Setting Goals (the Right Way)
What tips have worked for you in making and sticking to a Bible study/reading plan?
Funny you should ask. I tend to get bogged down for one reason or another so I frequently make use of the old "right click on the reading plan and adjust it from today" trick.
I tend to have a number of books on the go at the same time - each looking at different things.
So I might have a book on preaching, one on pastoring, another looking at the person & work of Jesus, another being more devotional.
I have the plans set up so that I am reading one or two each day (and try to avoid days when I know I would find it difficult) and that I am setting myself a reasonable numbers of pages in each session.
I then try and ensure that I work on these plans as one of the first things in the day before other things get in the way.
It's certainly not perfect but I find it works pretty well for me.
Graham
Its the first thing I do in the morning. When I miss a couple days I spend the next couple days reading double and wittle away at the deficit little by little. I did "right click>catch up" once this year because I wanted to increase my prayer time. I'm currently on target minus a couple days for a 6 month reading plan. There are many days I think, do I really want to do this? but I force myself to start and after a paragraph I'm fine. Your commitment to do it has to be independent of your desire to do it. Desires change with actions. Commitment should be based on principles. My principle is "I need to know the word of God" and that will only happen if I read and study the word of God.
I guess I am not a plan maker, but still manage to read the Bible daily (maybe a forgotten day once or twice a year). I find plans too constraining and I end up feeling I need to do the plan rather than encounter the Word. They may work for others but not for me. Sorry I can't be of help in sticking to a plan.
Two things really helped me.
One was having my reading pop up out of a list in my bible software and second was starting with a shorter term plan that has a goal that is in sight.
I started with shorter plans then various through the bilbe in a year (in order, chronological, life journal and others for variety). Doing these two steps built up the practice so it was a habit.
At first my goal was finishing the plan, now it is just doing today's reading to learn. I have been successfully reading the year long plans for more than 10 years now with this approach.
Last summer I changed to the horner plan. It doesn't repeat for over 16 billion years, so the goal of finishing once is not very motivating as it is probably not going to happen. However, it is always different combinations of material and this is really enjoyable.
Regards,
Clinton
I don't use Bible reading plans generally - I simply read as far as I happen to read, reading prayerfully. However, when I need to read in preparation for a date, I build the reading plan for a couple of days less than I actually have. So if I am tempted to quit early or skip a day I ask myself if I really want to use up my free day today. The answer is usually "no" but when it is "yes" I don't need to catchup or feel guilty.
Jayson,
i found without 2 hours of prayer a day and a hour of intense waiting upon the Lord. i cannot do any reading plan or schedule of discipline. I started with 30 min twice a daya nd then let the Lord give me a passion for it. But I made it the most important appointment of the day. i do it early before my family wakes up being prior military it works well with me 5:00 am. The I got a passion for the word of God and then I incorporated it into my prayer time and things have really grown after only 6 months. I am reading a book by Richard Foster called life with God and he develops many things about applying the Word to our lifestyle.
Rusty
Setting Goals (the Right Way) What tips have worked for you in making and sticking to a Bible study/reading plan?
Thank you for that "blog" entry! It has been helpful to me! Sort of motivating, if you will! I am grateful!
