How to Create Your Own Topical Bible Reading Plan

A Free Resource By Leigh Ann Dutton

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Hi there! Thank you so much for downloading this free resource from IntentionalByGrace.com! I hope you enjoy this guide to creating your own topical Bible reading plan as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.

If you are brand new to Intentional By Grace, let me just say a big, huge WELCOME! I am so glad you’ve joined our community of women passionate about living for Him!

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The posts at Intentional By Grace consist of a mix between biblical principals and practical how-to posts. I desire to bring you behind the curtain of my life and come alongside you, encouraging you to step out in faith and discover what God has planned for you.

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By Grace Alone,

Leigh Ann Dutton

Why I Wrote this Guide to Creating Your Own Topical Bible Reading Plan

We read and study our Bibles because we want to know God more. We want to seek truth and ask questions. We want to grow in our understanding of God’s word so that we can live out the gospel in our everyday lives.

I started creating topical Bible reading plans for Intentional By Grace subscribers at the beginning of 2016. Soon after a reader wrote in this question:

“How do I create my own topical Bible reading plan?”

I thought this was such a great question! I loved that she was willing to take ownership of her Bible reading time, and I loved that she was brave enough to ask someone she didn’t know, how to do something.

Having a plan for your Bible study time is key to staying consistent and motivated. Having a tailor-made plan that you created is even more motivating!

Therefore, I wanted to teach you how to create your own topical Bible reading plan because I think this reader isn’t the only one with this question! Plus a Bible reading plan that you can be excited about will go a long way with being consistent and faithful in your everyday time with the Lord.

I pray that this guide will help you get into God’s Word daily in a way that fits your walk with the Lord.

And remember, being intentional to pursue God isn’t about being a better person or a better Christian. Seeking God in His word intentionally is about glorifying Him, bringing Him glory as you seek His face. It’s all about Him! Never forget that.

How to Use this Guide to Creating Your Own Topical Bible Reading Plan

There are a few things you need to do before getting started. Collecting your materials first will make reading through this guide much easier and more efficient. I’m all about efficiency.

What You Need:

Bible. Since you’re creating a Bible reading plan, having your Bible nearby is important.

Concordance. We’ll be talking about this more in a bit, but if your Bible doesn’t have a concordance in the back, you’ll need to obtain a separate concordance.

Writing Utensil. A writing utensil will come in handy for brainstorming, goal setting, and the actual creation of your plan.

Worksheets. I have provided several printable worksheets in the back of this eBook. I suggest printing them off before you get started. This eBook is designed to walk you through each exercise. Printing your worksheets now means you can work as you read.

Now, let’s get started!

How to Create Your Own Topical Bible Reading Plan

1. Find a concordance

A Bible concordance is an alphabetical listing of words and phrases found in the Holy Bible. Under each word or phrase listed, you’ll find scripture references that show where the terms occur throughout the entire Bible.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is the most widely known, and it includes Greek and Hebrew dictionaries for a better understanding of the original meaning. However, the concordance in the back of your Bible is sufficient for creating topical Bible reading plans to fit your needs.

To get started, you simply need to obtain a Bible concordance.

2. Determine the goal of your study

Now you want to decide the overarching goal of your study. You want to be able to answer the question: What topic do I want to study and why?

Is there a particular word or topic in the Bible you’re interested in, curious about, or need to grow in?

The reader who asked the question that prompted the creation of this guide wanted to do a topical reading plan on each fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

What is it that you want to study?

Once you’ve prayed and brainstormed some ideas, write your goal for the study down.

Don’t let this trip you up or bog you down. Understanding your why for the study will help you create a Bible reading plan that works for you as well as pose as a motivator later, reminding you WHY you started this study in the first place when you’re tempted to give up or when you veer off track.

✪ Don’t forget to use the printable pack at the back of this book to helpwith this step.

3. Use your concordance to look up scripture references

Next, you want to use your concordance to find each scripture reference to your word or topic of choice.

For some topics, like the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), this can be really simple as there are a lot of references to these terms.

But if you want to do a study on “the importance of knowing God’s word,” obviously you’re going to need to narrow down to a few words that you can look up. So, you’ll need to brainstorm biblical language in relation to your topic, like in this case: know, think, and wisdom.

Additionally, you want to think about the opposite of the topic or word you want to study.

Sticking with the same example, I also looked up references to “ignorance” and “deceit” to round out my study of the importance of knowing God’s word.

When I did my study on love, I also looked up references to hate in my concordance.

Write each reference you come across down on a sheet of paper.

Note: You’re not reading the references just yet. You’re making a list that you will read through one by one, in a bit. Just write down all the scripture references.

✪ Don’t forget to use the printable pack at the back of this book to collect your scripture references.

4. Read through all the scripture references with your ultimate goal in mind

Now you want to start reading through all of the scripture references you have written down. As you read, you want to keep your ultimate goal in mind. Will this particular scripture help you meet your goal of understanding your topic more thoroughly?

Not every mention of your word in scripture will actually fit the context of your study. So, you’ll just need to weed out the distractions during this quick read through of the verses you have written down.

At this point, you also want to consider skimming whole passages that the verse is found in. This will help with context.

For example, if my reference is Philippians 3:8, I’m going to skim all of chapter 3 to see how much of the passage is needed to understand my topic. In the case of “knowing God’s word” study I did recently, I decided to use Philippians 3:8-16 to get a full reading on the topic.

