3 Reasons to Read through the Bible with Us in 2026

This episode contains portions from the following programs:

"Give Me Wisdom and Discernment"

"When Suffering & Sovereignty Collide"

"The Gracious Cycle"

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Dannah Gresh: New Year’s Day incoming!!

Here it is. I've got to say, 2025, you were not easy. Thank you for the lessons, but like house guests that stayed for too long, I think I won’t miss you too much. You were hard!

Is anyone out there thinkin’ the same thing?

Ah, yeah, I can feel your sigh. I’m not alone. You know what? You are not alone, either, and we never were.  Jesus was with me in this hard year. Did you see Him in yours? And He’ll be with us in 2026.

Hi, I’m Dannah Gresh. Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. So glad you’re listening!

Whatever this new year brings, I know one thing. I’m gonna need the Lord, and I’m gonna find Him in His Word. 

Are you with me? This year, I’m reading through the Bible from cover to cover with thousands of Revive Our Hearts listeners around the world, and I would love for you to join in. 

If you’re on the fence, I’ll be real upfront with you. I don’t want you to be. Nope, I want you to hop right on down from there! When January 1 comes and I step up to that starting line, I want you by my side. So, by the end of this episode, I hope you’ll be saying to yourself, "I need God’s Word, and I need it in rich, regular doses." 

Why? Well, I’m so glad you asked. We’re about to explore three reasons you should read through the Bible next year. We can sum up these reasons in three words: wisdom, comfort, and delight.

Let’s start with wisdom. You should join read through the Bible with us in 2026 because God’s Word makes you wise! If you want to make healthy decisions in the year ahead, if you want to discern what’s true in a world of lies, if you want to be a faithful counselor and friend, then open your Bible. Here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth to tell you more.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: When I'm living based on my emotions, thinking wrong ways, I love having people around me—sisters, friends, couples, my husband—who speak and say, "Here's wisdom from God's Word. Here's the truth." But I need to listen. I need to have a heart to hear instruction.

Then Lady Wisdom says, "Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors" (v. 34). 

Seek wisdom daily. How often? Every day. All day. The wisdom is found right here in His Word. You'll never be a wise person if you're not watching and waiting daily at the gate where wisdom is found, which is in the Word of God.

My dad was a man who was always in pursuit of wisdom, and one of the places where he lived, every day of his Christian life, he read a chapter from the book of Proverbs—the chapter matched the day of the month. So if it was the fourth day of the month, he'd read chapter 4 of Proverbs; on the seventeenth, he was reading Proverbs 17 . . . for twenty-eight years!

Now he also read Psalms, the Old Testament and the New Testament every day, but always the chapter of Proverbs for the day because he wanted God's wisdom. Do you want wisdom? Do you want your children to seek wisdom? Do it in God's Word.

What are you doing proactively to become more wise? When you have free time how do you spend it? Surfing the Internet? Or do you spend it in God's Word? Who or what are you listening to? Are you filling your mind with His Word? Or are you filling your mind with the world's wisdom and trivial pursuits?

"For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord" (v. 35). This is the blessing of pursuing wisdom.

Then, in the next verse we see the consequences of a life lived without wisdom. "He who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death." Proverbs 3 tells us that wisdom is a tree of life. So to reject or to spurn God's wisdom is to choose a deadly pathway. We cannot live without wisdom, and we cannot live without Christ, who is the wisdom of God, according to 1 Corinthians 1:24. If you reject Him you will die in your sin. Christ is the wisdom of God.

We see this, going all the way back to the Old Testament. Isaiah 11:2, a prophecy of the Messiah says, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding." Colossians 2:3: tells us that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Do you want the treasures of wisdom, the treasures of God's knowledge? Get to Christ. Get to His Word—the written Word—and Christ the Living Word. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ "the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him." In the knowledge of Christ.

So how do you get that wisdom? Ask Him for it. Tell Him you need it; tell Him you lack it. God wants to give wisdom to us. Wisdom comes from God. Job tells us, "With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding" (12:13).

