November 2026 · a free guide for small groups
His word will not return empty
God spoke, and the heavens were made. This November many churches are reading the Bible every day for thirty days. For four weeks your group meets to hear what God has said in that reading, to tell what He is doing with it, and to write it down, so that each person ends the month holding the verses God made alive to them and keeps them for the years ahead.
Four weeks from 1 November, for any church reading the Bible through November. Free to print and adapt. No form, no sign-up.
His Word Will Not Return Empty: four weeks of November for small groups
Read your Bible every day of November, with any reading plan your church uses. Meet once a week for about an hour. Read the week's passage aloud twice, slowly. Talk through the questions, then pray. Give everyone a notebook on the first night: each day they write down the date and one verse that spoke to them, and on the last night the group reads some of them aloud together.
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Week 1 · from 1 November
He spoke, and it came to be
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
Psalm 33:6 (BSB)For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 33:9 (BSB)The psalmist looks up at the stars and remembers how they came to be: God spoke. The Bible your group opens this month carries the words of that same God, and what He says still comes to be and stands firm.
Talk it through
- Psalm 33 says the heavens were made by the word of the LORD. What does that tell you about the Bible you are reading this month?
- Which verse from your reading this week stopped you, and why?
- Where do you most need to hear God speak this month?
Between meetings. Each day this week, write down the date and one verse from your reading that spoke to you.
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Week 2 · from 8 November
My word will not return empty
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
Isaiah 55:10-11 (BSB)Rain does its work out of sight, and the field shows it weeks later. God promises that His word works in the same way and accomplishes what He pleases. A verse read on an ordinary morning in November can bear fruit years from now, and a written record helps you notice the harvest when it comes.
Talk it through
- Isaiah compares God's word to rain and snow. Where have you seen something God said bear fruit slowly?
- Which verse in your notebook do you think God is still working on in you?
- What would change if you trusted that every verse you read this month will accomplish what God pleases?
Between meetings. Keep writing down a verse each day. Next to one of them, write what you think God is doing with it in you.
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Week 3 · from 15 November
Hidden in the heart
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11 (BSB)Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105 (BSB)The psalmist kept God's word inside, where it could guide every step. A lamp lights the next few steps of the path, enough to walk by. Believers have kept what God has said close to them for thousands of years, and it has lit their way through the dark.
Talk it through
- What does it look like to hide God's word in your heart in an ordinary week?
- When has a verse lit the next step for you?
- Read your notebook from the first two weeks. Which verse do you want to carry with you, and why?
Between meetings. Choose one verse from your notebook and learn it by heart this week. Say it to someone in the group when you next meet.
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Week 4 · from 22 November
Our hearts were burning
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:32 (BSB)The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.
Isaiah 40:8 (BSB)On the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened the Scriptures to two disciples walking with sadness on their faces, and their hearts burned. They got up that same hour and told the others what had happened. A month of reading ends in the same place: we tell what God has said and done, and His word stands forever.
Talk it through
- When did your heart burn as you read this month?
- Read back the group's notebooks. What has God been saying to you together?
- How will you keep reading and remembering after November ends?
Between meetings. On the last night, each person reads aloud one verse from their notebook and tells what God did with it. Then give thanks to God together.
Free to copy, print and adapt for your church. Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Source: doxa.app/resources/church-bible-month-guide
A text for each week
Many churches send a short text or email each week. Paste these into yours, as they are or in your own words, so the whole church keeps the same practice as the small groups. Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).
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Send on 1 November
Bible Month, week 1. "For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm" (Psalm 33:9). The God who made the stars speaks in the Bible we read this month. Each day this week, write down the date and one verse that spoke to you. He is still speaking.
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Send on 8 November
Bible Month, week 2. "My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty" (Isaiah 55:10-11). His word is at work in you, even out of sight. Keep writing down a verse each day, and next to one, write what God is doing with it.
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Send on 15 November
Bible Month, week 3. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). We are the people who remember what God has said. This week, choose one verse you have written down and learn it by heart. His word lights the way home.
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Send on 22 November
Bible Month, week 4. "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8). Read back the verses you wrote down this month, and give thanks to the God who speaks and keeps His word.
Keep remembering after November
We are the people who remember what God has said. By the end of November each person in your group will hold the verses that spoke to them this month. That record is worth keeping, because the word of our God stands forever.
Advent begins on 29 November, and the free Advent small group guide carries the same practice to Christmas. Doxa Groups gives a church or small group one place to record, weigh, and hold what it hears from God, and it is free to start.
Questions leaders ask
Is the Bible Month guide free?
Yes. Print it, copy it into your small group notes, or adapt the questions for your church. There is no download form and no sign-up.
Does it work with Global Bible Month?
Yes. If your church is reading the Bible every day in November for Global Bible Month, this is a weekly companion for your small groups: one meeting a week, a short passage, three questions, and a notebook so people keep what they read. It works with any Bible and any reading plan, in print or on a phone.
When does it run?
Week one starts on 1 November 2026, and week four starts on 22 November. Advent Sunday is 29 November, and the free Advent guide carries your group on from there.
Which Bible translation does it use?
Every quotation is from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Read the passages from whatever translation your church uses; the questions work with any of them.
What does the group write down?
Each day, the date and one verse from the reading that spoke to them, and later what God is doing with it. A paper notebook is all you need. Groups that want to keep what they record together after November can use Doxa Groups.
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