I love reading my scriptures each day, and the Come, Follow Me manual has been such a helpful guide for my personal study. It gives me a place to begin while still allowing me to slow down and spend more time on the things that stand out to me.
At the beginning of each week, I look over the assigned reading and make a loose plan for when I’ll listen to or read it. This simple little habit helps me stay aware of what’s included without making it feel like the weekly lesson is hanging over my shoulder, cracking a whip.
Most weeks, I finish the reading before the week is over. Sometimes I listen to the rest on Sunday or Monday. From time to time, I don’t finish it at all and simply move on to the next week’s reading. I try to let my scripture study flow with my life as it comes rather than treating it like something I have to complete perfectly.
This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson includes lots of chapters in Psalms. When I first saw the list, it felt quite overwhelming. Once I divided it into smaller daily sections, it seemed much more manageable.
Psalms Reading Schedule for This Week
- Monday: Psalms 49 and 50
- Tuesday: Psalms 51, 61, and 62
- Wednesday: Psalms 63, 64, and 65
- Thursday: Psalms 66, 69, and 70
- Friday: Psalms 71, 72, and 77
- Saturday: Psalms 78, 85, and 86
That looks much less intimidating, doesn’t it?
Of course, scripture study isn’t a race, and there isn’t a prize for checking every chapter off the list. Dividing the reading simply helps me be consistent. It also gives me time to think about what I’m reading instead of rushing through everything at the end of the week or just skipping it.
To Read or to Listen…That Is the Question
I should probably clarify something. When I say I “read” my scriptures every day, I’m often listening to them. I love having audio available, and I enjoy listening to the people who read the scriptures.
I read and listen to my scriptures using the Gospel Library app because of all its features. I can listen or read, listen and read along, or pause to re-read, highlight, tag, or attach a note to a verse, all in the app. So, as for me and my house, and my car and everywhere else too, I listen most often. Sometimes I listen and read along, and every once in a while I only read. That is my order of preference.
How Listening Helps It All Fit Into My Day
Scripture study is how I begin my day. I usually start listening while I’m getting ready in the morning and continue while I fix breakfast. Then, while I eat, I sit down and often read along with the audio.
Listening and reading at the same time helps me focus and retain more of what I’m learning. Otherwise, my ADHD brain is likely to have a squirrel moment and send my attention scampering off in a completely different direction. That still happens more than I’d like, so I end up pressing that 10-second rewind button a lot!
I originally began listening to the scriptures in the morning because I wanted to get my reading in, and I wanted my children to hear the word of God before they left for school. I told them I was listening for myself, but honestly, it was for all of us.
They didn’t always love it, but they still began their day hearing the words of the scriptures or conference talks. That habit has remained an important part of my mornings. I feel much calmer and more focused when I stick to that schedule.
Some days my ADHD makes it hard for me to sit down and study at all. Listening helps me get started. Instead of waiting for the perfect quiet moment, I can begin studying while I move through my regular morning routine.
I also have a personal rule that I don’t listen to audiobooks or secular music until I’ve finished my scripture study. That gives me a little extra motivation to make scripture study the first thing I listen to each day.
As you know, I’m an avid audiobook listener, so dangling that carrot in front of myself until after my study is done works like a charm. Only, in my case, it’s more like dangling a brownie.
You don’t have to sit in a perfectly quiet room with paper scriptures open on your lap. You also don’t have to read from your phone or tablet for your scripture study to count. You can listen while you get dressed, make breakfast, fold laundry, drive, or do something else that doesn’t require much concentration. Realizing that was very freeing for me.
If listening helps you spend time in the scriptures when you otherwise might not get to them at all, I think that’s a wonderful way to study. It works for me.
What Else I Include in My Daily Study
Along with the Come, Follow Me reading, I try to read or listen to one chapter from the Book of Mormon and one general conference talk each day. That works for my phase of life, but it may not work for you.
When my children were little, I didn’t come close to studying like I do now, but I did listen every day. Choose a scripture study routine that fits your life, your needs, and the season you’re in.
Sometimes a chapter of scripture is especially long, so I’ll read only part of it and finish the rest the next day. Other times, I’ll re-read a chapter because I want to understand it better or feel that there may be something more for me to learn. I’ve found that I often notice something new when I return to a chapter I’ve read many times before.
I don’t follow my plan perfectly. Some days the full reading schedule feels like too much. On those days, I may read or listen to only one thing: one Book of Mormon chapter, or one conference talk, or one chapter from the Come, Follow Me reading. That is enough for that day.
If it’s an especially challenging day, I may read only a couple of my favorite verses. Those are usually days when I’m having brain fog from fibromyalgia. By the way, mixing brain fog with ADHD is kind of mystifying.
On the whole, I would rather do a little than let an overwhelming plan keep me from studying at all.
How I Choose Conference Talks
On Mondays, I begin by reading the weekly Come, Follow Me lesson. Since that is part of my study for the day, I usually skip the additional conference talk. Unless, of course, I need an Elder Uchtdorf uplift or an Elder Holland comfort or a…well, you get the idea.
For the rest of the week, I begin with the conference talks referenced in the weekly Come, Follow Me lesson. After that, I read or listen to the talks from the most recent general conference in order, from beginning to end.
Once I’ve finished those, I choose an earlier conference and begin working my way through its talks. When a new general conference takes place, I pause the older talks as soon as the new ones are available in the Gospel Library app. After I finish listening to the new talks, I return to the conference I was listening to before or choose another one. It honestly depends on my mood.
I’ve even gone back and listened to some President Spencer W. Kimball talks from when I was a kid. Hearing his voice again brings back memories of sitting in front of the TV with siblings and cousins next to me, my parents and aunts and uncles around the room, and Grandma and Grandpa Bingham sitting in their chairs.
I remember the gold carpet and the piano bench with the crazy wild animal skin on it. I don’t know where that thing came from, but I think it was a bobcat. I also remember Grandpa’s work overalls hanging on a hook in the back entrance near the freezers and washing machines. Playing hide-and-seek in the dark was my favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Those were some really fun times!
That was a fun little jaunt down memory lane, but I’ll get back on track now.
My conference talk selection system is pretty easy to follow, but I don’t follow it perfectly. It simply gives me a plan so I never have to wonder, “What should I study today?”
Make a Plan That Works for You
If this week’s reading feels overwhelming to you too, try dividing it into small, manageable pieces that work for you. You might even read the headings of each chapter and decide which ones you want to read this week.
I recommend setting a goal and making a plan for your scripture study. Decide when, where, and how much you plan to study. Then read, listen, or listen and read along when you can. Give yourself permission to do a little less on difficult or busy days.
Some days I study more, and some days I study less. What matters most to me is making room for the Spirit and spending a little time each day drawing closer to the Savior. A few verses or one chapter may not feel like much, but even a little time in the scriptures can bring light to your day.
Happy scripture studying!
Leave a Reply