Sometimes God will speak to you and give you His wisdom through wise friends. "He who walks with the wise will become wise." But here's the caution. I have a group of women I call "the sisterhood." We've been together for years. We've prayed together for years, we've borne each other's burdens. I have a lot of other women who are precious sisters in Christ. Sometimes I find myself asking them for wisdom on something before I ask the Lord.

Now, there's nothing wrong with asking wise people—and I've gotten a lot of wisdom from my sisters and brothers in Christ—but don't neglect to ask God. If you want wisdom, wisdom comes from Him! True wisdom is found in Christ. There is no true wisdom apart from Christ, so get to know Him. Abide in Him, be filled with His Spirit, and let God make you wise.

Dannah: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth on getting wisdom from God’s Word. Are you convinced yet? Are you like, “I wanna be wise! Where do I sign up?!” You can go to ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026. You’ll find everything you need on that web page.

But if you need some more convincing, this next friend of mine is probably the best woman for the job. That’s because her story is undeniable proof of Scripture’s power in suffering:

Joni Eareckson Tada: It began back in 1967. I was seventeen and athletic. One summer day I went swimming in the bay with my sister. I swam out to this raft anchored a few yards offshore and took a reckless dive into shallow water. I knew then my life had changed forever.

My doctor said, “Joni, you’re going to be paralyzed for the rest of your life, without the use of your hands, your legs . . .”

I said, “God, I can’t live like this! I won’t live like this!”

Because I couldn’t hold razors or push pills down my throat, I knew I couldn’t end my life physically, so I was tempted to end my life emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I wanted to just lie in bed, tell my mother to turn off the lights and shut the door.

Finally, in the dark behind that closed door, I cried out, “God, if I can’t die, then show me how to live!”

Thankfully, God put Christian friends in my life who opened the Bible and showed me that God permits what He hates to accomplish that which He loves. He permits awful things like paralysis to bring forth Christ in me, the hope of glory. My Christian friends helped me find purpose in that, and I learned to give thanks even in the little things. With each bit of obedience my faith grew, my perspective widened, the world got bigger, and eventually I wheeled out of that dark bedroom and began to embrace life.

I discovered there was a world of other disabled people in dark bedrooms who, like me, need to embrace life and know God. I started writing about this and speaking, and before I knew it my message gave birth to Joni and Friends.

Dannah: The second reason you should read through the Bible with us in 2026? God’s Word is our sweetest source of comfort. Here’s more from Joni Eareckson Tada.

Joni: Okay, for you who suffer hard, God has a special comfort for you: it is His Bible promises. Every blood-bought promise in God’s Word imparts life, gives grace, energy, strength, power. Every Bible promise gives assurance that you can survive in your afflictions, that you will make it through the worst of hardships, and that you can even flourish. Our God is sovereign, and that means every Bible promise is guaranteed. Our God is good; that means in His promises He has your best interest at heart.

God has your best interest at heart.

When you live on Bible promises, you are resting your life in the hands of your good and sovereign God, and although a painful trial may not seem good at the time, God pledges to you—He has a promise for you. In Jeremiah 32:40–41 He says, “I will never stop doing good to them and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good” (paraphrase).

Oh friend, clinging to a promise like that you’re in the safest place in the universe. You have tucked yourself in the cleft of the rock. You are in the shelter of His wings, in the shadow of the Almighty. Living on God’s promises is the surest way to bring the greatest glory to your God and Savior, and it’s the way I live in this wheelchair. It’s the way I live with pain. It’s the way I trust my sovereign and good God.

Let me show you what living on His promises looks like, okay?

This past summer Ken and I had a chance to spend a few days up at a friend’s lake house in the Sierra Mountains. I really needed the rest, and so did Ken. It had been a busy season at our ministry of Joni and Friends, and we were both weary. Ken was tired from nonstop caregiving.

When we arrived at the lake house, I insisted that he take the bedroom at the far end, beyond the kitchen, while my helper stayed down the hallway with a baby monitor between our rooms; that way, if I awakened in pain during the night I could call for her. As she was helping me get ready for bed, I noticed a large slatted wood plaque hanging on my bedroom wall—this is an actual photo of that very plaque—and I admired it. It was a calligraphy of Joshua 1:9, where God says, 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

I remember being comforted by that verse as my friend put me to bed, raised me up on my side, and tucked pillows behind me, getting me as comfortable as possible with my pain. She left and closed the door on her way out. As she went down the hallway, I almost called for her to come back and leave the door ajar. But then again, if I did need her I could call her in her room using the monitor on my bedside table. So I drifted off to sleep.

