Overwhelmed, feeling sleepy, baby has been waking up every hour or so, feeding on demand and don’t have enough time in the day … This was me when I had my first child. At that time I remember telling a friend of mine that I felt drained spiritually. The days of spending much time reading the bible daily had disappeared!
Bible reading for new moms can be a challenge indeed, but I want to encourage you, beloved, not to neglect the reading of God’s Word. You might say to me, but I am so tired. I just don’t have the time! I totally understand. One thing I noted when I was struggling with Bible reading was that; the more I let go of reading the Bible daily, the more I felt distant from God, and the more I was prone to falling into temptation. Therefore, I would encourage you to find time every day to read the Bible. Please see below for some time slot options for you and also what is going to be covered in this blog post:
Bible Reading Time Slot Options
See if you can read the Bible at any one of these times:
- First thing in the morning before your baby wakes up;
- At one time (or more if you can) during the day when baby is having a nap;
- In the evening when baby has just fallen asleep;
- When having your meal;
- When breastfeeding your baby – choose a suitable breastfeeding position that frees up one hand, and you can use your mobile phone to read the Bible through an app such as YouVersion or Tecarta Bible;
- When baby is fed and is awake – but ask your partner or any other person who is with you, to look after your child while you take a few minutes to read the scriptures. If no one else is around, then simply read the Bible in book or app format as mentioned above.
We need the Word of God. It will help keep us sane in those times when we feel like we are losing it. It is our spiritual food. Our Lord Jesus said ‘… “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”’ (Matthew 4:4, NKJV). We feed our bodies food every day so we can be healthy and grow strong. The same applies to the Word. We need to feed our soul daily with the Word to develop our spiritual growth and become spiritually mature.
There are a few things to note when you read the scriptures. Let’s explore these.
Tips for Bible Reading for New Moms
Pray for help
Before you begin reading the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten the scriptures and help you to be a doer of the Word. Christ our Lord said ‘“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”’ (John 14:26, NKJV).
Read book by book
Daily Bible reading must be intentional and systematic. It is best to always read the Bible book by book so you can get a full understanding of what the whole book in the Bible is about, and to get a fuller and greater picture of themes in the Bible. Start from the beginning of the book and work your way through to the end.
I would recommend using a study Bible. One of the best ones out there is the ESV Study Bible:
Available at Eden.
Spend at least 15 minutes daily
Aim for at least 15 minutes every day to read the Bible. If you get more time in the day, then you can read more.
You can use the below FREE PRINTABLE Bible Reading Checklist to tick off each book once you’ve managed to read through it. You can also cross off a chapter once you’ve read it. This will motivate you to read more as you can see the progress that you are making.
Don’t rush it
When reading the Bible, take time to ask yourself ‘what does this mean?’ If something doesn’t make sense, write it down in a notebook (some beautiful ones are available at Eden) and keep on reading. Scripture interprets scripture. You will discover later when reading through other parts of the Bible that you will find a passage that answers what you questioned before.
Notebooks are available at Eden.
Meditate
After you’ve read through the Bible passage, take some time to meditate and see where in your life you need to apply that Word. Afterward, continue to meditate on the Word throughout the day. Ponder on the Word you read while you are:
- bathing, feeding and rocking your baby;
- going for a stroll with your newborn baby or;
- lying down having a rest.
The scriptures instruct us to meditate on the Word day and night (Joshua 1:8, NKJV). This means throughout the day.
Final Word On Bible Reading for New Moms
Make Bible reading a daily appointment that you can’t afford to miss. Before you watch that series on Netflix or do another kind of entertainment, firstly use that time slot you have to read the Bible. Daily bible reading for new moms requires dedication and consistency. Remember that this is our daily bread and we can’t live without it.
May the Lord give you the spirit to be dedicated to daily reading of the Bible. Let me know how you get on in the comments below!
Where To Go From Here
- Do you know of a new mom who might benefit from today’s blog post? Feel free to share this article with them using the social share icons below.
- If you can, I would suggest you get this audiobook on Amazon from Pastor John Piper called ‘Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture’, to help you on getting more out of your daily Bible reading.
- Catch up with our previous article on how to grow spiritually, if you haven’t already.
- On a side note, to help keep your body in a healthy state during this season in your life especially if you are breastfeeding, I would recommend you take these Pregnacare Breastfeeding Vitamins daily. It was suggested to me by my health visitor to take some vitamins while breastfeeding and I’ve found these to be really good. DISCLAIMER: Always read the leaflet that comes with the vitamins to ensure that you are okay to take them. If you aren’t sure, I would strongly advise that you seek advice from your health visitor, midwife or doctor.
Have a blessed day and enjoy motherhood!
Reference
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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