62. Easy ways to grow your faith this summer

What if this summer became the season when your faith grew stronger than ever, rather than being your last priority?

In this episode, Whitney will help you walk away with realistic ideas to stay consistent in God's Word, deepen your relationship with the Lord, and build faith habits that last long after summer ends.

Whether it's reading your Bible for five minutes, listening to a Christian podcast during your commute, joining a Bible study community, or spending time with other believers, every step you take toward God matters!

If You've Been Asking Questions Like:

• How can I stay consistent in the Bible during the summer?
• What are simple ways to grow my faith every day?
• How can I spend more time with God when life feels busy?
• What should I listen to or read to strengthen my faith?
• How do I make my relationship with God a priority?
• What are some healthy Christian habits I can start?
• What's one small thing I can do today to grow closer to God?

Then this episode is for you!

What next step are you taking on your Bible study journey?!

1. Bible Study Made Just for You is a 6-week 1:1 coaching program with Whitney where you stop just reading the Bible and start living it out, so you become transformed.

2. The Bible Study Made Simple community is where you learn about the Bible and stay consistent in it, so your faith grows as a Christian woman.

3. The Bible Study Made Simple guide is where you learn what to do every time you read the Bible, so you actually understand it.

4. These are the best Bible study tools on Amazon that will help you start reading the Bible with confidence for free.

5. Follow Whitney on TikTok or Instagram @stepintoboldfaith for simple Bible study tips, encouragement, and practical help to grow in your faith.

