Abide in Christ 31-Day Reading Plan: A Month with Andrew Murray
Abide in Christ is built for a month. Andrew Murray wrote it as 31 short chapters, each one headed "Day," so the plan almost writes itself: one chapter a day, start on the first of the month, finish on the last. Each chapter takes about ten minutes to read. This page gives you a simple way to do it and a question for each day to carry with you.
Every day below links straight to that chapter in the reader. You can also open the book page for Abide in Christ and begin from there.
How to use the plan
- Read slowly. Murray's chapters are short on purpose. Read the whole day once, then go back to the line that caught you.
- Read the verse first. Most chapters open with a passage of Scripture. Look it up in your Bible and read the verses around it.
- Pray the closing prayer. Many days end with a prayer to Jesus. Pray it out loud, or in your own words.
- Answer one question. Write a sentence or two in a notebook. Don't try to answer every question perfectly. One honest answer is enough.
- Don't quit if you miss a day. Murray's own advice in Day 14 applies here: take today's portion today. Pick up where you are.
The plan also works for a small group. Read during the week and meet to talk through four or five of the questions.
Week 1: Coming and staying
Day 1: All Ye Who Have Come to Him. When did you first come to Jesus? What has faded since then?
Day 2: And Ye Shall Find Rest to Your Souls. Read Matthew 11:28-30. Is there any part of your life you haven't put under His yoke?
Day 3: Trusting Him to Keep You. Do you think of abiding as something for stronger Christians than you? What would change if it's meant for the weak?
Day 4: As the Branch in the Vine. Read John 15:1-8. What can a branch do on its own? What does that say about your week?
Day 5: As You Came to Him, by Faith. You were saved by faith. Where are you trying to grow by effort alone?
Day 6: God Himself Has United You to Him. If the Father put you in Christ, who is responsible for keeping you there?
Day 7: As Your Wisdom. What decision are you facing? Ask Christ for wisdom before you ask anyone else.
Week 2: What Christ is to you
Day 8: As Your Righteousness. Do you come to God expecting acceptance or rejection? Why?
Day 9: As Your Sanctification. What's the difference between trying to become holy and receiving Christ as your holiness?
Day 10: As Your Redemption. How would looking ahead to Christ's full redemption change how you carry today's trouble?
Day 11: The Crucified One. Murray says there's no graft without wounding. Where is God asking you to share in the cross?
Day 12: God Himself Will Stablish You in Him. Have your own vows and resolutions let you down? What would it look like to hand the work back to God?
Day 13: Every Moment. Read Isaiah 27:2-3. Can you believe God keeps you even in the hours your mind is full of work?
Day 14: Day by Day. What worry about the future can you set down today, trusting Him for today's portion only?
Week 3: The way of abiding
Day 15: At This Moment. Try it now: stop and tell Jesus you trust Him for this moment. Do it three more times today.
Day 16: Forsaking All for Him. What are you holding that makes it hard to receive from Christ?
Day 17: Through the Holy Spirit. Murray says we learn truth by living it. What truth do you know but haven't yet lived?
Day 18: In Stillness of Soul. What keeps your soul busy and noisy? Plan ten quiet minutes before God tomorrow.
Day 19: In Affliction and Trial. Think of a hard season. Did it drive you toward Christ or away? What could it mean to see it as pruning?
Day 20: That You May Bear Much Fruit. Fruit is for others. Who around you needs something only Christ can give through you?
Day 21: So Will You Have Power in Prayer. Read John 15:7. Are your prayers shaped by His words? Pick one promise and pray it.
Week 4: Love, joy and obedience
Day 22: And in His Love. Christ loves you as the Father loves Him. Which of Murray's descriptions of that love is hardest for you to believe?
Day 23: As Christ in the Father. How did Jesus live in dependence on the Father? Where do you need to depend like that?
Day 24: Obeying His Commandments. Is there a command of Christ you treat as a burden? Read it again as love.
Day 25: That Your Joy May Be Full. Would the people closest to you say your faith makes you glad? Why or why not?
Day 26: And in Love to the Brethren. Which brother or sister in Christ is hard for you to love? What is one thing you can do for them this week?
Day 27: That You May Not Sin. Read 1 John 3:5-6. What sin have you stopped expecting to be free from?
Day 28: As Your Strength. Name a weakness you've been hiding. How could it become a reason to lean on Christ?
The last three days
Day 29: And Not in Self. Read Galatians 2:20. Which of your natural gifts still runs on self instead of on Christ?
Day 30: As the Surety of the Covenant. Jesus guarantees both sides of the covenant. How does that settle your fear of falling away?
Day 31: The Glorified One. Christ reigns now. How would living from His victory change the way you start tomorrow?
After the month
When you finish, Murray would have you begin again. The book isn't a course to complete but a habit to keep. Many readers come back to it once a year.
And so each day separately, all the day continually, day by day successively, we abide in Jesus.
Abide in Christ, Day 14
A few ways to keep going:
- Read John 15:1-17 once a week for the next month.
- Go back to the one chapter that helped you most and read it again.
- Copy a line a week from the Abide in Christ quotes onto a card you'll see.
If you'd like an overview before you start, read the Abide in Christ summary. For Murray's full answer to the book's question, see What does it mean to abide in Christ? Other books by Murray are on his author page, and more books for daily reading are under Devotional.
Ready for Day 1? Open Abide in Christ and read it free.