At 1 a.m. I was jolted awake by excruciating pain. It happens a lot at night, given that I don’t move and must lay in one position. In the dark I could see the tiny green light on the monitor, so I called softly for my friend to come help me reposition my hips. When she did not respond, I called again. Then a little louder. I reasoned to myself, “She must be sleeping very soundly.” So I yelled, but no answer.

After a few minutes my pain was really piercing. I said, “Lord, I’m never going to make it until morning, lying here in this position in so much pain! Please help me wake her up!”

That’s when, in the dark, I drew a deep breath and I screamed, “Help! Help me!” The house was silent.

Now my heart was racing, because I was in terrible trouble, lying paralyzed in one position, stiff, knowing that morning was hours away. But before panic seized me, I recalled that promise on the slatted wood plaque, Joshua 1:9. So I prayed, “Jesus, it’s a promise. You tell me to be strong and courageous, and You’re going to be with me. I need You to make good on this verse. Please keep anxiety away and help me to have courage.”

My head scrambled to remember other promises, and suddenly Psalm 18:6 popped to mind. (I’m so grateful for all the verses I know by heart.) It says, 

In my distress I called out to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.

Well, being one who takes the Bible literally, God was telling me here to cry out to Him. So, lying in bed on my side and facing the wall, I cried out every Bible promise I could think of. I screamed them, hoping that my helper would hear me. “Lord, You are my ever present help in this trouble! Your grace,” I’m screaming, “is sufficient! Your name, Jesus, is a strong tower!”

But still no answer. No response from my helper. Keeping as calm as I could, I continued to call out, cry out to God for help, screaming to Him. 

God, You will keep me in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee! (Isa. 26:3)

The one who stands firm to the end will be saved! (Matt. 10:22)

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. (Psalm 116:1)

I’m blaring out these promises for nearly an hour, and my lungs were beginning to get tired. It would have been so easy for me to panic, but I encouraged myself. I strengthened myself in the Lord, knowing that if He chose not to wake up my helper—because we have a sovereign God, don’t we?—then He would give me enough grace to get me through until morning.

This is kind of what it means to strengthen yourself in the Lord, right? First Samuel 30 speaks of David being greatly distressed, but it says that he strengthened himself in the Lord, he reminded himself of God’s goodness and God’s sovereignty and that He always comes through on His Word. So that’s what I did.

I was also bolstered remembering the many, many, many thousands of people with disabilities in other parts of the world who live in constant pain who have no one to help them. Who am I in the middle of the night to think that I’m above them? It was a humbling thought. So I put it to rest. If my helper down the hallway could not be awakened, God would help me through the watches of the night.

Before my strength gave out entirely and I just gave up, I yelled one more promise. “God is for me, never against me!”

Just then, I heard a click on the monitor. I looked at the digital clock on the ceiling; it was almost two o’ clock in the morning. I heard footsteps running up the hallway. My helper burst into the room, breathless, apologizing, and explaining that she had set the volume too low on the monitor. She quickly repositioned me. She thought I would be angry, but I told her it was okay, because God had given me what He promised in Joshua 1:9; He gave me an abiding assurance of His presence as well as His courage.

When all was settled, she left to go back to her room, but I did tell her to leave the door open and test the volume on the monitor.

What a night! But I went back to sleep feeling so grateful. God had given me a chance to prove—that’s what happened that night; I’d proved the trustworthiness of my Savior. Every time we trust His promises, we have this glorious opportunity to testify to His goodness, to show that we are pleased with His sovereign plan, no matter how painful or bizarre it seems at the time. Trusting in His Word keeps us from being spiteful, nit-picky, angry, judgmental. I mean, I guess I could have barked at my helper, you know? Some might have said I’d be justified in snapping at her. But that would have nullified completely, it would have canceled any good accomplished with those promises. My efforts would have meant nothing.