Transcript

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Summer is one of those times where our routines can change, we're traveling, the kids are home, we're spending more time outside, we're trying to relax and enjoy our time. But what if instead we really spent the summer to grow our faith and stay consistent and really put God first? So today I'm going to be sharing a bunch of simple and practical ways that you can keep God at the forefront of your life, even in the summer, without feeling super overwhelmed or adding hours to your schedule. Because no matter where we're at in our faith journey, it's so important that we're putting him first and we keep showing up and we keep growing and we keep changing and we keep trying to do our best. I keep noticing people talking about church is really empty or church seems slow or, you know, like, oh, I haven't seen my friends here or there because I know that they're busy doing these other things. And I know how hard it is sometimes in certain seasons when we don't always want to, you know, show up our best or do what we should be doing, you know, but like we really need to, especially as Christian women. So I really feel like this was put on my heart today to share with you to hopefully make this time during the summer feel easier and more consistent in your faith, in growing in growing your faith and really making it a part of your routine. And I have so many great, fun, easy ideas for us today that I think are gonna help so, so much. And this is all about just really realizing that faith doesn't have to pause just because life gets busy, but it's really about like the small intentional choices and the moments that we integrate it in as a part of our daily lives. It's not just this whole extra thing, it's something that we need to be doing all the time. We don't have to make it complicated. A lot of times it's just the little things that we do all the time in every season that make the biggest difference. So by the end of this episode, you'll have so many different ideas to stay connected to God during these busy seasons, to spend more time in scripture, to grow your faith, to build habits that hopefully last beyond the summer and just feel more reinvigorated and motivated and excited about your faith journey this summer. So if you have not been here before, welcome to Step Into Bold Faith. This is the podcast for Christian women who want to learn how to make Bible study feel simple so it transforms their lives and grows their faith. And I'm your host, Whitney. I am a fellow Jesus lover, wife, mama, and your Bible study bestie. And I'm so glad that God brought you here today. And I was in the middle of a biblical context series for this podcast, but I felt like this was just so needed based off of a lot of the themes that I've been seeing around and things I've been hearing on the Christian radio station that I listen to all the time. So I really thought that this was so important for me to do today. So I'm gonna be going over 10 really great ideas that I want to talk about in detail, and then a few more even after that, as kind of like bonus fun ideas. So I'm super excited about this episode, and I might even make it a challenge on social media. So make sure to follow at Step Into Bold Faith on Instagram and TikTok. And if I do a challenge, I will definitely be letting you know. I think it's gonna be super fun. I'm thinking about running it from July 15th to August 15th, 2026, and it'll just be like one idea per day to really help you grow in your faith over the summer. So I think it could be really awesome. So let's get into our 10 ideas. So idea number one is to read or listen to your Bible every day. So again, the goal here is consistency. Even five intentional minutes can really strengthen your relationship with God over time. And if you are short on time, try listening to the audio Bible while you're driving, while you're walking, while you're cleaning, while you're doing other things, you know? Even five minutes a day is better than an hour once a month, or when you get around to it, or when your kids are asleep, and then that never happens, right? Like it just needs to be a part of our day, and however we can consume it is awesome, and we need to really, you know, celebrate that. So, idea number two is to read one book of the Bible. So if you've never read an entire book of the Bible, I recommend always starting with John and then going back through the New Testament, which is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then continuing that out. So instead of this summer jumping around through different scripture, being like, oh, what should I read today? What should I do? Read through one entire book of the Bible. It really helps us understand biblical context and we get so much more from it instead of when we read isolated verses or when we're cherry-picking and doing what seems fun or exciting, right? In order to really know the entire word, we have to read entire books of the Bible. So I think that that's very important. So idea number three is to replace your normal social media content with some faith-based social media content. So if you're someone that loves to be on social media, loves to scroll, like follow some creators who teach about the Bible or share biblical encouragement or point you back to scripture, you know? And if again, if you haven't followed me, make sure to follow me at Step Into Bold Faith. And I'm constantly posting content all about the Bible, all about growing our faith, trying to do engagement type questions, lots of good stuff on my social media that'll really, really help. Number four is to listen to Christian podcasts. So sometimes we don't feel like listening to the radio, or we don't feel like, you know, listening to the Bible, but sometimes we want to like learn, you know, different things like on these podcasts. So making sure to listen to podcasts when you can. And there's a few great podcasts out there other than mine. I really like the Daily Grace Co. one. And I've heard great things about the Crystal Sparks podcast. She's really, really awesome. And so, yeah, there's great podcasts out there. If you need help with that, again, you can definitely send me a DM. It kind of depends on what some of your goals are, but I really hope that you make it a priority to listen to this one. I've got so much great content on here. And then number five is to join an online Bible study community. So a lot of times, churches in the summer, they're not having in-person Bible sessions, they're not doing things in person, you know? And so making sure that you are plugged into a Bible study community 24-7 online, and that is really where the Bible study made simple community comes in. This is the community that I personally host, and it's so awesome to learn about the Bible, to stay consistent, to grow in your faith, to be surrounded by other Christian women, to stay encouraged, to have accountability. So make sure to join the Bible Study Made Simple community. If you haven't already, the link to join us is in the show notes. It's so, so awesome and will really help you this summer to have a great place to go and be plugged into, especially if your church is slow or even if if your church isn't slow and you're there all the time, it's still a great place to be plugged in online because a lot of the churches don't have great online spaces for women to go to and to meet new women online. So highly recommend. Okay, way number six is to complete a Christian devotional book. So choose one resource book that you feel like you really want help with in that specific area. There's so many awesome devotional books out there. And again, this Christian devotional book, whatever you choose, it's not meant to replace your Bible reading. It's meant to support it. Like anytime in the morning when I'm doing my Bible reading, I do my Bible reading first. I do my Bible study first, and then I do my devotional book, and then I can read other Christian books, other personal development books that I'm reading and things like that. But I always put God's word first. But these are really awesome ways to get some, you know, some scripture in and really reflect on it too and really grow your faith through it. And so DM me again for some of my recommendations. Right now I'm doing a seven-minute morning journal that I love. It's a devotional journal, but I love it. It's going great. And so if you need help, definitely let me know. And then number seven is to meditate on one Bible verse per day. So write it on a sticky note or on your phone wallpaper or on your car dashboard or on your journal and like meditate on this one verse all day and then change it out the next day for a new one. And it's so important for us to constantly be seeing God's word, but also not just that, but like living it out, being like, you know, what does this Bible verse teach me? How should I change what I'm doing in my life to really reflect this Bible verse, right? And so those can be really fun. Number eight is to pray throughout the day. So our prayer time, it doesn't have to just be while we're at church or while we're reading our Bible right. I talk to God literally all the time while I'm driving, while I'm walking, while I'm cooking, while I'm doing laundry, while I'm helping with different things. I'm constantly doing grayer, uh, gratitude, and grayer, gratitude and prayer. I just said grayer. Maybe that'll be my new word for it. Your gray did you do your grayer for the day? Um, did you do your gratitude and your prayer, right? Because it's so important for us to be doing that. And so just really trying to make it an ongoing thing, not just a, oh, okay, I checked it off the list, I did it today, but like literally every opportunity I can, I am speaking in tongues, I'm connecting with God, I am doing my grayer, right?

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Okay.

