rebelling against low expectations
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rebelling against low expectations
Worship with music, prayer and bible reading. When I have more time to spend, I write down what God told me in His Word.
Music…. What all do you listen to? I listen to dubstep most of the time, so worshipful music is something I have problems finding….
I’m not sure if you have 98.5 KTIS in whatever state you live in, but if it’s not MN, then go the http://www.myktis.com .In the top right corner you will see a little play button and press that. They are a radio station that I’ve been listening too since I was like 8. All of their music is worship music. It’s really changed what I think of as “music” and it’s nice when all you hear nowadays is music about staying up late and dating and stuff.
Small world! KTIS is the #1 preset in both our vehicles. 🙂
Wow! It is a small world!
Also Rachel, if you have Spotify or Pandora, they have Christain stations that you can listen to for free.. My favorite stations are Today’s Christian Hits Radio (Pandora) and Christian (Spotify). I hope this helps! 🙂
Try Steffany Frizzell/Gretzinger with Bethel Church, or anything from Bethel. They have full hours of worship on youtube. These are absolutely my favorites right now!
Wow @disqus_zvcB3xyLlz:disqus @shelbykelch:disqus and @disqus_Mz2Sdwx3uk:disqus, Thank you so much!! (*Starts pandora station.*)
I tend to be a person who likes routine, so I have my morning routine. I get up, go walking with my mom, and then do my devotions. I’ve been doing that almost everyday since I was about eight.
I use various things for devotions, such as Beth Moore Bible studies, other Christian books, and just reading the Bible. The three biggest requirements I have are a Bible, journal, and a quiet space to talk to God.
I have a prayer list which I use to guide me in talking to God. So I go through that, then read a chapter in the Bible (I follow a reading plan included in my Bible). After that I journal, usually using the MPCWA (Message, Promise, Command, Warning, and Application) style/format of journaling. I also try to pray for at least 3 people everyday. My way of staying consistent is reminding myself of verses like Psalm 119:105 “They Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”, which reminds me that studying God’s Word will help me live in the truth. 🙂 I think it also helps to set a time in the day to do them.
Ohhhhhh! Convicted!
Today I didn’t do my devotions in the morning… or yesterday… or the day before… or the day before that…
Then, when I went to look at the Rebelution, this popped up. So, I was like “Okay, God, I’ll do it. Sorry for waiting so long.”
And then, to top it all of, my sister comes into my room and I ask her to leave so I can have my devotions. Do you know what she said?
“You should have done it earlier.”
I’m thinking Burned…
So, I had devotions right before I wrote this comment. Thanks for the DQ (Not Dairy Queen, Discussion Question!), it helped me at least!
Dairy Queen….. *Thought bubble!*
God was giving you a reminder. *laughing*
Thanks I’ve been doing the same thing…… I submitted this question because I’ve been struggling with this…… I’ve actually had a really bad week I guess I’ve sorta been ignoring God and just doing my thing, and it’s really affected my life and attitude. So I’m really glad that this was posted, It’s been a wake up call for me thanks guys.
Thanks Sam. You’re awesome. Plus right now, I’m going through a low time. So, as much prayer as possible is appreciated. Thanks!
– Trent
Can I pray for you?
Definitely! I would really appreciate that!
I have you down on my prayer list. I will be praying for you (and also your blog – but especially for you right now!) I’d love to keep hearing how you are doing! Feel free to always at any time post on here more specifically how I can be praying!!! God has great things for you, Trent! I can’t wait to see the story you will have of His goodness when you get through! And for right now, if you don’t mind…
Dear Lord,
I thank You for life, and for giving us another day to wake up on this earth. I thank You for Your great love towards us and Your unending grace!
Right now, I lift Trent up to you, God. You know his heart and You see his situation better than any human, including him, could ever see or understand. I thank You for captivating his heart for You and for the way that You are using his life to impact others around him – and even those far away, like me. I also praise You for being faithful to work not only through us but in us; that You love us and pursue us so much that You
will go to drastic measures in our lives to change our hearts to be more like You!! Thank you for not giving up on us, but for being patient and for being faithful to complete what You begin in us.