✪ When I’m doing my read through I usually put a star by the ones I know I’m going to use (these fit perfectly), a triangle by the ones that are “maybes” (these could fit), and I completely cross off the ones that don’t help me meet my overall goal. Feel free to print and use the printable pack at the back of this book to complete this step.

5. Determine how many days you want to devote to the topic

Once you see how many scriptures you have, you need to determine how many days you want to devote to the topic. This part is entirely up to you!

Ideas:

• 7-days – I did this for my 7-Day Scripture Study on Why We Live Intentionally

• One month (30 days) • 21-days (what I’m doing right now for my topical Bible reading

plans)

I like determining a set number of days because it gives me the accountability I need, but this part is optional if that puts too much pressure on you.

Of course, setting a number of days doesn’t hold you to that. You might find you need to speed up or slow down and you’re at complete liberty to do that!

6. Write out your plan

Now you’re ready to finalize your reading plan. But before you write out your final plan, let me share a few words of caution.

Be realistic with how much time you have to read each day. If you only have time to read 1-2 verses a day, then break your reading up into increments with this in mind. If you’re able to do more than that, then break your reading into larger portions.

Just be realistic, not idealistic, about the time you have to spend each day. I’m speaking to you mom of a preschooler, toddler, and a newborn!

This is YOUR plan. Don’t get caught in the comparison trap here! Don’t think you should be doing more than you’re able. God knows the season of life you’re in, and this is why you’re making your own plan – you can set the pace of your study!

Finally, just because the scriptures were in the concordance, doesn’t mean they fit your overarching goal. Don’t be afraid to cross scripture references off your list like I mentioned above. This is okay and even

recommended in getting a topical Bible reading plan that works for you and your goal for the study!

Now, write your plan out and add check boxes if you like. You can do this in a Word document, a simple piece of notebook paper, or use the printable pack at the back of this book. It’s entirely up to you!

That’s all there is to creating your own topical Bible reading plan.

Now just add it to your prayer notebook and you’re all set!

On average it takes me 30-45 minutes to create the topical Bible reading plans that I give out to subscribers each month (and that includes converting to PDF, loading it to my site, and updating my email campaign to include the new link).

So, it’s likely that this should only take you about 30 minutes to do once you get the hang of it.

The biggest challenge is not getting caught up in the study right away. Just remember you’re making a plan now and you’ll come back to spend time in each section with more thoroughness later.

Bonus Tip:

On your checklist write down a few questions you can ponder during each reading as well as a prompt to pray. I’ve found this helpful to spur deeper thinking on the topic when I’m having a serious bout of brain fog (which is every single day of my life right now).

Here are the three questions I include in my free monthly topical bible reading plans (and what I recommend including on your final reading plan):

1. How can you summarize this passage? 2. What does this passage teach you about biblical (your topic)? 3. What is the Lord specifically leading you to do in response to this

passage?

Finally, include a prompt to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to walk in obedience to this passage.

I think it’s easy to just rush off from reading without asking for the help we need to actually apply what we learned.

✪ Feel free to use the printable pack at the back of this book to write out your final plan.

Conclusion I said this at the beginning of this guide, but I want to say it again. We don’t live intentionally to be better people. Our ultimate goal in living intentionally is to glorify God. We must be intentional to pursue God and His will for our lives every single day. I hope that you have found this guide helpful in aiding you to dig deeper into God’s word. As women, we need God’s word now more than ever.

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ~2 Timothy 3:6

As women, we are especially prone to being captured by the enemy. We must be on guard, putting on our whole “armor of light.” The way we guard against being weak women is by being in His word, arming ourselves with the sword of truth. And remember, apart from Jesus, you can do nothing. You need Jesus to work in and through you in order to bring Him glory with your life. Dear friend, living intentionally will get uncomfortable. It won’t always be easy. But don’t quit. Don’t ever give up. Keep seeking Him. Keep laying down your life for God’s glory instead of your own. As you seek to live intentionally, you will inspire others. Your life can be a testament to the glory of God. Let your life be pleasing to God, your Redeemer. By Grace Alone, Leigh Ann Dutton

About the Author

Leigh Ann is passionate about inspiring others to live life intentionally by grace for the glory of God. In all she does, she seeks to make it impossible to not think about God. She is the wife to the man of her prayers, Mark, and mama to two loveable little boys, Samuel and Timothy, with another little boy due in May 2016.

You can find her ministering to women at IntentionalByGrace and together with her husband at Your Intentional Family.

Determining the Goal of My Study

Initial ideas for my study:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Questions to consider as I brainstorm:

• Is there any topic in the Bible I’m curious about?• Is there an area of my life I would like to grow in?• Is there a topic that I’ve struggled to understand in the past?• Why is this topic so important for me to study?

The topic I plan to study is ______________________________________.

I want to study this topic because _________________________________

____________________________________________________________.

The goal for my study is ________________________________________

____________________________________________________________.

Looking Up My Scripture References

Using biblical language, list below any terms that relate to the topic:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Using biblical language, list below terms that mean the opposite of the topic:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Look up each term in a concordance. Write each scripture reference below:

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

Read through the scripture references and answer this question: Will this scripture help me meet my goal of understanding my topic more thoroughly?

Key:

★ star (this fits perfectly)Δ triangle (this could fit)− cross off (doesn’t help me meet my overall goal)

Topical Bible Reading Plan

Topic: ____________________ Number of Days: _______

Goal of this study: ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

Questions to answer each day:

1. How can I summarize this passage in two to three sentences?

2. What does this passage teach me about ________________?

3. What is the Lord specifically leading me to do in response to this passage?

Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me walk in obedience to this passage.