Tips for Daily Devotionals in 2023
At the start of a new year, many people attempt to start or get back into a rhythm of daily devotional plans of prayer and scripture reading. As with most goals and resolutions, they seem to start strong only to peter out partway through. This is particularly frustrating when it comes to reading the Bible. We have such high hopes and expectations, and then we miss a day. A day turns into 2 days, and 2 days turn into a week, and by that point, not only do we often feel guilty but we’re ready to give up. Author Rick Warren has said this about his own daily devotional time, “When I miss one day with God, I notice. When I miss 2 days with God, my wife notices, and when I miss a week with God my congregation notices.”
My own personal time with God has ebbed and flowed over the years as I’ve experienced everything from deep intimacy with God to dryness and boredom. For me, my greatest challenge has been not wanting to have my daily time with God as something to “check off the box.” As a Christian and as a pastor, I know this is something I should do and want to do, and that notion sometimes adds to the pressure and expectation of unfulfilled time spent with God. If you’re someone who is still investigating faith in Christ, these practices may also be helpful to you as you seek to speak and hear from God. In the following paragraphs, rather than adding one more thing to your “to-do” list, I want to share some helpful tips for getting the most out of your daily time with God. These are not to be exhaustive or prescriptive. I only hope that some of these may prove helpful to consider for your personal journey.
1. Find Your Why
What is the purpose of having a daily time where I read from God’s Word and talk to Him? If the goal is ultimately connection with and communion with the God of the universe, then that’s a great and lofty goal. When I realize that I don’t just want to know about God but that I want to know God and His heart, that totally changes my perspective. This moves my devotional time from “have to” to “get to.” Coming back to our “why” for any aspiration is key to setting ourselves up for success.
2. Have a Plan
It’s one thing to have a goal, and it’s quite another to have a manageable plan to meet that goal. Many people don’t know where to start or start with too high of expectations. Find a plan that feels workable for you. Here is a sampling of some Bible reading plans that may work for you.
Many people attempt to read the Bible from cover to cover in 1 year, and that’s not a bad goal. But if you remember what the ultimate goal is—connection, communion, and intimacy with God, then you may not need to accomplish reading the entire Bible each year. Certainly, it’s important to read through the entirety of the Bible, but you may want to go at a slower pace. I’ve been involved in several reading plans over the years, but my current practice is simply this: I start in Genesis and Matthew and then read one chapter of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament each day.
I also keep a pen/notebook nearby and if I read a verse that is especially meaningful or convicting, I will write that down. (Having a study Bible like the NIV or ESV Study Bible is also helpful to have on hand for some of the parts that initially feel confusing.) I then sometimes will use bullet points to write down some of my prayers. This prayer journal ends up serving as a memorial and recording of God’s answered prayers. It can be highly encouraging to go back and look months later at how God answered prayers in unexpected ways.
3. Don’t Go at It Alone
Christianity is not meant to be a lone ranger exhibition. Find a mentor, a friend, or an accountability partner who will walk with you through the journey. Find someone who will help to encourage you and hold you accountable in this area. This is especially important if you’re investigating faith in Jesus. To have someone who’s started the journey ahead of you and who is willing to show you the ropes of what it looks like to know and grow in Him is invaluable. It’s easy to get discouraged on our own but having a partner can help to keep us going. In addition, finding a smaller community such as a study group or Bible study also helps to deepen our understanding of the Bible that we can’t always get on our own.
4. Find the Best Time
For many people, this will be the first thing they do when they get up. There’s certainly something to be said, before you start your day or reach for your phone, to start and fill your mind and day with God. However, my encouragement would be to give your best time to God. Throughout the scriptures, people (and Jesus in particular) prayed at all different times of the day. You may not be a morning person and your best time may be a lunch break or the first thing you do when you get home from work. Other’s best time may be right after the kids to go bed. Don’t feel like you have to be pigeonholed into one set spot and time, but consistency both in terms of space and time of day can help keep you in a healthy rhythm. My favorite time to spend with God is walking and talking with God near a secluded park and pond next to my house. I find that walking and talking to God is a helpful way to keep me focused!
5. Give Yourself Some Grace!
I’ve known people who have thrown away more journals than they can count because of their frustration of not being able to stick to a plan. It’s easy to get irritated by our progress or lack thereof. But this is not a race or a comparison game. This is an opportunity to develop a relationship with the God who made the universe and raises the dead! If that’s your goal, would you ask God to help you make that an enjoyable reality in this year? Ask that He would show up in unmistakable ways and transform us in the process. I leave you with Jesus’ words from the Gospel of John.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5
