Do you struggle with Bible reading? Even folks in ministry have problems with a Bible reading routine. No matter what your 9-5 is, I want to help you out in this episode of Productive Pastor.

Front Matter I’ve spent the last week on vacation. It was AMAZING. Many of my listeners know my Dad is also a pastor. We spent the week talking and reflecting about how hard vacations can be in ministry. There are some great new resources out about vacationing.

Michael Hyatt on How To Vacation Like A Pro

Carey Nieuwhof on Why Driven People Suck at Vacations (and 5 Ways To Fix it). 

Awesome Vacations and Exactly How to Make Them Work

 

 Building a Bible Reading Routine

 

Let’s be honest. How well do you do with daily Bible reading? Yes. Even in ministry some of us stink at it. My own journey was all over the place until I found the 90-day bible plan. You can check out Why I Read the Bible Every 90 Days for a little more information. But I still felt like I stunk at it. Stuff just was janky…and I felt like I had holes missing. I needed a better bible reading routine

So a few years ago I began modifying a reading strategy I learned from Mike Slaughter of Gingumsburg Church. I want to share this with you.

Why A Bible Reading Routine Makes Sense

• It helps you collect your thoughts
• Lets you realize when, where and how you are reading
• You realize when you are behind, not reading or hitting pretty heavy seasons
• It’s about the 20 mile march.

Why I Read Systematically

• To gain greater clarity of the Biblical Narrative
• Because I love and function inside of a Biblical Theological framework
• I want to look back on a life of study and reading
• It helps me dig deep into what I might not regularly.

My Own Personal Bible Reading Routine

I use a pretty standard pattern. Every morning, after my 90-day read, I pull out my notebook and I make a quick outline. My paper is simply divided up into Date, Passage, and two larger section. The first is simply titled “observations” and I use it to note whatever I observe. Remember, this is done in rhythm with a larger read, so my observations are sometimes running thoughts. The second section is for application. I tend to ask myself two different questions, “What questions is this making me ask?” and “What do I need to do in order to respond?”. This is a pretty simple pattern for me. Sometimes my read takes 15 minutes and sometimes I catch myself doing around 45 minutes.

DOWNLOAD: basic bible reading sheet

 

Back Matter

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