Reading Plans

A month with Andrew Murray at the feet of the only Teacher. Each day opens one of Jesus' own words on prayer, from “Lord, teach us to pray” to the promises of the last night, and ends in a prayer of its own. One lesson a day, about ten minutes, building toward intercession and a life of prayer.

Two months with God for readers aged 13 to 17: both books of Anchored — Is It True? Who Am I? and Real Life — one devotion a day on the honest questions of faith, who you are in Christ, and following Jesus through worry, screens, friendships, home and grief. Each day ends with a pointer to one chapter of a classic.

Three and a half weeks of true stories for young readers, one each day: all four books of Brave for God, twenty-four ordinary people from every part of the world who trusted God and were made brave.

Six weeks on Christ as Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. A. B. Simpson lays out the fourfold gospel and its ministry of healing, and Andrew Murray closes with a month of meditations on the Lord who still heals the body as a pledge of the life to come.

Five weeks of five-minute family devotions: the true stories of three brave women, read aloud one short chapter a night — Mary Slessor, the Scottish mill girl who rescued twin babies in Nigeria; Pandita Ramabai, who built a home for India’s widows and girls; and Corrie ten Boom, who hid Jewish neighbours in the war and learned to forgive. Each ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

Twelve nights of five-minute family devotions with Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the Yoruba boy sold as a slave who grew up to give his people the Bible in their own language. Read one short chapter aloud: the slave ship stopped at sea, the day he found his mother again, the Lord’s Prayer in Yoruba for the Queen, and the kind slaves who fed him when he was a prisoner. Each ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

Four weeks laying the foundations of prayer with three guides: Andrew Murray on how the Lord himself teaches us to pray, D. L. Moody on prevailing prayer, and Hannah Buyinza on prayer as the daily pulse of the Christian life.

Andrew Murray's classic on the root of every virtue — one short chapter a day for twelve days.

Five and a half weeks for anyone just beginning with Christ. Charles Spurgeon meets you at the wicket gate with the plainest help there is for trusting Jesus; then R. A. Torrey, writing for new believers, shows how to begin right — assurance, the Holy Spirit, the church, the Bible, prayer and witness. Short articles along the way answer the questions every new Christian asks: what the gospel is, why Jesus died, what baptism and the Lord’s Supper mean, and how to keep growing.

Seven weeks in the furnace of intercession with the great apostle of prayer. E. M. Bounds begins with the preacher's own need of power, then unfolds the purpose that makes prayer prevail, and the necessity that makes it the whole business of the Christian life.

A first walk with Jesus, for teenage readers. Charles Spurgeon meets you at the gate with the plainest of help for anyone finding their way to Christ; then the true stories of men and women who gave him everything show what that life becomes — two short books over about three weeks.

An Advent calendar of Bible stories for children and the grown-ups who read with them: one five-minute story a night from 1 to 25 December. It begins with the promises God made, to Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, to David and through Isaiah, and follows them all the way to the angel's visit, Mary's yes, the birth in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and the shepherds on Christmas Day. Start on 1 December. Each story ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

Twenty-nine nights of Bible stories for children and the grown-ups who read with them, one five-minute story a night. It begins with the promises that point to the cross: the lamb God provides, the Passover, the snake on the pole, Jonah's three days and the Good Shepherd. Then it walks with Jesus to Jerusalem, through the Last Supper, the garden and the cross, to the empty tomb, and on through Easter week to the ascension. Start on the Sunday three weeks before Easter, and Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday fall on their own stories. Each story ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

Not more effort, but a Person: the secret of the deeper life is Christ himself living within. Andrew Murray opens with the wonder of Jesus himself, then unfolds the indwelling life, and Hudson Taylor closes in the rest of union and communion with the Beloved.

The first Christian centuries in their own words. Clement of Rome writes from the church at Rome while the apostles' own generation still lived, Ignatius of Antioch sends his letters on the road to martyrdom, and Athanasius of Alexandria sets out the heart of the faith — why God himself became man — in On the Incarnation. Short daily readings over about four months.

Build a daily habit of prayer and the Word: thirty-six mornings with Andrew Murray, one chapter each day.

