How to Stick to an Advent Bible Study

You've considered options and carefully chosen an Advent Bible study (or Advent Write the Word® journal—hooray!). You care about making your faith a central part of the Christmas season and deeply want to draw closer to Jesus over the next few weeks. But just as your study arrives in the mail, reality starts to set in: the Christmas season is so busy! How will you find time to get the most out of this Advent practice you've chosen? You don't have time for this!! 

Friend, we've been there! And with a little help from some smart habit strategies and a tiny bit of forethought, we're confident that you can make reading and reflecting on God's Word a treasured part of this Advent season—packed schedule, ample to-do list, and all. Let's get into it! 

Before Beginning: Prepare + Plan

Pray

Every good plan begins with prayer! Ask God for help in prioritizing time for scripture in a busy season. Ask Him to give you a deep desire to study His Word and a steady heart to dig in even when the desire doesn't seem to be there. Ask Him to bless your reading and writing, giving you increasing amounts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding each day. And finally, ask that any new insight you learn over the next few weeks would help you to love God and others more. 

Put it on your calendar

What gets scheduled is more likely to get done. Consider your schedule and choose a daily time when you can commit to completing your Advent study. If you already have an established quiet time routine, great! If this will be a new habit, even better! Whether you choose first thing in the morning, over lunch, during after school homework time, or right before bed, record it in your calendar and stick to it just like you would any appointment. If you have a digital calendar, block this time out on each day of Advent. If you use a paper calendar, write it in by hand each day of the month! It might feel repetitive, but writing things in your own hand helps you psychologically commit to whatever you're writing.

Choose your spot

Where will you do your writing, reading, and studying? At the kitchen table? At your desk at work? In bed? Curled up in your favorite cozy chair? Choose a spot that allows for quiet reflection and matches the time of day you plan to complete your study. 

Gather supplies

Finally, gather any supplies you'll need and keep them close at hand. If you're doing the Write the Word | Advent journal, all you'll need is your journal, a pen, and the Bible translation of your choice. Of course, fun highlighters, stickers, and colored pens don't hurt!

During Your Study:

Set yourself up for success

This might mean kicking off your shoes, grabbing a cozy blanket, or turning on instrumental Christmas music. You do you! For everyone, though, there are two preparation practices we recommend:

• Put your phone in another room. Studies have shown that just having a phone in sight can serve as a distraction. Give yourself the gift of focused time on the very best message by removing your phone from the scene.
• Open with prayer. Before cracking open your journal, pause for a brief prayer. You might say something like, God, give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding as I read and write today. Let any new insight I learn help me to love You and others more. 
  

Engage with the text

Write the Word journals are flexible on purpose, so go ham on your journal! Write out different translations, underline, highlight, draw arrows, and journal to your heart's context. Read the context around the day's passage. Pull out a commentary if you'd like. Sit with questions and give yourself time to wonder about the answers. If you can do this, your time in the Word will feel like one of the richest parts of your day, a natural encouragement to stick to your Advent Bible study.

Look for God the Father and Jesus His Son

Instead of primarily focusing on how the day's lesson or message applies to you, look first for where God shows up and how the passage points to Jesus. While application is good and can be helpful, knowing and loving God is the best part of reading the Bible. This focus will keep you eager to come back much more than behavior modification ever could.

Staying Consistent:

Track your progress

We're not a goal-setting company for nothing! :) Studies suggest that simply monitoring your behavior, with no other interventions, can lead you to change it. Tracking your habits has other benefits, too:

• It keeps you honest. No more over- or under-estimating! Instead of going off a vague sense of how many times you’ve studied the Bible this Advent, you can look back at an accurate record.
• It helps you celebrate. When you track your habits, you have data that helps you recognize how far you’ve come and see more clearly how your efforts are adding up. This gives you milestones to celebrate!
• Your brain loves it. Studies have shown that our brains thrive on the tiny firework of pleasure that is checking a box. Adding a small burst of immediate, positive reward (a.k.a checking off your habit tracker) each time you complete a habit is a great way to make it stick.

Take advantage of accountability

Accountability can keep us going when all other signs point to us quitting. Whether you text a friend each afternoon after you complete your passage for the day, meet up with your sister to discuss what you've read and learned each Saturday, or post your progress on social media, find a form of accountability that works for you. 

Find more ideas for accountability here!

Extend grace

While we love tracking progress, the goal, of course, is not a perfectly checked-off habit tracker: it's an Advent spent knowing and loving God more each day. To stick with your study, embrace imperfection. Don't give up on the first missed day. Trust that all the time you spend in the Word, no matter how short, will be worthwhile.

Learn more and shop the 2025 Write the Word® | Advent journal here!