So, the cosmic stakes are raised, and they are raised high, when we cling to Bible promises in our suffering, because all of heaven, all of the angelic host, all the powers and principalities in the unseen world—yes, even demons—all of them are standing on tiptoe, intensely interested in whether you will believe what God has promised or not. 

They want to see whether you’ll say yes to His Word and say no to fear, doubt, anxiety, complaining, grumbling, nit-picking, discouragement. I mean, suffering really does raise the stakes on God’s glory, because (get this) the harder it is to trust God in great pain or affliction, the more glory you give Him when you appropriate His promises.

Dannah: No matter how many times I listen to Joni Tada talk about God’s promises, I’m always so encouraged. She makes me want to soak in my Bible like crazy! I hope you’re feeling the same. Because friend, suffering is something we all experience. And though I pray 2026 is characterized by joy, it will bring its share of sorrows, too. 

Would you equip yourself for suffering by going to the Word? Would you make God’s promises your refuge like Joni has? So that when trials come, you’re ready with an arsenal of biblical truths to sustain you. 

And would you surround yourself with a community of believers as you do so? One way to do this—you may have already guessed—is by joining us in reading through the Bible together in 2026. This year, we’re gonna confront suffering with the unshakeable hope we find in God’s Word. We’re gonna be comforted by God’s Word so that we can comfort one another. And we’re gonna do it with women all over the world. How special is that?! 

Now again, you can sign up to read through the Bible with us at ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026. On January 1, you’ll begin receiving daily emails reminding you where we’re at in our reading, and prompting reflection. Plus, you’ll become part of the Revive Our Hearts Bible reading community. 

Now, there’s one more reason you should read through the Bible with us, and it is probably my favorite. Here it is. Number three: God’s Word can be our greatest delight. Not too long ago, I got to sit down with my friend Kristen Wetherell to talk about that. Kristen is a pastor's wife, a mother of three, a writer, and a speaker. And she has learned to love God’s Word. I asked Kristen how this appetite, this affection for the Scriptures came about in her life. Here’s what she told me:

Kristen Wetherell: I found it helpful to think about an actual food-related appetite in this regard. By experience I know that if what I give myself is junk food—sugar, refined stuff—that’s what I end up wanting more of. My appetite for the good stuff—my fruits, my veggies, my good protein, my good fats, all that—starts to wane. Your appetite actually changes! 

It’s the same with exercise. How many of us have bemoaned the alarm clock when it rings: “Uhh, I said that I would get up and take a run” or “do my weights,” or whatever. We bemoan it because we don’t want to do it!

But how many of us once we have started and gotten into some kind of rhythm, feel it when we don’t do it, when we miss a day? You start to benefit from the exercise, and you start to see strength and growth.

The same is true with God’s Word. There’s a gracious cycle in Scripture. We see this everywhere, but especially in Psalm 119, which is all about the beauty of God’s Word. There is a gracious cycle between meditating on the Word and delighting in the Word.

Dannah: Oh!

Kristen: The more we meditate, the more the Holy Spirit leads us to delight—not instantaneously, necessarily, but in time, in God’s time. The more I delight in the Word, the more hungry I am for it, the more I want to meditate on the Word. The cycle just keeps on going.

And so, I think there’s a promise to be believed here as we obey, as we come to the Word and take up God’s command to hold it fast and to treasure it up in our hearts. It’s so kind of Him!

Dannah: Yeah, the cycle is fascinating. You see the cycle in Psalm 119: meditate/delight, meditate/delight. Let’s talk about those two words. Meditations is a word that, I think, has a lot of definitions these days. 

Some people have a very biblical approach to it, and then there are all these other counterfeits out there. So, how do we meditate on Scripture in a way that’s not only biblical, but it does feed our soul?

Kristen: Well, you’re referring to an Eastern form of meditation which involves (I’ve never participated in it) “emptying your mind.” We want to empty our minds of everything bad, of ourselves.

Well, biblical meditation is the opposite. It’s filling our minds with God’s voice, with God’s truth, with His promises, with His Word. Biblical meditation can look different, depending on the setting, with how much time we have in the Word. Maybe you didn’t sleep well last night, and so this morning you’re bound and determined to spend some time with the Lord. But for you, this morning looks like five minutes before you’re out the door going to work.