Five-minute family devotions for children and the grown-ups who read with them, about three and a half weeks of nights. Read one short chapter aloud: first Bunyan’s pilgrim on the road to the Celestial City, then Spurgeon’s pictures from the farm. Each ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

James DeGreef's guide for students — one short reading a day for eighteen days. From discovering your purpose to building a vision for the future, each day pairs practical counsel with a Scripture, a reflection, and a prayer.

A month on the oldest good news there is. Richard Baxter's tender call to the unconverted, D. L. Moody on the way to God, and Charles Spurgeon's All of Grace — the plainest of guides to how a sinner is saved, and how to know it.

Two weeks of true stories for readers aged 13 to 17: both books of They Were Young — Called and Tested — one life a day, from Spurgeon in a snowstorm and Richard Allen in Delaware to Patrick, Perpetua and the Uganda Martyrs, each ending with questions to think through.

Three months with God for readers aged 9 to 12: the first three books of Rooted — Planted, Following Jesus and Growing Fruit — one short devotion a day on who God is and the good news of Jesus, walking with Him from the manger to the empty tomb, and growing the fruit of the Spirit.

For the days that are hard to pray through. Hannah Whitall Smith on the God of all comfort, and Gareth Evans on trusting the One who holds our tomorrows — a five-week walk into settled peace when life is uncertain.

Eight weeks with three masters of the inner life. Richard Sibbes binds up the bruised reed, John Owen wages war on the sin that still dwells within, and Thomas Watson rests the whole struggle on the promise that all things work together for good.

Nine weeks on being wholly the Lord's. Andrew Murray traces our holiness to our union with the Holy One, William Law calls us to a life devout in every ordinary hour, and John Wesley sets out plainly what Christian perfection is — and is not.

Five weeks of five-minute family devotions: true stories of three people who trusted God for everything, read aloud one short chapter a night — George Müller and his orphans, Hudson Taylor on his way to China, and Amanda Smith, born into slavery, who prayed for a pair of shoes. Each ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.

How revival comes, and how to pray it down. Charles Finney's lectures on the conditions of revival, R. A. Torrey on the baptism with the Holy Spirit that empowers it, and the sermons through which God shook New England under Jonathan Edwards.

Twelve weeks with four teachers, one short chapter a day, each ending in questions and a prayer: Richard Baxter on the saints' everlasting rest, Jonathan Edwards on the beauty of God and true religion, A. B. Simpson on Christ our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King, and Watchman Nee on the normal Christian life.

Four weeks with R. A. Torrey on the Spirit-filled life: first the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the power it brings for service, then the fuller study of the Person and work of the Spirit who indwells every believer.

The road home, in three classics. Charles Spurgeon meets the seeker at the wicket gate, John Bunyan's immortal allegory follows the pilgrim the whole way to the Celestial City, and Bunyan's own testimony shows the grace that abounded to the chief of sinners.

Three months with God for girls aged 9 to 12: all three books of Daughters of the King — Beloved, Brave and Growing Up — one short devotion a day on who you are in Christ, courage to speak and serve, and growing up with wisdom.

What does whole-hearted surrender cost, and what does it yield? David Brainerd's searching missionary diary, followed by the stories of men and women who gave everything for the sake of the gospel — a call to consecration told through lives that answered it.

Three more months with God for readers aged 9 to 12: the last three books of Rooted — Strong in the Storm, Branching Out and Bearing Fruit — one short devotion a day on standing firm when life is hard, loving the people around you, and God's purpose for your life.

Ten weeks in the school of trust. Andrew Murray teaches the daily discipline of waiting on God, F. B. Meyer opens the secret of being guided by him, and George Müller's astonishing life of faith shows what such trust receives.

Three months with God for boys aged 9 to 12: all three books of Sons of the King — Strong, Faithful and Growing Up — one short devotion a day on who you are in Christ, being someone who can be trusted, and growing up with wisdom.

A longer journey with three remarkable women. Hannah Whitall Smith opens the secret of a happy life, and the autobiographies of Amanda Berry Smith and Julia A. J. Foote — two Black women who preached the gospel across the nineteenth-century world — show that secret lived out at great cost.

Twelve nights of five-minute family devotions with Brother Lawrence, the clumsy kitchen helper who learned to talk with God among the pots and pans. Read one short chapter aloud: how a bare winter tree turned him to God, how he did every job for God’s love, and what he did when he got things wrong. Each ends with a prayer and three questions to talk about together.