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I also side note, I'm I really hope this episode turns out great. Please let me know. But I am so upset because I actually had to record this twice. I had to record it. The first version I felt like was so good. I was so on fire. I felt like it was so impactful. And now I feel like I'm saying totally different stuff, and I'm like, I just gotta roll with it. Maybe God needs me to say these things instead because I was like, no, what is going on? Okay, anyways. So number nine is spend time with other Christian women. So different from being a part of the Bible study meets and bull community or other online communities, actually spending time with Christian women, like meeting for coffee, praying together, talking about different sermons, discuss what God's teaching you, you know, even just like doing play dates with other Christian women. We're gonna do that in one of my friend groups that I have coming up this week. And I'm super excited for it. I love being with those friends. And so not just, you know, being around Christian women when it's like to learn about God or be in a class, but just like to spend time with them, to do normal activities with them. And it's just so, so impactful. I like love it so much. And then number 10 is to put what you're learning into practice. So after you do your devotional for the day, after you do different things, don't just like get the thing and be like, oh, I did it. Be like, okay, how can the thing that I just did, how can it impact my life? How can it change my life? What should I do next? You know, and pray about it and really think about it because transformation doesn't happen by just like learning about things. It happens by doing the things that we're learning about, right? So, okay, so now that we made it through 10 ideas, I'm gonna recap those really quick. And then I have some like fun, bonus ideas that are really fun. So number one is to read or listen to your Bible every day. Two is to read one whole book of the Bible if you haven't yet. Number three was to replace social media content with faith-based content. Number four is to listen to Christian podcasts. Number five is to join the Bible study made simple community or another online Bible study community. Number six is to complete a devotional book. Number seven is to meditate on one Bible verse per day. Number eight is to pray throughout the day and do your grayer, do your gratitude and your prayer. And number nine was to spend time with other Christian women. And number ten is to put what you're learning into practice and actually do it. So here's some bonus ideas. So practice gratitude with your family or by yourself. This is something I love to include my kids with is doing gratitude with them. Like the one I have a daughter that just turned four, and so she's old enough to be like, hey, God, thank you for my new toy. God, thank you for allowing us to be outside. And so she is doing that, and every day I encourage her to say at least five different things. And even at night, she's trying to pray at the dinner table. She's trying to lead prayer time, she's trying to do her grayer at the dinner table, and I love it so much. And then the next thing is to start a prayer journal. So I've never done this, but this was recommended by one of my friends, and I thought it was a great idea is to write all your prayers down in a journal. And so as they, as God grants your prayers and as they kind of come true, right? Checking them off the list. Like so cool to see like the progress that you're making. Another one is to worship in the car on the way to activities. So, my favorite Christian radio station, I love it so much. It's always on in my car. I always want to listen to it. It's so, so helpful for me. And so, not just like listening to whatever kind of music, but listening to Christian worship music. It's so great. And so, yeah, that's another one. And then another one is watch church online when you're traveling. So, even if you can't physically go to church, make sure to watch the replay if your church has online services or find other ones online. There's so many different ones on YouTube and stuff that are so helpful and so beneficial. Another one is just not forgetting to still serve, volunteer, be the hands and feet of Jesus, even if you're busy, even if you have a lot going on, right? Making sure that we're still serving at church and volunteering in our communities and doing those kind of things can just be so impactful and always grow our faith and lead other people back to Jesus. And it's so amazing. And I just have a random fun fact I just thought about with that is I got to do the deliverance prayer with one of my really great family members and one of my really great friends. And there is just nothing like leading people to Jesus and planting those seeds. And I know you're planting those seeds, and they're just so, so impactful. Okay. Another one is to take a prayer bike ride or do a prayer walk. So I do this all the time, like almost every day when I ride my bike. I'm just out there doing my gray. This is gonna be like the inside joke for the podcast listeners. Be like, what is I should post on social media, what is gray? Everyone's gonna be like, Am I podcast listeners? You guys are gonna be like, Yes, Whitney, I see you, I know what you're talking about. Okay. And then the last thing is to fast from something that's distracting you from God or stopping you from growing your faith. So if there's something in your life that you're like, Whitney, I'm really gonna break that habit. Oh, this is really distracting. I know this is really bad. Try to fast from it. So that was it for that portion. So remember that you don't have to do all these at once either. I know that was like a huge list. It was super overwhelming. Choose one or two habits, stay consistent with them, and then build from there. Keep going and keep doing them. Like I do a lot of these, but I think I do most of them. But yeah, just like small, faithful steps can really lead to incredible spiritual growth over time. It's not a race, there's no one you're competing with, right? Just focus on yourself. But if you want to stay accountable, again, make sure to join the Bible study made simple community. And if you're looking for a place to stay consistent, join the community. Inside, you'll find monthly Bible study plans and accountability and a community of Christian women who are all growing together. So if you've been wanting Bible study to feel more simple, more consistent, more life-changing, make sure to join us right now through the link in the show notes. And now let's end in our prayer. God, thank you so much for each and every woman listening to this right now, Lord. I hope that they want to grow their faith this summer, that they feel inspired after this episode, that it doesn't have to be hard. It can be really easy for them to grow their faith. That it's all about little right actions, little intentional choices, little things that they need to do each and every day, God. Just keep consistent with them, keep having an eye and an ear over them. Help them to receive your word, Lord. Help them to seek you first before anything else, Lord. And I just hope that they leave feeling inspired and encouraged and motivated to really make their faith a priority and keep growing it this summer. We love you so much. We worship you in Jesus' name. Amen. So until next time, thank you so much for coming along the journey with me and let's keep stepping into bold faith together. Bye.