Bible Study Templates and Plans

ByLife in Our Corner

Part of being a Christian is continuously learning and growing, and what better way to do that than by diving deeper into the Bible? 

We have updated our Bible study templates and would love to share them with you. The personalized templates help keep your Bible reading and personal life in our area – it’s truly such a blessing.

Let’s take a moment to be honest. I am sure many of us have tried to get into the habit of Bible study and reading every day, more times than we can count, and it can be genuinely challenging to stay on track! 

Having a plan and the right supplies helps me tremendously when learning The Word. The Bible says, “Teach us to number our day that we may get a heart of wisdom.” This Psalm is attributed to Moses. He is my favorite character in the Bible and the one I am most excited to meet in Heaven. If he, such a man of God, needed help from God to number his days, or in other words, use time wisely, then think about how much wisdom we need to survive our fast-paced world.

After years and years of trying different plans and journals and everything in between, I created these fantastic templates that help you stay on track with your Bible reading and keep everything organized. Let’s dig deeper!

TIPS on staying consistent with Bible Reading:

Here are some personal tips and lessons from years of trying to make my time with the Lord more effective and productive.

This isn’t to say that I am perfect and have got this completely down! I am constantly learning and trying to grow. I share what I’ve learned over the years and wish someone had helped guide me 20 years ago when I was on this journey to find something that works.

Place –

Find a place in your home that will be your reading the Bible area.

  • I’ve noticed that the more consistent I am with one place, the more likely I will be drawn to it and make it a habit.
  • Keep your Bible, journals, pens, and everything else near that sitting area. That way, you grab everything and start reading. This way, you are not wasting time looking for the different things you need to read the Bible. And trust me, Satan will do everything in his power to distract you, so you are spending time looking for your journals and pens, and by the time you sit down to read, you are just exhausted and ready to finish your study before it even starts.
  • Your children will also see you studying, and they will imitate your actions. They are little sponges that soak up the good (and unfortunately bad) examples we set for them. As they get older, it’s much easier to teach them about spending quiet time with the Lord as they will follow by example.

Discipline –

This is the most challenging part! It’s hard to discipline yourself to stay on track and continuously find the time to read.

  • Think of a time of day that will work for you and stick to it. If you skip a day, don’t beat yourself up over it. Keep going and catch up on what you’ve missed.
  • Remember: It takes 40 days to break a habit. If daily Bible reading is new to you, I guarantee you will want to give up. Whatever you do, don’t! I try to be raw and honest and say, “God, I have no desire to read tonight; please give me that yearning and desire.” And He has always come through because He desperately desires to be with me. He created me. Even if you can’t break through and have this deep desire, do it anyway. That’s like saying you will only wake up and go to work if you absolutely want to. Sometimes, you need to do it.

Praise and Worship –

  • The best way to start a Bible study is by simply praying for the Holy Spirit to teach you.
  • Another great way to calm your heart for the study is to praise God or listen to your favorite worship song. If praise is new to you and you’re not used to it, start with quoting Psalms; they are filled with praise and worship.
  • Something truly happens and we are able to enter a more intimate place with the Lord if we begin with worship.
When we praise Him and give thanks, it says we enter his courts,
something personal and intimate. Psalm 100:4

Attitude –

Your attitude toward Bible reading and personal time with the Lord will reflect what you get out of your study. Could you imagine meeting a best friend for lunch, coming there distracted, stressed, in a rush, and knowing you want to be done in 10 minutes? That would call for a very awkward lunch; your friend would immediately sense that attitude.

We sometimes treat our quiet time with the Lord that exact way. We are just so busy, tired, and exhausted, and when we sit down to meet with him, we are already limiting what He can teach us and how the Holy Spirit may move because our time together is so limited.

Supplies to Help You Stay Productive:

  • Journal – I find it essential to journal how God leads you. Aside from taking notes from your daily reading, have a section in your binder to add the personal things God is doing in your life. Add dreams God has sent you, favorite sermon quotes, etc. You can add pictures or drawings from your kids here. Make it something you desire to write in and not a “chore” you must do. My binder with the templates has all of that.
  • Binder– I use a new one each year and just keep the old one filed so I can review it if necessary. A classic 1 ½-inch binder works excellent, or you can get a patterned one.
  • Pens– I find the best pens that don’t bleed through are the cheapest ones. Ballpoint pens are my favorite pens that I use for everything. They write beautifully and are so inexpensive. My favorite pen to take notes in the Bible are the fineliners.
  • Highlighters– I prefer no-bleed highlighters for the binder and bible.
  • Sticky notes– I like to keep regular sticky notes in my pouch if I need them during my journaling, the 1-inch ones I like to use
  • Index cards– If you want to add the Bible verses, place them throughout your home. I like the larger cards as you can write in a larger font. Or you can also print out our Weekly Bible Verse Memorization Cards!
  • Dividers– Simple dividers help keep your binder organized. For me, a set of 3 dividers works fine, but you can get a set of 5 if needed.
  • Pen pouch– I like to keep everything in one place, so I just have a small pen pouch I use. You can go for a patterned pouch or a simple plaid pouch.
BIBLE: This journaling Bible is what I use and LOVE.