I ask that You would draw Trent closer and closer to You on his journey. Please renew and deepen that desire and unquenchable yearning to have more and more of You! Open His eyes to see You again for the first time. Make the other things in life fade
away in comparison to Your glory. Take away the empty fills and short term satisfaction of this world and make them utterly distasteful! Let nothing satisfy him but You! Grow his heart and mold his spirit to better reflect Your goodness and Your light into this dark
world.
Create and show him the opportunities You can and will create in his life to dig into Your
Word. Anoint him with a spirit of wisdom and understanding beyond anything he has experienced before as he sits down to study the scriptures and pursue You. Open His hands in surrender to you and his eyes to see Your hand in his life. Soften his heart and draw him to You.
Lord, please build Trent up into the God-fearing and powerful leader You created him
to be! Give him a story to captivate the hearts of those who hear and lead them to You.
Give him the courage to stand up for Truth, and the wisdom to use his abilities to his best for Your fame.
I know how it is to feel alone. I know how it is to feel low and dry. I know how easily we
can wander away and how quickly we can grab on to the lies whispered to our hearts. Lord, whatever Trent is going through right now, I know that You have a plan for him from it and that it is for his ultimate good! Please just hold him today, tonight, tomorrow, every day and let him know how much he is loved. Show him how much You love him!! Bless him with Your unexplainable joy and peace. Give him wisdom from Your Spirit in him. Help him remember is never alone!
Thank You again, Lord, for Your goodness and Your love! Thank You that Your ways are higher than ours, Your knowledge is more than we can grasp, and You are sovereign over all!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
God bless you, Trent!
Thanks Amanda! Your prayer really affected me in a positive way. Now I know you’re the reason I couldn’t enjoy Lego Star Wars last night! (Lol, JK)
But seriously, thank you so much for your prayer. You know, so many people will say “I’ll pray for you” because it’s the Christian thing to say, but then they never do it. Prayer right at the moment proves that a person is serious. THANK YOU!
Oh, you’re welcome! 🙂 I’m glad the Holy Spirit is at work (well, He always is but most of the time we don’t notice!)
Haha! Sorry about the Star Wars; that is tragic! Lol 🙂 But yay Jesus!
I really am praying for you!! Keep me posted!
Of course. I wasn’t pointing a finger at anyone. It’s just something I used to do when I was younger, without really thinking about it.
God bless, Sam!
– Trent
Yeah I used to do that too, but now days I make sure I don’t just tell people I’ll pray for them if I’m not actually going to do it. 🙂
Yeah, that’s a great part of this Rebelution group! I was just praying the other day for a few of you specifically and this whole group at large. I love how God is uniting us in fellowship, even though we live thousands of miles away from each other. I’m excited for what God will continue to do with and among us!
I will be praying too brother. I know what you mean.
Thanks Amanda.
I know what it’s like to struggle with devotions. Especially when things in life get rough. Right now I’m just getting back into the “routine” of devotions in the morning. I will be praying for you!
So, I have seriously and honestly felt such an overwhelming peace today. The stress, fear, shortened attention span, fatigue, has all been replaced by peace, focus, bubbling happiness….. and a desire for food (just kidding about that last part.)
Thank you all for praying for me. It has REALLY helped me a ton! God bless you guys!
– Trent
Any time. That’s what brothers and sisters are for. We’ll keep praying. 🙂
I’ve struggled with consistency, but I’m working on it. I found that I have to get up early in the morning (something I don’t like doing) and lay aside time for devotions. I typically read a chapter or two out of whatever book of the Bible I’m working through, and pray from a list that I made that I keep in the back of my study notebook. I also try to pick one scripture for the day, and try to remember it throughout the day and apply it to whatever situation may come up. And I also pray before reading, like Sam suggested.
It’s hard to be consistent, though. It takes time, and it’s hard to devote time to it every day. Being consistent with prayer is what I’ve been struggling with the most, though.
Prayers for the struggle.
