How to Start a Family Bible Study

Read on to learn how you can start and implement a family bible study at home that you’ll actually stick with.

As followers of Jesus, we know that it is our primary job to teach our children to love and follow Christ, but how do we actually accomplish that when there are SO many other things begging for our kids’ time and attention?

One of the most important routines that you can establish in your home is a consistent family devotion time. Regardless of age, all children need to be taught the Bible so that they can start to form a clear understanding of the gospel even from a young age.

But how?

I get it. It seems like the days are already so full, how could a family Bible study time even fit into an already packed schedule?

In this post, I’ll share with you 5 tips that we use in our family to keep a consistent family Bible time, even when it feels like we have no time!

Why is it important to have a family Bible study time?

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Romans 10:15b

There is no greater honor than getting the opportunity to share the gospel with another person. And how amazing is it that God created families to give us built-in opportunities to share His Word with our kids each and every day?

While there may be small occasions throughout the day to share truths from God’s Word with our kids, it is vital that we teach our kids the Scriptures in-depth so that they are prepared to face the world as a follower of Christ when they become adults.

Without a solid foundation in the Word of God, our kids will struggle to continue in the Christian faith as they enter adulthood, so it should be our priority to teach them as much about the Bible as we can right now.

How to Start a Family Bible Study (When you have no time!)

Use these 5 tips to start a bible study with your family:

Pray for the time
Take time for personal bible study
Re-read scripture
Look for holes in your schedule
Use every opportunity

Pray for the time

It’s sad to say, I think prayer is often overlooked. But I cannot stress this point enough. When it feels like there is no time in the day that you could possibly gather your family to study the Bible together, ask the Lord to give you the time.

He will.

“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:14

In this verse, Jesus does not mean that He will give you everything you could ever want in this life. Instead, He will give you the things that align with His will for you and your family and spending time in His Word together is always part of His will for your life.

Take time for personal bible study

You can’t teach your kids what you don’t know yourself, so it is vital that you’re spending time in the Word yourself in order to teach it to your kids. For me, that means waking up early and trying to read a chapter before my boys wake up.

Now, don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t always happen. Both of my boys are notorious for waking up at the crack of dawn most days, so this often looks like me sitting down with my coffee and Bible only to get two verses in before I hear “Mommy!” and my quiet time is officially over.

If this sounds familiar, know that I am right there with you.

But even on those days, I pray and ask the Lord to give me another window of time to read His Word, even if that looks like me opening my Bible app on my phone and reading a few verses while the boys are eating lunch or playing together.

God doesn’t ask us to be perfect, He only asks us to be faithful.

how to start a family bible study when you have no time

Re-read scripture

One of the biggest objections I hear about starting a family Bible study time is that parents don’t have the time to prepare or they don’t know what (if any) devotional book to use. I would recommend this devotional if you choose to go that route. Or just reading straight from the Bible and discuss what you read together.

One way to do that without adding any extra prep time to your day is by re-reading the passage of Scripture that you read during your own personal Bible study time. This way, your entire family will be learning the same biblical truths together and can have meaningful conversations during your Bible study time.

Look for holes in your schedule

I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t have time, that’s why I’m reading this article!” And I get it. But I would suggest that you take a few days and actually write out what your family does throughout the day.

Seriously. Get a sheet of paper or use this free daily schedule template to track every hour of the day from morning to bedtime. You might be surprised by the times where your family could fit in a devotional time together.

For instance, there may be an hour in the evenings after dinner or before bedtime where your kids usually watch TV or play together. While it is good to relax and have fun as a family, spending time in the Bible is the most important part of the day. Taking the last 15 minutes of that hour and spending it together reading Scripture as a family will be time well spent.

Use every opportunity

We all have seasons in parenthood when there is VERY little free time and the thought of adding in a dedicated family devotional time seems overwhelming and undoable. That’s okay!

God has given us parents the incredible responsibility to disciple our kids in the ways of the Lord, and He understands that there are times where we have to be flexible. When those times come, find an opportunity throughout your day to share Biblical wisdom to your kids, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

Car rides on the way to and from school, meal times, or just a passing conversation are all great opportunities to share a verse of the Bible or mention the goodness of God to your kids. Family devotional times do not always look the same from season to season, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Be inspired

I hope these tips have inspired you to start (or re-start!) a family Bible study time together in your home. It doesn’t take hours of planning or organizing, just a prayerful heart and a flexible mindset to begin teaching the Word of God to your family.

Let me know if you found these tips helpful for your family!

Ready to start memorizing scripture as a family? Use our complete list of 20 simple bible verses for kids to start memorizing today!

Get my free daily schedule template here!