Guard your devotional life

“I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”

Psalm 119:15 [KJV]

May bush

“What’s your secret to success?”

Interviewers often ask famous people this question. When the person answers sincerely, it reveals much about their values and priorities.

But what if we could sit down with a Bible author and ask them: “What do you think is key to living a life that pleases God?”

The psalmist would answer immediately, “the Word of God”. In Psalm 119, he describes how much he values, reads, meditates on and obeys the Word of God. Not just occasionally, but every single day, he prioritises spending time in Scripture (v97). And he credits this habit as the reason for such things as God blessing him (v1), the ability to rejoice and have hope in difficult circumstances (v16, 49-50), protection from sinning (v9-11), and having wisdom (v98-99).

We also need to prioritise daily devotions. The effectiveness of our service for Christ directly links to our devotional life. We each need that daily one-on-one time with the Lord, where He talks to us through His Word and we talk to Him through prayer. Remember, we’re seeking to deepen our relationship with God, and that requires spending specific, focused time with each other.

It’s bizarre to think how easily we can depend solely on Sunday services or church meetings for spiritual nourishment. God’s Word is repeatedly described as our spiritual food. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4c). And in 1 Peter 2:2, we are told, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”.

If we only ate physical food on Sundays, we’d quickly end up with organ failure. Similarly, we cannot expect our spiritual life to flourish on an inadequate diet. Our faith is a Word-centred faith. We need daily direct intake of God’s Word, because we have spiritual work to do that requires spiritual resources. It’s great to learn from sound resources, such as sermons, books, blogs or devotionals that others have written based on their study of the Bible, but there is no substitute for reading the Bible ourselves.

Establishing a daily devotional routine comes down to four essentials: a place, a time, a plan and a heart to obey.

First, choose a place where you can focus with minimal distractions. Jesus described such a place as a ‘closet’ (Matthew 6:6), indicating a private, quiet spot. For me this is usually my bedroom, for you it might be a chair in the lounge, a corner of the verandah, or some other place you can return to consistently. I also strongly suggest your ‘place’ has a physical Bible. Phone apps can be convenient when travelling and come with built-in study resources, but it’s too easy to be distracted by a notification or swipe off the app to ‘quickly check something’.

Next, set a regular time. If you don’t prioritise Bible reading, you won’t do it. Some days you will need to be flexible, but a roughly consistent time each day helps form a good habit. A morning reading before breakfast works best for me, so I put my Bible on the table by my bed the night before. When I grope blindly for my glasses in the morning, the Bible is usually the first thing I touch, and this helps me remember to read it. Whatever time you choose, repeat the time and place until your body automatically goes, “After lunch, I sit down in that chair and read the Bible.” Don’t assume you’ll remember unprompted; help yourself remember!

You also need a plan. A structured Bible reading calendar takes you through books of the Bible with suggested daily readings keeps you moving steadily forward and helps ensure you read the full counsel and the entire inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). Thematic calendars can be helpful for shorter periods when you feel a need for more study on a particular topic. You may also find guides for devotions, such as one that outlines questions for meditation or prayer points, are helpful, particularly as you are building a routine.

Lastly, have a heart to obey. Stick to the plan. You can colour-code all you like, or dream of some great plan that you’ll implement when you have ‘more time’, but get started on something basic, adjust if needed, and guard that time. If you miss a day, go again. Good habits take time to develop, and daily devotions are a spiritual battlefield—the spirit might be willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). But most importantly, obey what you read (Psalm 119:59-60). In fact, commit to obeying what you read before, during, and after you read it. Meditate on the passage and think deeply about what it is saying. Pray about it, study the key words, write down a verse that stood out, and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16a). There is no benefit to growth in theoretical knowledge without growth in spiritual application—our aim is not stuffed heads but changed lives. As we focus on getting to know the Lord through the Scripture, the Scriptures the Spirit of God will do his transforming work in us to change us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

May a consistent devotional life empower us to serve the Lord, and be able to say with the psalmist, “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”