Thank you. 🙂
For my devotions, I’ve been reading “Experiencing God Day by Day” by Henry Blackaby, and also I read/study one or two chapters from scripture. I’ve found that a devotional is very nice, but it is not enough. I used to read only the devotional, but I noticed my faith became stagnant. A devotional only focuses on one or two verses, so that’s… not very much of God’s word. They’re still very good though, they just need to be coupled with directly reading scripture. And not just reading scripture, but studying it. Taking notes. Highlighting. Underlining. Memorizing. Finding life-applications. Reading one or two chapters can take half an hour if done well.
As for consistency, you know what I do? I imagine that every day is a different version of me – a different “Nathan,” so to speak. Do I want today’s “Nathan” be the Nathan that broke the train of having a devotional time each day? I also don’t allow myself to get on the computer or start school work until I’ve done it. And believe it or not, I haven’t missed a single day this year. But maybe that’s not your cup of tea. The most important thing is….
You have to realize its importance. Studying scripture is absolutely crucial to growing in your faith. I’ve had to decide for myself that I will do it, even if it means sacrificing sleep. It’s just that important. I can’t stress it enough. The strength of your faith is almost directly proportional with how often you study His word. If you don’t make spending time with God first-priority, He will not become first priority in your life. (Sorry for another long comment, y’all… :P)
Don’t be sorry for the long comment Nathan! It was totally worth the read!
I’ve already read “Experiencing God Day by Day”
My Dad’s reading it now.
It’s a Great book.
As Rachel said Don’t be sorry, It was worth the read.
~Renee
Oh my! NATHEN, THANK YOU!
Great idea to not start schoolwork or get on the computer until you finish devotions – I usually try to do mine sometime during the day, and don’t end up finishing everything I “need” to do first. I hadn’t ever really thought of just not allowing myself to do anything else first.
Ive found personally that the more I do it, the more I want to! Its one of those things that can be hard to get around to, but in the end its so worth it. I change things up a lot, but right now Im working through reading the bible(using this http://biblicalspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bible-reading-record.pdf) and then along with it I’ll read some out of a devotional book(right now “The pursuit of God” by Aw Tozer). Also keeping a prayer journal has been helpful for me as well!
I have found that doing a Bible study with another person is helpful, and you can keep each other accountable. For private devotions, it depends. There are a few really cool studies on books of the Bible, but I have found the greatest devotions I have done are probably the most simple. I will read one verse of a specific book, write it down, write the part that stood out to me, then write any principles found in that verse that I can apply to my life. It is really neat to do, and I usually do more than one verse at a time.
I am with Trent. I forgot to spend time with God. Normally i pray, do my bible studies. A really good book is “The Prodical God” by Timmothy Kellen. Read it. Its really good.
Personally, I agree that devotions are really hard to keep up with, unless it means a lot to you. If the devotions you’re doing in the mornings (or whenever you do them) don’t mean a lot to you, then you will forget them and push them aside. Then, they just become a thing that you put before God. I know this might be confusing, but if your devotions get pushed aside, and you are only doing them “because it’s a good thing” or you want to get to Heaven (but don’t care about the “having a relationship with God” part), then you are just putting your will and your desires before God’s. So, when you do devotions, think of a good, true reason WHY you do them. Otherwise, you are just doing it to get the approval of others.
Excellent point, Kate!
May I also add: I see your point, but I think that if you’re going through a bit of a ‘dry period’ and you feel like your devotions don’t ‘mean anything’ and you’re not feeling particularly close to God (but you still do care about having a relationship with Him), that is not a good reason just to leave aside devotions. But I agree: if you do them just to get to heaven or gain moral points of some kind, that is not a good enough reason.
Yes, agreed. You still have to have faith in God even in the hard times. Thanks!
Exactly.
I get in the habit of doing my devotions every morning once I wake up. My mom and sister do it the same time so it helps me stay accountable. I am almost done reading through the Bible this week! I use this one schedule called “Reading through the Bible for Shirkers and Slackers”. It does a different genre every day, (examples: Sunday, OT poetry, Monday, OT history etc…) if you look it up you may be able to print a schedule out. My youth pastor gave them to everyone at my youth group. I also use “My Bible Reading Notebook” by Sandi Queen (Queens Homeschool Supplies). It includes spots for prayer requests ( and praise reports!) and what your favorite verse was that you read and how to apply it to your life. My mom reads the book “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers along with her Bible. Hope all that helps!
