palms down as act act of releasing that issue or person to the Lord. The act of engaging our bodies in prayer or worship can be powerful. Watch for it as your read through the Psalms this month. That is why some people find it engaging to lift their hands in worship in song. Or why Michael Savage Jr dances as an expression of joy.
OK… that’s a few prayer practices for you to think on and maybe put into play in your own life in 2022. Let’s jump back to examining the 5 habits of Jesus. So habit 1, compassion. Habit 2, prayer. Habit 3…
(3) GENEROSITY – Jesus practiced an abundance mentality and warned against seeking comfort and security in finances
This was again, not just an action or set of actions, it was a mindset with Jesus. Jesus did not live with a scarcity mentality but with the sense that God was a good and generous God who longs to give good gifts to God’s children. And so Jesus moved through his daily life doing things like feeding multitudes and not making just enough for them, but an abundance of left overs. He made the best wine for the wedding feast a Canaan. He loved generously, spent his time generously. He also guarded against non-generosity.
In His teaching ministry, in Luke 9:23-25, Jesus talks about this clearly:
“Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
Here again we see the daily-ness of these habits – take up your cross DAILY – as well as the notion that following Jesus involves both things we embrace as well as things that we resist or reject. Here we are called to reject the tight grip that we often have on the future. Plans, goals… our own way. We are invited by Jesus to not seek our comfort and security in finances or in friendships or family or the future. We are to be open to giving up our own way and following Jesus into the unknown. Where do you find security? We are going to sing a song in a few minutes that asks us where find our hope and peace and the invitation is to seek it not in good works or doing but in what Christ has done for us.
I want to remind us each week that habits are not legalism. Justin Earley says it well in his book “The Common Rule” Place habits before love you and will be full of legalism. But place love before habits and you will be full of the gospel. God’s love for us really can change the way we love, but the way we live will never change God’s love for us.” (155).
This breeds the fourth habit we see in the life of Jesus. A profound posture of (4) HUMILITY – Whether washing feet or choosing seating assignments for weddings, Jesus modeled a posture of service (see Luke 14:7-11)
The question this prompts is “Does my life look like that of a person who is open to serving others?” Sometimes I see serving others as an interruption to my agenda or plans… But I am asking God to work on my heart in this area and to give me grace and humility.
I am sure we could more habits Jesus perused, but we’ll finish with;
(5) INVITING OTHERS TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE – Jesus was intentional about seeking out those on the margins (in His culture: children, women, tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers)
He regularly ate with those who were outsiders. He touched people who were considered unclean. His desire always was to invite those who felt they were on the outside into the pace where they could know and experience the love of God.
Friend, I don’t know your spiritual journey what’s led you to this place. You may see yourself as an outsider, on the margins. I want you to hear and experience the invitation today to know God’s Love. To become part of God’s family. You can do that by praying and saying “yes” to Jesus – believing in your heart that God’s work in and through Christ is enough. You don’t have to stay on the outside – Regardless of your baggage or history or past, God invite you to His Presence.
Jesus daily habits were built on the framework of compassion, prayer, generosity, humility and radical welcome. A tree is defined by its fruit. So what are the good things you are putting daily into the soil of your life so that good things can grow there and God can be glorified? Let’s pray.
I Invite you to be seated for a moment as I give a slightly longer benediction today.
“Frame the Day in Love”
Some traditions called this fixed hour prayer, but the idea is to pause a a few points during your day and re-frame the day by talking to God.
In his book “The Common Rule” author Justin suggests three prayers that are simple punctuation marks in the day. Let’s look at them:
Morning Prayer: “Spirit, I was made for Your presence. May this day be one I spend with You in all that I do. Amen.”
Mid-Day Prayer: “Jesus, I was made to join Your work in the world. Please order the rest of my day in Love for the people You have given me to serve. Amen.”
Evening: “Father, I was made to rest in Your Love. May my body rest in sleep, and may my mind rest in Your love. Amen”
“Jesus, each of us here was created to join Your work in the world. So as we go from this place, please order the rest of our day in Love for the people You have given us to serve. Let them know and experience us as people of compassion, people of prayer, people of humility, people of generosity, and people who radically obsessed with inviting others to experience God’s Love.
Did Jesus have habits? When you read the gospels, it is instructive to see that He spent His life and His time in certain ways. Exploring the priorities and activities Jesus engaged in regularly can help us develop strong and sustainable daily rhythms in our own lives.