Templates:

We’ve included different template styles you can choose from. You only need to pick ONE template to print. Now, in each template set, you will have 5 pages. Here’s what each page means.

Page 1: A Cover

A binder cover page- for the binder. This showcases the theme and makes your binder look professional; it’s a fun touch. 

Page 2: Week Overview

You will switch to a new “weekly overview” page each week; always date that week at the top.
Having everything on one page for the week is so helpful and helps you stay organized. On this page, you will have space for:
>Prayer Requests – Whatever you want to focus on in prayer for that week.
>Grateful – Here, you will list the things you are most grateful for. There’s just something about having a grateful heart that helps us connect to the Father. Try to go deep and personal, skipping the general things. So, I search my heart and write down things I don’t usually thank God for. Also, I don’t repeat the same things in other weeks, making you search for things you usually don’t thank God for.
>Verse of the week – This is where you will write out whatever verse you want to memorize for the week. I usually find the verse in the previous week’s reading. Can you imagine if you learned one new verse a week, by the end of the year, you would have memorized 52 verses from Scripture (now multiply that over ten years – amazing)?
>God is Teaching Me – As you read throughout the week, add what He is convicting you of or putting heavy on your heart for you to dig deeper. These thoughts and revelations sink deeper and will influence us more if we write them down, meditate on them, and pray through them.
>Happening This Week – Here, you can add the events of the week you’d like to remember and record.

Page 3: Bible Study Notes

  • This will be where you write down your daily notes as you read through the Bible. So I date mine and then add the book and chapters I read on one line. Then, I’ll write down the verses that stand out to me.
  • I enjoy drawing on the sides of these papers and journaling what’s on my heart. Statistics confirm that we retain information received more if we write it down and then go back and reread it.
  • I just print more of the notes as needed.

Page 4: Prayer List- 

  • You can print this page and keep all your prayer requests on there, in addition to the ones you will focus on weekly. 
  • I like to keep these pages together and add requests that need ongoing prayer. I just organize them by Month. So, I start with January, have all my prayer requests for the month, and continue all year. But you can also organize by category, like family, country, church, etc. Then, just place the requests in their correct category. The best part is when the prayer is answered. Be sure to date the answer and how the Lord came through; it is so powerful!

Page 5: Noteworthy-

  • Each template will have a section for notes. Here, you use the space as needed. You can add kids’ drawings there or go deeper with things happening in your life. Use this section as desired. 
  • You can use this section to write dreams, revelations, prophetic words, etc.

Bible Reading Plans –

We also have printable Bible in-a-year plans. We have plans for both Russian and English plans. I used to read a Russian Bible (as that is what I grew up with), but a few years back, the Lord convinced me to transfer to an English Bible, and I’ve been reading that ever since.

A reading plan is the only way I can read the Bible in a Year and keep myself on track. With a plan, I can quickly catch up, even if I fall behind a few days, and keep going.

If you have a plan you like, that’s wonderful. If not, our Bible in a Year Plan is on one page, and it is easy to stay on track. I just keep the plan in the left pocket of my binder, so it’s always available. We also have many bundles:  

You can also use this free Bible tracker if you read in English. Save it as an image and print it!

Disclosure –

We used to offer these templates for free, but it was difficult for me to send emails continuously explaining everything to everyone. So, we created inexpensive PDFs you can purchase with immediate downloads. Then, just choose which template you like best and print them.

However, if you are struggling financially and want these but cannot afford them, please e-mail me at lifeinourcorner (at) gmail (dot) com, and I’ll send you them for free. 🙂

Well, friends, I hope that inspires you to try something new this year. To get into the Word and enjoy some time with the Lord.

QUESTION: I’d love to hear all about your experience reading the Bible. What have you seen works and doesn’t work for you? Please share with the rest of us in the comments below. I’m always open to new ideas and tips.

Thank you so much for being a part of our online family. We appreciate all of you greatly.

Fondly, Tim & Valentina

Benjamin, Joseph, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Abigail, Elijah and Seraphima

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7 Comments

  1. I’m a Christian myself and am looking for schooling ideas for my young children, where do your kids go to school? Or are they homeschooled? What curriculum do you use? Do they do online school? Any ideas or suggestions in that area?

    Reply

    1. Zhanna, I totally get you. We went through the same situation when our oldest (who is going to be a senior) was going to go to middle school. We tried homeschooling and it just wasn’t for us.
      Our kiddos are in a local Christian school now and it has been the biggest blessing.
      I do know there are many moms that homeschool and they get together and help each other out, that was something we would have done if we had homeschooled. Many churches host homeschoolers where the children come and all learn together.

      Reply

    1. Hi, Lena. I’m not quite sure what you are referring to.
      These templates are made for you to do whatever you want. I do it daily (7 days) but you can do whatever you want.
      If you are referring to the Bible reading plan, there are options for 5 days, and you will read the New Testament in a year and 7 days, and you will read the entire Bible in a year.

      Reply

      1. Oh sorry I must have looked at it wrong. I must have looked at the New Testament plan. I’ve been looking for a plan and lots of them have been 5 day plans who hasn’t been what I wanted. I wanted to ready every day, including the weekends. Glad to see that yours is 7days. Thank you!

        Reply