Nice way of doing devotions…I looked up that schedule you mentioned (“Reading Through the Bible for Shirkers and Slackers”), and it looks interesting! I might try it.
Charles Bello in his book Prayer as a Place shares some great wisdom and the freeing perspective that instead of an task to check off, spiritual disciplines are a space to encounter and be transformed by God.
“I made the classic mistake of simply seeing spiritual disciplines as activities rather than the means for creating a space to be encountered by God. I soon found out that adding more activities to an already busy schedule is a recipe for failure… Somehow, through my busyness, I had misplaced God’s invitation to let him love me.”
“Spiritual disciplines are not the mark of a mature Christian. Spiritual disciplines are the means by which we become mature Christians… The focus must always be on being more like Jesus.”
Thanks for sharing Daniel, this is spot on!
Well… my devotions change, but usually incorporates reading the Bible (while listening to worship music) and sometimes studying it (using a huge variety of tools, some of which are mentioned in other’s comments, or simply just thinking over it deliberately), prayer (uh, yeh, I’m often too slack with my prayers…), memorisation (…this falls to the wayside far too often…), and journaling if I have something I my mind I want to pour out to God (which I find helpful to do via writing).
In terms of staying consistent: I guess accountability, until you form a habit. And know your motive (i.e. building a deep relationship with the King of the universe). Personally, once I was prompted by God to get up before 6am to have my devotions, I just set an alarm every night, allowed myself a certain number of times I could hit snooze (I am NOT one to easily get up in an instant :P), and forced myself to get up. Eventually, it does become habit, and now I wake up naturally not long after I’m supposed to get up (so I still use my alarm, but it helps in case it somehow doesn’t go off). So I guess I just made myself do it (with Holy Spirit empowering! Me getting up before 6am is solid testimony to His enabling power!). But I know that in the past I’ve needed accountability.
For my devotions, I try to wake up before my siblings and then find a quiet spot. I’ve put all my devotions books, notebooks, pens, highlighters, everything in a box. I use a daily Bible reading plan where I read a bit of 4 books. This way, I can read the whole Bible in a year. After reading the bible, I read a book (I’ve read quite a bit of Elizabeth George. I highly recommend her to girls!). I’ve also read The Fight (John White), How Can I Be Sure I’m A Christian? (Whitney), and some Oswald Chambers. After my readings, I pray. I’ve found that it helps to write out a prayer, so I have a notebook for that. I’ve also prayed through the Psalms. It’s a really neat concept. Each day, you read a psalm and as you read, you pray. After each verse, I guarantee that you will find something to talk with God about.
However, I struggle with consistency. Since I am in no way a morning person, I tend to put my devotion time off. But its helps to have a positive mindset. For example, in the early mornings when I’m in bed and my alarm goes off, my first thought is “Ugh, I don’t want to get up now.” Recently though, I’ve started to imagine that God is sitting at the end of my bed, waiting for me to wake up and spend some time with Him. That has helped me a lot! I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend an hour exclusively with God? And who would want to keep Him waiting? Honestly, though, the only thing that will help you stay consistent is prayer and desire to devote your time to meditation. In this day and age, devotions are looked at as another boring duty or they are ignored. But I know that once you get started with them, it is hard to stop and your christian life will be strengthened!
Wow, this has been a super long comment! (my first lengthy one!). Hope this helps.
Love that image of God sitting on your bed!!
Yes, I do too! I read that in an Elizabeth George book, but I’m forgetting which one…
Great way to do Devotions Ruthie. 🙂
First ask yourself…. Do I want to? If you really don’t ? (many truly don’t) then… You must find out why… Pray and/or talk about it with people who do.
If you want to?! Easy! Make it part of your morning routine… Yes… I mean post a big reminder in the BATHROOM!! LOL!! Also, subscribe to sites like “Rebelution” that are right in your inbox everyday… Do it first thing! :). No procrastination!!! Love you…
Hey Vic.
One of my favourite sayings is “You do what you do because you want what you want.” basically what you have just said 🙂
A.J. ,
Gby young one… I am sooo thankful to our Lord for His work in your life… So proud of you for allowing the Master to have His way…
KNOW FOR CERTAIN,… through Christ, and your obedience to Him… Together, you WILL change your world.
