Eden Conway - St John’s, Parramatta

I try to establish Bible reading as a daily discipline. For me, that means [diving] into the word every day, reading a chapter and praying about it. That’s my bare minimum bar that I need to jump over. Beyond that, a couple of times a week I try and read a more significant chunk [of text]. 

I have an older, wiser friend who texts me everyday with what they’ve read and their thoughts, so I’m deeply encouraged to respond to him. That’s been an encouraging and helpful thing establishing my personal daily Bible reading. 

A daily text got the momentum going

About five years ago, my growth group leader at the time asked if he could disciple me. We started catching up each week, sharing our lives and digging into God’s word. The deal was that we would text everyday with our personal devotions. I was doing personal devotions already, but the daily discipline was greatly improved by doing it with a friend.

Over the last five years, I’ve become increasingly amazed by what I find in his word everyday. I feel I’m learning more each day than when I first started - which is counter intuitive! 

It reminds me every day that I want to be someone who knows God better. Many days it feels like, “ugh, I have to read my Bible today because I want to be someone who knows God better”, and you’re not really in the mood for it. I think it has developed my character in the sense that I am reaffirming to myself of [who I want to be], and I’m thankful for his word in that.

I always have seven minutes

I have two different methods [for daily Bible reading]. In terms of what I read, I read front to back. It’s simple and I know where I’m up to. The thinking is that every three years I’ll get back to Genesis 1 and go again. A lot of emphasis is on making sure there’s discipline in my life. It’s really about making it easy and not making decisions about what I should read next, because that could have me not reading for a few days. 

The other [method] is how I engage with God’s word, with a seven minute quiet time. The idea is that you can’t ever get to the end of the day and say, “I didn’t have seven minutes today.” I can always sum up the courage to open my Bible because I know I can [make the time]. 

The process is to pray for 30 seconds, then read for four minutes, then pray for two and a half minutes after that. Using that framework is how I engage with the Bible every day. 

Two strategies for implementing regular Bible reading

1. Set the bar low

I found that most people wrestle with starting their Bible reading each day, rather than getting more out of it. What I found helpful is to lower the bar with what I expect to get out of my Bible reading. [This helps me] to jump in and do it each day. It’s a discipline. 

For me that looks like jumping in with my seven-minute quiet time. That’s a lower bar than spending thirty minutes in prayer and devotion. 

I have a few more times in my week when I do more indepth study, [but] setting the bar low helps make it a daily practice. 

2. Buddy up

Grabbing a friend is also a helpful strategy. Having a committed friend who also wants to read the Bible everyday is something I’ve found helpful. The process of texting them means I come to one coherent thought about [what I’ve read]. That’s been really good for me. Read your Bible every day and tell someone about it. 

We interviewed several Sydney Anglicans for our series on personal Bible reading habits. Read the full collection of stories in the 2024 February-March Southern Cross.