Family Bible Study: Planting Seeds of Faith, One Verse at a Time

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Welcome to Little Shoots Deep Roots – where we become faith gardeners, cultivating deep faith in our families one little habit at a time! In this solo episode, I share how small, intentional steps can deepen both personal and family engagement with Scripture.

Discover my personal testimony of how the Bible guided me through a life-changing decision, and learn how you too can create tiny but impactful Bible study habits that fit into your busy family life. This episode will equip parents with practical steps and creative ideas to make Bible reading a consistent and transformative practice in their homes.

✨ In this episode:

• My life-changing experience guided by Scripture.
• How to use the Faith Growth Cycle to start or deepen family Bible study.
• Five steps to establishing a sustainable Bible reading habit.
• Ideas for making Bible study engaging for kids of all ages.
• Resources to help jump-start your journey into family Bible study.

📚 FOLLOW-UP RESOURCES:

1. ⁠Free 40-day Bible reading plan through the book of Mark⁠
2. ⁠Family Bible study on Mark⁠
3. Get the Book: ⁠Little Habits, Big Faith⁠

Join us monthly for practical tips, real parent interviews, and encouragement as we become faith gardeners together!

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to Little Shoots, Deep Roots, where we become faith gardeners, cultivating deep faith in our families one little habit at a time. I’m your fellow gardener, Christie Thomas.

Today, we’re diving into the life-giving habit of Bible study as a family. But first, let me share a personal story of how God used Scripture to guide me in a life-changing decision.

Story: Listening to God Through Scripture

Several years ago, I sat at my desk after a long day of work, taking a quick peek at Facebook before heading home. Out of the blue, God placed something on my heart: I felt called to give a kidney to a stranger.

It wasn’t an audible voice, and the Bible doesn’t say, “Give a kidney to a stranger.” So how did I know this was from God?

I tested the feeling against Scripture. At the time, I was reading the book of Esther, and the phrase, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) stuck in my heart like a burr on a dog. I couldn’t stop thinking about it—could it be that God had given me a healthy body for just such a time as this?

Soon after, I heard a sermon where the pastor quoted Luke 3:11: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none.” That verse jumped out at me like a jack-in-the-box. I had two kidneys—was I supposed to give one away?

As I kept reading and praying, verse after verse spoke to God’s generosity and our call to be like Him. Over time, I grew confident that this was what God wanted me to do.

The Power of Scripture

The Bible isn’t just an ancient book. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Through Scripture, we learn God’s priorities and values. We are changed by His Word. But if we don’t read the Bible, it can’t do its transforming work.

The Faith Growth Cycle: Bible Study Edition

In my book, Little Habits, Big Faith: How Simple Practices Help Your Family Grow in Jesus, I teach the Faith Growth Cycle. Today, we’ll use it to explore how to start or deepen Bible study in your family. If you want to dive deeper, grab the book—available in paperback, ebook, and audio at the link in the show notes.

1. The Seed Stage

The first step is the Seed stage. In the seed stage we take our desire to read the Bible more, either individually or as a family, and we lift it to God. We ask him what he wants for our family in this area and consider truthfully the obstacles that are holding us back from growth in this area. 

So let’s do that together. 

God, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Your words are a treasure, my heart’s delight, and my source of hope. I want to spend more time reading, hearing, and living out your words, both on my own and in my family. And for the times I don’t want that, when I feel like I just don’t care, please give me a hunger and thirst for your words. Today, I give you my obstacles and excuses, the things I’ve held onto that keep me from digging more deeply into the Bible at home. Show me a small step that I can take that will help me search for you with all my heart. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen. 

2. The Sprout Stage

Next, we plant a tiny habit that can get us closer to our goal of being saturated with Scripture. Starting small is key to long-term change.

Here’s the 5-step process:

1. Choose a habit: Bible reading.
2. Make it smaller: You want to make it so small that it doesn’t take more than 30-60 seconds, because that’s how you wedge it into your life. Like water in a crack in the road that freezes and expands the crack, your little habit will wedge itself into your life and become bigger. What are some ways to make a Bible reading habit really small?
   • Read one verse (like a Proverb a day).
   • Read a short Psalm.
   • Play a Scripture song.
   • Post a verse in your home and read it aloud.
3. Attach it to something you already do: Along with making it smaller, we need to attach our new habit to something we’re already doing. What moment in your day does God want to redeem? Your new habit is going to attach like velcro to the current habit. When you attach your desired habit to something you’re already doing, you’ll have an automatic cue to remind you to do it.
   • Read a Scripture while brushing your teeth.
   • Read a devotional after dinner.
   • Read a verse just before your kids head to school.
4. Celebrate: pick a way to celebrate each and every time you read scripture. Will you give your kids a high five or a hug? Will you pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for remembering? This is not a long-term reward, like going out for ice cream once you’ve done it 30 times. It’s something you do every time that will solidify the habit in your brain.
5. Set yourself up for success: What one-time actions do you need to take before you can start this habit? For example, it’s going to be tough to read the Bible if you have to figure out where it is. So where could you put your Bible to make your new habit as easy as possible? Or, if you’re going to use scripture music, could you make yourself a playlist? That way, you won’t get distracted trying to find the right song. 

Let’s review the 5-step process – 

Step 1: you chose a habit – Bible reading. 

Step 2: make it smaller by turning it into something that only takes 30-60 seconds. 

Step 3: attach it to something you’re already doing

Step 4: decide how to celebrate

Step 5: Set yourself up for success

Whether you thought of something right now, while listening, or whether you need to let these ideas percolate a bit, I’m confident that starting something little will help you and your family read more Scripture.

3. The Root Stage

The final stage in the Faith Growth Cycle (after Seed and Sprout) is the Root stage.If you already have a Bible reading habit, consider how God might be calling you to go deeper:

• Make it longer: Add more verses or chapters.
• Make it more complex: Let kids look up Scriptures themselves.
• Add a new habit: After reading, pray, journal, or act out the story with your kids.
• Make it more independent: Encourage older kids to pre-read a section and discuss it together. You can also encourage them to take responsibility for their own faith practices, such as setting their own goals and deciding on their own prayer or Bible reading schedule.

Practical Tools for Family Bible Study

To help you get started, I’ve created 2 resources for you:

1. A free, 40-day Bible reading plan through the book of Mark. I’ve done the work of portioning it into bite-sized chunks for you and laid it out as a paper chain so you can rip off each day’s portion once you’ve read it. 
2. If you want a bit more, I’ve already created a family Bible study on Mark that follows the same reading plan but also includes discussion questions, devotions, and play-based prompts.

Coming Up Next

In the next episode, I’ll chat with my lovely friend from the UK, Lucy Rycroft, about how tiny Scripture habits have transformed her family.

I’ll leave you with a thought from Simplify Your Spiritual Life:
“When indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we can hear God speaking through the Bible in ways that nourish us, encourage us, and give us hope like no mortal can…This is the sort of spiritual experience we need regularly, and it comes most reliably when we seek Him through the way He has revealed Himself to us—through Scripture. All other experiences with God that do not begin with Scripture should be informed by and interpreted by Scripture…Our experiences do not determine whether the Bible is true; rather, the Bible determines whether our experiences are true.”

Closing Blessing

Let me pray a blessing over you. If you’re able, hold out your hands to receive it:

May God give you a deep hunger and thirst for His Word. May He gently lead you as you take one small step toward spiritual growth in your family. May His Word become a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thanks for joining me here at Little Shoots, Deep Roots.

Growing with you,
Christie

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