Godly Daughter, sister, friend, wife and mother. Titles of honor for service in Him! Teacher, Doctor, lawyer… even President A.J.! All worthy goals! But none
more important than the other… Seek the Masters goal… His purpose… devote yourself moment by moment… Day by day… Acknowledge Him… And He WILL direct your ways… He WILL…. Walk in His promise…. Change your world!
I read Streams in The Desert and Truth For Life Daily (a modernized version of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon) each morning, often before I get out of bed. These come as emails on my iPhone so I ‘have’ to read them to get the notification to go away, this helps with accountability. I also pray through a list on my Prayer Prompter app, which I highly recommend. (Instead of keeping a journal, these days I send texts and emails to one dear friend and mentor about what God’s doing or not doing in my life at the moment. These range in frequency, but are never more than 10 days apart.)
At bedtime, I listen to my 6 year old practice reading in her Day by Day Begin to Read Bible by Karyn Henley and my 4 year old ‘repeats after me’ as she ‘reads’ her copy of the same bible, so I get reminders of what God has done and who He is, in different ways. (Some of our older kids also read their Bible every day, but not all of them.)
Finally, before we fall asleep, Mr. Mickelson opens the YouVersion app on his iPhone and reads a section of scripture aloud. I love finishing the day with him this way.
As for accountability: I really struggled when my kids were little. I fell into the ‘no time’ trap. It’s a very easy trap for students and mothers of preschoolers. I also didn’t want devotions to become a ‘religious’ activity, watched too many others lead double lives this way. As the years went on, God allowed me to ‘starve’ myself spiritually and the consequence was unrest. (At the time of my conversion I prayed repeatedly that God would use whatever means necessary to mold me in the shape He wanted for me, and I believe this was part of that plan.) I did not fall into great sins, but I did forget truths and replace them with uncertainties. A little worry here and a little anxiety there, soon I was missing God’s hand at work, a lot. But, in His tender way, He redirected me, so gently. Now, I read and pray because I simply cannot live comfortably without touching bases with Him. It’s become like getting dressed in the morning.
Just the other day, though, I did things out of order, didn’t read before breakfast, thought I’d pick it up after school. Had to laugh when the whole morning blew up in my face; tempers flared, feelings were hurt and tears were shed. I could totally trace it back to me not centering myself with God first thing. When I remember who I am in Him and Who He is, I can face the battle well and navigate through it more gracefully.
Rather than thinking of devotions as something I need to do for God, I’ve come to see them as something I must do in order to get through the day.
Thank you for this! The “no time” syndrome is very common with me and I’m sure with others.
I’ve been doing a 48 week study with a book called Character. It’s really good and I love it! But today I read the Christmas story in Luke to get ready for December (which is like four days away, yikes!)
But how I stay consistent is I tell myself I can’t touch my computer until I’ve done my devotions.
Devotion is a very personal practice, therefore it differs from person to person. For me, it depends on what I feel lead to do that day. Sometimes I’ll read whatever random verse/chapter/book flips open in my Bible and see if God has something to say to me concerning what I read. Other times I’ll just pray and talk to God about whatever. Even a simple “Hey God, what’s up?” and then listening is beneficial because spending time with God is the main goal. Keeping this in mind makes it easier to stay consistent too because you can talk to God at any time regardless of what you’re doing. I’ve talked to God while writing essays, going to sleep, cleaning the kitchen, driving, and more. God isn’t limited by your schedule, so take advantage of that. Hope this helps! God bless!
Wow. Y’all are awesome!
