Many of us have never been taught how to fruitfully spend time alone with God—connecting with him through Scripture and prayer. This one-page guide by Tim Keller is a great place to start, as is the booklet entitled Enjoy Your Prayer Life, by Michael Reeves.
Others of us have never been taught how to actually read the Bible. In fact, the Bible can seem intimidating, confusing and even a little bit boring. In his very concise book Read This First: A Simple Guide to Getting the Most from the Bible, Gary Millar helps us see that the skills we need to read the Bible are not beyond our grasp. Whether you're a new believer who doesn't know where to start, or a long-time Christian who's never gotten into a regular habit of Bible reading, this book will help you get going. You can start by sampling the first chapter—entitled "Why bother with the Bible?"
Here is a helpful two-page guide to praying Scripture, by Donald Whitney (summarizing his very brief book Praying the Bible), or you can watch "Donald Whitney on the Benefit of Praying the Bible" (15:22).
Here is a simple half-page guide to one-to-one Bible reading, by David Helm, with accompanying reading schedules (adapted from his very brief book One-to-One Bible Reading).
Here is one of our favorite Bible reading plans. By reading from four separate places in the Scriptures every day, you will get a better grasp of the unity of the Scriptures, as well as increase the likelihood of finding one bit of Scripture to apply to one bit of your life. You can begin at any point of the year. There are only 25 readings per month, to prevent the frustration of falling behind, which most of us tend to do when following a Bible reading plan. With this plan you can set aside Sundays to either not read at all or to catch up on any readings you may have missed in the past week.
“Reading the Bible Theologically,” by J. I. Packer
“Reading the Bible for Personal Application,” by David Powlison
“How Does Scripture Change You?,” by David Powlison
Watch “Making Scripture Personal,” David Powlison (9:19)
One of the ways we champion our Bible-Honoring distinctive is by making some of the practices listed above a primary part of our men's and women's discipleship groups. To learn more about how we engage this spiritual discipline within the context of our discipleship groups, visit frontlinechurch.com/discipleship.