2025 Week 03

Hello, Springers!

A triathlete was once asked what he thought is the best exercise. Is it biking, swimming, or running?
Which one do you think it is?

The man answered, “The best exercise is the one you will actually do.”

So it is with Bible reading and prayer plans.

Whether you call it quiet time, daily devotions, secret prayer, or something else, the practice of taking time each day to read your Bible and pray is the primary way Christians grow individually.

And as each of us grows individually we bring our growing selves into our church community and together grow stronger in Christ.

I gave this encouragement last week:
Blessed is the man who restarts devotions.

It doesn’t matter how you perhaps tried and failed at Bible reading and prayer in the past. What matters is that you keep moving forward by restarting until the habit sticks. We had a great discussion about this in Sunday School, and we discussed several options for starting a regular habit.

Below are links to several of the resources we discussed. (Scroll to the very bottom to see resources on reading the Westminster Confession of Faith.) There are so many more out there, but these are tools that I personally recommend and have used myself. If you want help to develop your own Bible reading and prayer plan, please get in touch with us pastors. Our joy is helping you grow.

These are my tried and true favorites:

Olive Tree Bible Study App
Free app with many free resources. Customizable for a great user experience. This is my go-to app. Several different plansavailable on this easy to use tool.

M’Cheyne Reading Plan (Printables)
Nothing beats having a folded piece of paper sticking out of your Bible coaxing you to read and then use a ballpoint pen to make a checkmark. You can print this classic plan from downloads on this page.

M’Cheyne Reading Plan (Interactive Online)
The first time I made it through the whole Bible, it was with this plan. (The year-long plan took me a year and two months. Never give up!) This is an online page that you could pin as a tab on your browser (better on laptops/desktops than on mobile).

Prayer (book by Tim Keller with lots of practical methods)
If you’re only going to read one book on prayer, make it this one. He puts together both the why and the how talking about the theology of prayer and several practical methods of prayer.

Here are other resources:
I have also used these at other times. They are very good.

YouVersion Bible App
This free app has even more free resources and customizability. It may have twice as many plans on it.

Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers
This tongue-in-cheek title is meant to encourage those of us who have started and restarted time and time again. Read the blog post that goes along with the pdf download if you need encouragement to try again.

A Praying Life (book by Paul Miller with a practical method using index cards or now an app)
A Praying Life – online resources
A Praying Life (pdf article on how to get started using prayer cards)
If you’re going to read another book on prayer besides Tim Keller’s book, read this one. Paul Miller is honest about his struggles with prayer and his frustrations with God and life in this brief but practical memoir of prayer. I highly recommend it!

For those who were part of our Listen and Learn discussion Wednesday, I hope I piqued your interest in reading the Westminster Confession of faith. Here are links to online and pdf versions of the documents. And if you’re looking for something to listen to while you jog or drive, Sinclair Ferguson recorded himself reading the catechism in his soothing Scottish accent.
Westminster Confession of Faith (PDF downloads)
Westminster Confession of Faith (Online links)
Westminster Shorter Catechism Podcast (Scottish accent)

My prayer for you today is that you will find the resources that work best for you to regularly read the Bible and pray now and always. It’s the most important step you can take to grow as a Christian.

in Christ,

Pastor Tag