Study Plans -- How Structured Reading Helps You Actually Finish the Scriptures

The commitment to read all four standard works is one of the most common goals in Latter-day Saint life, and one of the most commonly abandoned. The problem is rarely a lack of desire. It is a lack of structure. Opening the scriptures to "wherever I left off" invites the kind of drift that stalls most readers somewhere in Leviticus or, for Book of Mormon readers, in the war chapters of Alma. A study plan solves this by converting an overwhelming goal into a simple daily task.

The math is straightforward. The Book of Mormon contains 6,604 verses. At roughly five verses per minute of careful reading, the entire book takes about 22 hours. Spread across 180 days, that is just over seven minutes per day. The Bible requires more time -- roughly 70 hours for the full text -- but even a 365-day plan brings the daily commitment to about 12 minutes. When the task is framed in minutes rather than chapters, the psychological barrier drops dramatically.

Structure also prevents the reader from spending weeks in familiar territory while avoiding difficult passages. Left to their own preferences, most readers linger in the Gospels or in Nephi's vision but rush through Numbers or the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. A plan assigns equal weight to every section, which produces the kind of comprehensive familiarity that deep scripture study requires. As Nephi wrote, "my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them" (2 Nephi 4:15) -- but pondering requires exposure, and exposure requires finishing the text.

Study Plans provides pre-built reading schedules that break each standard work into daily assignments. You can follow the Come Follow Me curriculum, read chronologically, or set a custom pace. The tool tracks your progress so you always know exactly where you stand. Some readers find that the simple act of checking off a day's reading creates enough momentum to carry them through stretches of text that would otherwise feel discouraging.

The goal is not speed. It is completion. A reader who finishes the Book of Mormon in six months at a steady pace will retain more than someone who reads intensely for two weeks and then stops. Consistency, supported by structure, is the foundation of every serious scripture student's practice.