Reading the Bible

Have you read through the whole Bible? Or at least started? Reading through the Bible can be a challenge. Especially, when you get to the books of the Bible like Leviticus or Revelation.

As followers of Jesus, we have a sense that we need to be in the Word of God and to study to know what God requires of us as followers of Him.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us of the purpose of God’s Word,

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NLT)

Sometimes, I believe a lot of the problem is we don’t understand what we are reading. We get frustrated and stop or don’t make it a priority.

I think every believer should have read through the Bible a least once at a minimum in their lifetime. It is how God speaks to us, show us who He is and His standard for living.

How can you know if you don’t read what He has given us?

So in this week’s post, I will give some helpful hints on reading through the Bible.

The first tip is praying for understanding.

“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalms 25:4-5 NIV

It is God who can help us understand His Word.

The first tip that might help is to have a structure in your reading.

In structure, I mean having some type of reading plan that helps you stay on track. Some reading plans can be for one year, six months, or 90 days. If you read four chapters a day, you could read the whole Bible in 11 months.

You can get this structure from reading plans online. There is a One Year Bible or Bible app where you check off what you have read. The one thing with reading plans is that you can get off track, but you can pick up where you left off.

Just remember, don’t get discouraged if you miss a couple of days. Jump right back in and start where you left off. So you may not complete it in the specific timeframe, but the key is that you stuck with it to the end.

Another tip would be to have some type of material to help you understand what you are reading.


Study Bibles- provides overview information about each book, which gives context, and life applications, and various other resources depending on the Study Bible.

Bible handbooks can also help gain a summary of each book of the Bible. Like a Study Bible, it gives an overview of the book and provides some helpful cultural information.

Handbooks you can check out are:

Unger’s Bible Handbook by Merrill F. Unger
The Bare Bones Bible Handbook by Jim George
Talk Thru the Bible by Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa
Halley’s Bible Handbook – Online (click here)

Also, you can check out The Bible Project. It is an excellent resource for understanding the Bible.

The other resource I would mention is the Podcast The Bible Recap podcast.

So if you have read the Bible once and you are trying to start again. It can be challenging. I have found and other people I have told me to read it in a different translation. Or use a different Study Bible if you used a Study Bible the first time. This gives you a different perspective. As you read the Bible each time, you will learn something new.

Also, you can find the auto version of the Bible you can listen to or follow along. I have gone through the Bible a couple of times using this format.


I hope these tips help you to start or continue your journey of reading through the Bible.

I would love to hear about your experiences reading through the Bible. Leave a comment below.