You can meditate in that five minutes. You can take a verse, read a short passage or a couple verses, and take a verse. Don’t only carry it with you throughout the day. Ask some questions about it: “What does this tell me about God? What does this tell me about myself?” It could be as simple as that. Or, if you have an extended period of time, if you have thirty minutes, if you have an hour, and you want to go deeper, you can ask more questions about what you’re reading.

You can study the context behind the book that you’re reading to understand, “What was God even trying to say to the people of this time period?” and “How does that relate to me right now?” Stirring our minds with thoughts about God and with thoughts about our own hearts. 

“How does this apply to me right now? What is God calling me to in response to this? How does this point me to Christ?” Ultimately, that’s the question we want to be asking is, “How does this point me to Christ?” So meditation is about filling our minds with more Scripture, with more of God.

Dannah: I think of Psalm 77, verses 11 and 12: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” As you’re saying, meditation in the Christian form is directing your thoughts to something. It’s intentional. So, how does that turn into delight? Tell me about that word.

Kristen: Well, delight is a desire for more of whatever it may be, fill in the blank. It’s a joy; it’s enjoyment! So, when my husband and I go to a super-wonderful restaurant—we find something new that we love, we taste the food, it’s wonderful—we delight in the whole experience. We have enjoyed it!

We’re more likely to tell people about this great restaurant that we’ve found. In that sense, there’s a fruit of it. We tell people about it, we end up going back. And so, delight is a great enjoyment in the Lord as we learn more about Him. 

It’s taking that God-shaped hole that He made us with and filling it with Him and enjoying Him. That doesn’t mean everything’s hunky-dory all the time, it just means that we’re actually trusting Him and we’re bringing everything to Him.

That means the hard stuff, that means the stuff we can’t understand. Being able to worship Him and say, “Lord, You’re bigger than I can understand, and yet You’ve given me Your Word, which is something that I can see and feel and believe. Would You help me to believe it?” So delight is enjoying Him, and it leads us back for more.

Dannah: Kristen Wetherell on delighting in God’s Word. Let’s pray that the Lord would cultivate this delight in us as we meditate on His Word—and that it would increase as the months go by this year. Let’s ask Him to make our appetite for Scripture larger than our appetite for social media, entertainment, food, human praise, or anything else that tempts us. May 2026 be the year that we can honestly say with the psalmist, “I have your decrees as a heritage forever; indeed, they are the joy of my heart.” 

When we’ve issued past Bible reading challenges, we’ve gotten sweet responses from listeners. One woman wrote to tell us:

I started my Bible reading challenge in January and I have noticed a huge difference in my life. We imitate those we spend time with and that rings true in my walk with Christ. I strive to be like Him more and more every day. My will yearns to be aligned with God’s through everyday prayer and reflection in His Word.

I just love that! That’s the goal, isn’t it? Revive Our Hearts exists to help you find delight between the pages of your Bible. and to point you toward Jesus, because the more time you spend with Him, the more you’ll look like Him. If this ministry has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a donation today? The month of December is when we receive nearly half our funding for the next year, and these last several days are especially critical. Here’s Nancy with an explanation.

Nancy: Over 40 percent of the donations we received each year typically come in the month of December. So your partnership at this crucial time and in this unprecedented year would mean so much to us! And, it would mean a lot to the women whose lives are being transformed as we share the life-giving Word of God day after day. Thank you so much for embracing and supporting the mission and ministry of Revive Our Hearts.

Robert and I thank the Lord for you. We pray that He will fill you with His grace and His peace, and meet every need that you may have in this season. Blessing to you

Dannah: So, here’s your reminder that when you give in December, your donation will be doubled. Some sweet friends of the ministry have given a matching challenge amount of up to $1.5 million, and we want to make the most of this gracious gift! To give, visit ReviveOurHearts.com. And check out the progress bar on our homepage to see how close we are to reaching our goal!

Next weekend, we’re continuing to gear up for a year in the Bible. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Gretchen Saffles, Erin Davis, and others will help you answer the question, “Why study God’s Word?”

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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