Family Bible study
Fifteen minutes after dinner, one short passage, two good questions, and a prayer. That's it — and it's enough.
Most families quit Bible study because they aim for a Sunday-school lesson on a Tuesday night. This guide gives you a short weeknight format that works with kids and teens in the same room, the passages that hold attention across ages, an 8-week plan you can start tonight, and honest fixes for the things that usually derail it.
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Choose how many minutes a night you have and get a family-friendly reading plan with a passage and a question for each day.
Build a family reading planWhy family devotions stall
- Too long. Fifteen minutes is a habit; forty-five is an event you'll skip.
- No fixed time. Attach it to something that already happens — dinner, bedtime, Sunday breakfast.
- Wrong passage. Genealogies and Levitical law end family Bible time fast; narrative keeps it alive.
- One person does everything. Give every family member a role.
- It becomes a correction session. Keep discipline and devotions separate.
- Perfectionism. Missed nights are normal. Resume, don't restart.
A 15-minute weeknight format
- 0:00–0:02 — Light a candle or say the same opening line every time so everyone knows it started.
- 0:02–0:06 — Read the passage aloud. Let a child read a verse if they can.
- 0:06–0:11 — Two questions: What happened? What does this show us about God?
- 0:11–0:13 — One application question: what does this mean for us tomorrow?
- 0:13–0:15 — Prayer. One sentence each, youngest first.
Best books and passages for families
- Genesis 1–12 — creation, the flood, Babel, and the call of Abraham.
- Exodus 1–20 — Moses, the plagues, the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments.
- Ruth — loyalty, grief, and provision in four short chapters.
- Jonah — a four-chapter story about running from God and mercy.
- Daniel 1–6 — courage, integrity, and the lions' den.
- The Gospel of Mark — the fastest-moving account of Jesus.
- Luke 2 and Luke 15 — Christmas and the parables of things lost and found.
- Psalms 23, 100, 121, 139 — short enough to memorize together.
- Proverbs — one chapter matched to the day of the month works well with teens.
Age-by-age tips
- Ages 2–5 — Use a story Bible, keep it under seven minutes, and act the story out. Repetition is a feature, not a failure.
- Ages 6–9 — Let them read a verse, draw the scene, and ask their own question each night.
- Ages 10–12 — Give them a real Bible with their name in it. Start asking 'why do you think God did that?'
- Teens — Ask opinion questions and let them disagree out loud. Never shut down a doubt; study it next week.
- Mixed ages — Read one narrative passage, then ask an easy question for the youngest and a harder one for the oldest.
An 8-week family plan (the life of Jesus in Mark)
- Week 1 — Mark 1:1–20: Jesus begins, and calls ordinary people.
- Week 2 — Mark 2:1–12: four friends dig through a roof.
- Week 3 — Mark 4:1–20: the farmer, the seed, and four kinds of soil.
- Week 4 — Mark 4:35–41: Jesus calms a storm.
- Week 5 — Mark 6:30–44: five loaves, two fish, five thousand people.
- Week 6 — Mark 10:13–16: Jesus welcomes the children.
- Week 7 — Mark 10:46–52: blind Bartimaeus shouts anyway.
- Week 8 — Mark 15–16: the cross and the empty tomb.
Questions that work every night
- What happened in this story?
- Who is the most surprising person here, and why?
- What does this show us about God?
- What does it show us about people?
- What's one thing our family can do about this tomorrow?
- What do you want to thank God for, or ask him for, tonight?
Make it a habit that lasts
- Keep the Bible on the dinner table so nothing has to be fetched.
- Rotate jobs weekly: reader, question-asker, pray-er, candle-lighter.
- Memorize one short verse a month as a family.
- Write answered prayers in a shared notebook — kids remember the list for years.
- Sing one song or say the Lord's Prayer together to close.
- When you miss a week, start again the next night without commentary.
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A Child's First Bible — Kenneth N. Taylor
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Choose how many minutes a night you have and get a family-friendly reading plan with a passage and a question for each day.
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