Prata Potpourri: Bible Plans, how to read your Bible, Ditching a Plan, and more!

By Elizabeth Prata

With the New Year upon us, many people are either finishing a previous Bible reading plan and perhaps looking for a different one for next year, or starting one for the first time. There are a lot of plans out there!

I’ve done several myself with I enjoyed. I liked the M’Cheyne plan, the Professor Horner plan, a plan my seminary friend devised where the Bible is read from the aspect of when each book was written (Job was 1st).

This suggestion from Answers In Genesis for how to start reading your Bible is a good one. Read Genesis 1-11, then Exodus 20, then…well, you’ll see in this 45-second video outlining a plan to get started. Facebook: https://fb.watch/wKhCxZU7qw//
Youtube: https://youtu.be/W-GPBmUVkoE?si=O8opzCfsHKxpYdf4

How to Eat your Bible: A Simple Approach to Learning and Loving the Word of God, book by Nate Pickowicz. Nate is a pastor in Gilmanton Iron Works, NH, plowing hard New England ground. He is the author of several books, including The American Puritans with Dustin Benge. Here is a synopsis of the book:

If you’re feeling distant from God, could it be because you’re ignoring His Word? But maybe you don’t know where to start. Maybe the long books and strange names feel overwhelming. Maybe you just don’t like reading. Whatever the case, How to Eat Your Bible will help you cultivate an appetite for life-long study of God’s Word. Find practical guidance for overcoming the hurdles that have kept you from making Bible study a regular part of your life...

John MacArthur has an article on How to Enjoy Bible Study: “There’s nothing I enjoy more than studying the Bible. Yet it has not always been that way. My real passion for studying Scripture began when as a college student, I made a commitment to explore the Bible in earnest. I found that the more I studied, the more my hunger for Scripture grew. Here are three simple guidelines that have helped me to make the most of my study time.”

Ligonier lists 20 Reading Plans for 2025, saying, “To grow in the knowledge of God and to live in light of His truth, it’s important that we set aside focused time to study His Word.”

Michelle Lesley has listed a huge variety of plans with a short synopsis of each and links to each. Worth checking out. Bible Reading Plans for the New Year.

Pastor Jacob Abshire has an essay on Why I Ditched Bible Reading Plans with reasonable cautions and personal experience. Some people don’t connect with a ‘plan’ and that’s OK. This time of year one begins to see lots of talk about plans and you might be feeling guilty if you’re not on one. Don’t be. You can absolutely create something for yourself. As long as you’re reading progressively and steadily in some kind of structure, you will grow.

Abshire, while ditching a standard plan, absolutely advocates for reading the Bible. He devised a way to read it that was comfortable to him, and shares the specifics. His approach is kind of like the G3 “Six Ribbons” plan in Michelle’s list above.

Why I Ditched Bible Reading Plans

If you start the year with a Bible Reading Plan and find it’s just not for you, that is OK too! Don’t wait until 2026 to begin a new one. Meeting with God every day is a blessing, so just read, or pick a new plan, or devise one yourself.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).