This year, regardless of what you think about 'New Years Resolutions', it would be good for your soul to follow the advice of the Psalmist and “hide God's word in your heart”.
Read the word, remember the word, pray the word
Reading, remembering and praying are three ways to help hide God's word in your heart. Below are a number of resources that will help you to do this. Many of them use apps, websites and other electronic tools. I think these are great! But they won't solve all your problems. So pray now that God would give you the desire and will to read, remember and pray his word in 2022.
READ IT
- ESV READING PLANS – an excellent selection of various reading plans with multiple modes of delivery.
- WEEKLY READING PLAN – if I were to start a new reading plan it would be this one. Tim Chester describes this weekly reading plan as flexible, communal, realistic and balanced. I think he's right! Give it a try.
- THROUGH THE BIBLE THROUGH THE YEAR – This reading plan from John Stott is fantastic!
- READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR – This is a PDF I prepared a few years ago. You read a couple of chapters tom the Old Testament and 1 chapter of the New Testament each day. I used it for about 4 years. It's simple and good. Print it out and stick it in the front/back of your bible.
- FOR THE LOVE OF GOD – D.A Carson's devotional series is superb. I read this one for a number of years in my early 20s. Carson's ability to comment on every part of scripture is a great help along the way. You can access the whole of this plan online and can have it delivered to your inbox etc.
- EXPLORE BIBLE READING APP – my wife has used this one and found it really valuable. Good chunks of scripture with some great comments and questions from quality authors.
- ESV AUDIO BIBLE – Having God's word in your ears is a good time. You can also stream an audio Bible straight from the ESV app. Worth checking out.
- THE BIBLE APP – This app is phenomenal! It has the almost every translation of the Bible in existence. It's been downloaded more than 100million times. It has free audio for a number of the English translations. It has comprehensive reading plans, with reminders and push notifications. There are also video devotionals – we've used some of the kids ones as a family.
- THE KIDS BIBLE APP – this is a new app and it's great! It doesn't have much of the Bible yet, but we've gone through all of the stories that are there and our kids loved them!
- THE BIG PICTURE STORY BIBLE – David Helm's kids' Bible is excellent in showing the unfolding storyline of the Bible.
- THE JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE – Sally Lloyd-Jones' work is beautiful. Every story whispers Jesus' name. We read this with our boys and have found it really valuable!
REMEMBER IT
- FIGHTER VERSES – put out by Desiring God. I've done some of these before and I'm starting it again this year.
- TOPICAL MEMORY SYSTEM – I did many of these in my early 20s and thankful to have remembered most. They have an app for iPhone and Android.
- COLIN BUCHANAN SONGS – Two catchy albums full of memory verse songs: BAA BAA DOO BAA BAA and BOOM CHICKA BOOM. Not just great for kids!
PRAY IT
- Pray in response to the verses you read
- Pray in response to the verses you remember
- Don’t close your Bible when you pray, but let the priorities of the Bible shape your priorities in prayer.
- A CALL TO SPIRITUAL REFORMATION – a good book by Don Carson showing Paul’s priorities in prayer
- BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER – this classic book is making a resurgence among younger Christians. Most of the online resources for this are pretty average, I'd see if your church has a spare one that you could take. (Make sure you ask someone first!)
- PRAYER MATE – I've tried various prayer apps before, but there were somewhat cumbersome. I have recently started using PRAYER MATE and found it simple to use and good for working through consistent prayer points. Apps are available for iPhone and Android.
- OPERATION WORLD – this is an excellent resource to pray for the whole world.
Reading, remembering and praying are good habits of growing Christians. However, it's worth being reminded that no-one will be saved based on how well they perform in their 2022. Bible reading plan! Salvation comes through trusting in Jesus' death and resurrection. Our plans to read, remember and pray are in response to what Jesus has done for us on the cross. So, if you struggle to form a good habit, don't beat yourself up into guilt-driven despair, rather stick at it and pray that God would work in you to develop the habit.
Original post from www.davemiers.com.