How to Spend Time With God in 2025

Building an intentional reading plan that carries you through the year

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

A few years ago, I attended a Q&A session with Tim Keller. He was asked, “What is the secret of your teaching and preaching ministry?” His answer was rather simple: “Reading through the Bible year after year over a lifetime.”

Some of you reading this are, like me, tasked with teaching or preaching. But many of you are not. Still, Keller’s words are important to you as well. There is a spiritual benefit to the discipline of reading Scripture, day after day, year after year, throughout your life. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 119:11, that intake of God’s Word is a bulwark against temptation, “I have hid God’s Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:23-24 reminds us that the practice of reading God’s Word can bring comfort and joy. A daily practice of Scripture reading is also a way in which we “renew our minds” away from destructive thoughts and sinful attitudes (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:26).”

In my own life, I have found this discipline to be cumulative. In other words, most daily Scripture intake isn’t filled with a sort of spiritual halo of inspiration. Rather it is storing in my heart a deep reservoir of truth, that my mind and the Holy Spirit often summon in important moments. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he drew up Scripture from his heart to combat the lies of the enemy. When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he remembered that to sin was to sin against God. Temptation isn’t the only way in which a lifetime of Scripture reading is beneficial.

In moments of despair and sorrow, such as the loss of a loved one, it is the promise of God’s resurrection of his people at the end of the age that helps me both grieve death and believe in the promise of the Gospel. I’ve also needed to draw from this well when parenting gets tough and complicated when I’m making hard decisions or if I’m counseling a troubled brother or sister in Christ.

Scripture reading, over and over again, over a lifetime, also bears fruit in the creative process. As I’m working on an article, book chapter, class lecture, or sermon, I often recall phrases or verses I memorized in childhood or read repeatedly in my daily Bible readings. I try to impress on young people—whether the four who live in my home or the students I interact with in my teaching—that this discipline is a gift you give to your future self. One of my dear friends, Drew Dyck, has written a great book about this, Your Future Self Will Thank You. I highly recommend it.

So what are some best practices to help develop a habit of daily Bible reading? Here are some tips that have helped me.