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Bible reading and study is something I have struggled on and off with for years. Like most folks who aim to be influenced by the Bible, there can be a mix of desire and guilt; desire for it, but guilt that you could do more. Since having 4 children, it has become even harder to get quiet, focused time that doesn’t involve sleep. In this season, two things have really helped me.
- Freedom from Guilt - In another time in my life (when I was single), I had lofty goals for Bible study and I felt the self-imposed checklist on me all the time. And since my personality tends toward all or nothing anyway, if I didn’t have an uninterrupted hour to devote to Bible study and prayer and journaling, I felt like it wasn’t worth it, so I just didn’t do it. I would go to Women’s Bible Studies at church and feel embarrassed that I hadn’t finished the daily study for that week and I was tempted to not even go at all. Now I feel more freedom, knowing that one day I will get back to longer periods of focused study in the Bible, but in this season, I need to just put myself in contact with anything of the Lord that I can get. Sometimes that does involve intense study and sometimes it’s just worship music that leads my heart to Him.
- Bible.is – I have tried to surround myself with the things of the Lord that I encounter throughout my day like good worship music, encouraging conversations with friends, prayer as I go, listening to sermons while I do chores, and praying out loud with my children. Even with all that, I want to be studying and reading the Scripture more. I have never loved audio Bible programs. I tend to lose focus easily while listening. But Bible.is is a little different. It is a dramatized version of the Bible, but it’s not too cheesy. It uses different voices for different people and includes contextual background noise for the story. Dee and I try to listen to a chapter every morning before he leaves for work and spend a little time praying together for the day. It has become such a sweet time for us and great time in the Scriptures.
- It’s free.
- You can access it online or as an app for Android or Iphone.
- It includes different versions and languages.
If you read the Bible, what do you use to simplify things?
Thank you so much for the mention. It is always great to see how people embrace God’s Word and we are so happy to see how you enjoy using the Bible.is app and have shared it with others. Let us know if you ever may need anything and we would be happy to help, support@bible.is.
Many Blessings,
Brian
Bible.is Team
Thank you so much, Brian. Bible.is has been a great blessing to us!
I hear you about giving up guilt over this! I decided a long time ago that guilt wasn’t a good motivation to read the Bible. Earlier this year I discovered Good Morning Girls (goodmorninggirls.org) which provides the structure for 3-month Bible studies three times each year. They offer a reading plan, usually just a couple verses each day, and a study guide that you can follow to record your thoughts about the Scripture you’ve read that day. (It follows the SOAP outline: Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer.) They also encourage you to find a group of friends to share the study and keep accountable, so I gathered a small group of friends and we share our observations on Facebook. Half of the girls are in the US and half are in China! One nice thing about GMG is that you can do it whenever it fits into your day and post your thoughts when it’s convenient, so the flexibility helps make it more doable for busy moms. I’ve been surprised how much joining a GMG group has changed my attitude about reading the Bible. For one, I’m actually doing it consistently for the first time in ages! Also, much to my husband’s amazement, I’m getting up before the rest of the family to have quiet time. Thanks for sharing about Bible.is I’ll definitely check it out!
Thanks for your words and your suggestion, Julie! I have heard a good bit about Good Morning Girls and this is greater motivation to check it out! Thank you!
Your welcome to join my group if you want to try it out!
We’re finishing up a study on Colossians soon, but a new session will start mid-January.
Thank you so much! I just may do that!
Why is there nothing for men?
I’d love to join a group like this but it’s nearly impossible to find one for men.
Can I join this group?
Well, Good Morning Girls is obviously just for women.
But take a look at this. http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/courses/topics/bible-study/
A lot of men participate in this ministry and you can even get an online mentor. Better than all that, see if your church has a men’s Bible study and if not, start one!
Michael, I asked the GMG leaders if they knew of any men’s groups who were using their materials. They didn’t know of any, but there were several husbands who had joined their wives in the study, so one group actually had three couples studying together. Most of the study materials are geared toward women, but you’d be welcome to use the study guide to start a study with a group of guys if you wanted! You can find all their study materials on their blog at goodmorninggirls.org.