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How to Build a Bible Reading Habit

A Complete Guide Using Insights from Atomic Habits

Every January millions of people across the world begin reading the Bible. They set a goal to read all of it by the end of the year. Every February, millions of people across the world quit reading their Bible.

People quit for all sorts of reasons. Some stop reading because life gets too busy. Others quit because they reach the book of Leviticus and become hopelessly confused.

Since many Christians do not read their Bibles regularly, there is an enormous amount of guilt around the subject of Bible reading. We all know we should read our Bibles more, but many of us secretly don’t do so consistently.

(I created a full guide for this blog post. You can get a copy of it here.)

How do we build a Bible reading habit that not only helps us this year but also transforms us into people who consistently read the Bible for the rest of our lives?

First, reading the whole Bible does not take that much time.

This chart from crossway.org illustrates how little time it takes to read the Bible over the course of a year.

Based on an average reading speed, you could read the Bible every year if you set aside 12 minutes per day. If you wanted to move more slowly, you could read the Bible every two years in just six minutes per day.

Second, building a Bible-reading habit is not rocket science and it doesn’t require a miracle from God.

If we will implement some simple strategies, we can develop a Bible-reading habit that not only helps us read the Bible in one year but helps us read the Bible consistently for the rest of our lives.

In his popular 2018 book, Atomic Habits, James Clear lays out principles of habit-building that can radically transform the way we approach the discipline of Bible reading. If we apply some key insights from his work, we can become the type of people who read the Bible consistently.

Atomic Habits and Bible Reading

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a massively successful book. It provides practical advice for how to build the life you want by cultivating good habits and eliminating bad ones.

He defines an atomic habit as “a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but also the source of incredible power” (Clear, 27).

Reading the Bible every day fits the definition of an atomic habit perfectly.

Daily Bible reading is a small and easy-to-do activity. At the same time, it carries the incredible potential to transform our relationship with God, others, and the world around us.

So, how do we build the atomic habit of Bible reading?

Here are 10 principles from Atomic Habits that you can leverage to build a life-long Bible reading habit.

Principle #1: Don’t set a goal. Change your identity.

We often approach Bible reading with a goal-oriented mindset. If we will switch to an identity-based mindset instead, we can overcome some of the major issues that derail our Bible reading.

An identity-based mindset focuses on repetition instead of perfection.

If we want to build a life-long Bible reading habit, we need to focus on the daily repetition of Bible reading.

Principle #2: Attach Bible Reading to a Regular Habit

The second principle we can use from Atomic Habits is called habit stacking. A habit stack is a series of habits that follow one another sequentially.

Each action paves the way for the next action. Once you take the first step, the rest of the habits occur automatically.

Keep these questions in mind as you identify a habit stack that can help you read the Bible consistently:

1. What habits do you perform at the same time every day?

2. What time of day could you potentially devote 6-12 minutes per day for Bible reading?

Principle #3: Create an Environment for Bible Reading

Our environment influences our habits more than we think.

When we create an environment better suited for reading the Bible consistently, we increase the odds that we will succeed.

Consider these options for how you can create a better environment for reading.

1) Place your Bible in the same prominent location every day (i.e., on your pillow, by the coffee maker, or on the kitchen table)

2) Download and print out one of the reminder images and hang it in a prominent place

3) Pick one spot where you will read your Bible every day

Principle #4: Reward Yourself

We repeat the activities that produce desirable results.

Unfortunately, some of the habits we need to develop do not offer an immediate reward. Reading the Bible is certainly one of those habits.

However, we can still leverage the power of rewards to increase the likelihood that we will read the Bible.

For example, if you really enjoy coffee in the morning, make your first cup the reward for completing your Bible reading. Or, if you enjoy watching a show during lunch, treat that as the reward for finishing your Bible reading.

Over time you can train yourself to associate a rewarding activity with the act of Bible reading. This association can “trick” your brain into reading the Bible to reap a reward.

Principle #5: Make Bible Reading Easier

Many people find reading the Bible difficult because it's a huge book and it can be confusing to understand. Additionally, many people don't like to read.

Thankfully, we can take some actions to make Bible reading more enjoyable. Try these ideas if you find reading the Bible difficult:

1) Don’t try to read the Bible from cover to cover.

Rather than trying to slog your way through the most difficult material in the Bible, save all of that for later down the road after your Bible reading habit is firmly established.

2) Get an easier-to-read translation or listen to an audio version of the Bible.

Don’t try to read the King James Version just because that’s the Bible you grew up with in your house. You can choose a paraphrase like The Message to help you develop a Bible reading habit.

Principle #6: Make a One-Time Decision

Some habits in our lives are largely the result of one-time decisions.

For example, you (hopefully) brush your teeth every morning. It’s an easy habit to repeat because you place your toothbrush and toothpaste in a prominent place on the countertop. You made the decision to put your toothbrush there one time and it has had a lasting impact on your life.

We can make a few strategic decisions that will greatly increase the likelihood that we will read the Bible consistently.

1. Place your Bible in a prominent location every day (i.e., your pillow)

2. Print your reading plan and put it on the fridge. This will remind you frequently. (Download these reminders)

3. Download one of these images and make it the wallpaper on your phone.

4. Set a daily reminder on your phone.

Principle #7: Involve a Friend

While we often emphasize the idea of personal devotions, the reality is that we were always meant to read the Bible in a community. If you involve friends in your Bible reading journey, you are much more likely to succeed.

You can leverage the power of friends for reading the Bible in several ways.

For example, if you are married or you have roommates, see if they will join you on your journey to becoming a consistent Bible reader.

Through the power of the internet and social media, you can leverage the idea of friendship quite easily. You could set up a zoom call for Bible reading on a regular basis. The Youversion Bible app has a social function that you could utilize to increase the odds that you will read the Bible more consistently.

Principle #8: Use a Habit Tracker

One way to increase the likelihood of reading the Bible consistently is to turn it into a game. You can do this by tracking your streak of Bible reading.

You can download the habit tracker I made for this project or you can create your own.

Just place it in a prominent position and start tracking how frequently you read the Bible. If you read a single verse, you get to keep the streak alive.

Set one of the following goals for yourself.

1) Try to never break the streak.

2) Try to make sure that you never miss more than one day in a row.

Principle #9: Follow the Two-Minute Rule

James Clear argues that by beginning with the smallest version of our desired habit, we lower the obstacle to getting started. He calls this the two-minute rule, because, as he argues, anyone can do an activity for two minutes.

The two-minute rule is perhaps the most unique part of the plan I am proposing.

Most people fail at reading the Bible consistently, because they divide the Bible into 365 readings and try to get it all done. We will take a drastically different approach with this plan.

At the end of this post, I’m going to link to three different reading plans for you to choose from. Each of them will begin with just two minutes of reading per day.

At first, the two-minute rule may seem like it requires way too little of you. You may feel “unspiritual” if you don’t spend more time in God’s word.

Follow the plan anyway. It is better to read a little bit of the Bible consistently than to never read the Bible.

In the early stages, you want to master the habit of showing up every day. This consistency is far better than reading a lot of the Bible for a few weeks and then none of it for several months.

Principle #10: Maintain the Habit Through Evaluation

Even the most well-established habits can fall apart over time.

Life will get busy. Even when you follow this Bible reading method, you may find yourself reading the Bible more sporadically than you’d like. Or you may even discover that you quit reading altogether.

The best way to make sure your Bible reading habit doesn’t disappear altogether is to schedule regular self-evaluations. I’d recommend scheduling four habit evaluations per year. Put them on your calendar and set a reminder for yourself.

Download the worksheet I’ve created that will walk you through an evaluation process.