I’m working on not feeling all depressed and beating myself up as I am reading the comments. I am terrible about doing devotions! Part of it is I pretty much hate devotion books, so I’m kind of left to go at it on my own, but then I never know where to go in my Bible. It’s an awfully big book and I sit the for a while lost at what part to read and then I get frustrated. But even when I do find a book or a topic that I am really into studying at that time, it always gets left unfinished – overrun by schedules and to-do lists. I went for a while where I wouldn’t do my makeup until I had read my bible, but after a couple of days I didn’t know what to read again and just didn’t wear makeup for a few days until I ditched the idea. I get mad at myself for not being better. I pray a lot, and I like working on writing on my blog or talking with friends where I have to do research in the Bible to answer their questions – kind of like I do on here a lot! So I am in the Bible a little bit throughout the day most every day, but I don’t have an hour (or however much time it should be) where I just read my Bible non stop. And then sometimes I wonder if it is necessary to do that too if I already read a little throughout the day…
Hi Amanda,
Don’t you hate it when you start something and it gets left unfinished? I do, and personally I do it a lot so I can relate. I am really bad at follow through (not just in this area, pretty much in all of life).
I also agree that such an awfully big book can be incredibly overwhelming (particularly if you decide to read from the beginning and then you get to all those lineages and the laws about not eating hoopoes and so on) so that you feel like even if you could be consistent, you don’t even know where to start!
Personally, although I miss several days without doing a quiet time, I find my life stinks when I don’t do one. After all, your attitude is the aroma of your heart and your heart can only be truly good if it is becoming like Jesus.
When I read God’s Word, and when I encourage other people to do so, I make sure a book is read through systematically. Just a couple of verses a day (although those headings in your Bible weren’t in the original text, I find them useful when trying to split up my daily reading) through an entire book of the Bible, maybe some note taking about how I can apply the verses to my life and then some prayer and I have done a Quiet Time and dug a little deeper into Scripture.
Personally, if I miss a day I don’t sweat it too much and then I pick up where I left off the day before. To try make sure that I don’t miss a day I set a specific time slot (though not “8pm-9pm”, rather “before bed” or “after supper”) so that I can make sure I get it done. Sometimes when I find someone who also struggles with doing a daily devotional I ask them to be my accountability partner for 30 days. We message each other to say when we have done our reading and it helps make sure we actually get it done.
Sorry for such a long reply. I mostly just want to say: don’t worry, me too.
Love in Christ,
AJ
I have definitely felt that way–it seems like there’s so little time in a day. Like AJ said, it really works best if you set a specific time and make sure you do it at that time every day. Then you’ll be less likely to skip it. I do it before bed every night; I don’t let myself fall asleep till I’ve done it. It’s hard, but it’s worth it–I need that time to unwind and talk to God. A lot of people find it’s best in the morning, so you can start your day in God’s Word. I’m hoping to try that sometime; I think it sounds like a great idea! Anyway, however much time you can devote to it–whether it’s 5 minutes or 3 hours–it’s a start. Just do something. God will help you make time for it and help you grow closer to Him through it.
Thank you so much! 🙂
If I’m not currently doing a devotional book, I usually use a devotional plan from the Bible App (www.bible.com). The plans are free, accessible on a tablet or smart phone, and you can find some really good devotionals! I like to do the “Overflow Devos,” written by Christian music artists (like Tenth Avenue North and Casting Crowns) based on their songs (so you read what they have to say, read the Scripture the song is based on, and then listen to the song all day: triple goodness!). My suggestion is that you pray about what to study. Some do better reading through the Bible and some like a devotional supplement. If you’re a girl, I also know a great girls’ devotional website: http://www.godlygirlsforgod.com!
I stay consistent by doing my devotional the first thing in the morning. Literally. As in, alarm goes off, I get up, I get dressed, I get my Bible and head to a quiet room, and voila! No putting it off, no, “let me do one more thing,” no time for the, “I’m not a morning person,” excuse (I assure you, I’m not either!!). The point is that you have to make yourself do it, and at times it will not be easy. Yes, it eventually gets easier. Plus, if you have to get up for school anyway, your alarm is already going to go off. Why not start the day with a devotional instead of hitting the snooze button/moaning about school/killing the alarm clock? I find it’s much more helpful (although, I must say, on some days killing the alarm clock is a tempting alternative).
I challenge you to do a devotional every single day for a month and then say it wasn’t worth it to be consistent. Chances are, you’ll find it’s ultimately worth getting out of bed.
Hallelujah!!!
I’m going to look into your Bible App, Thanks.
You’re welcome! 🙂
I used to always “forget” to do my morning devotions then one day I found a book with all the parables in the Bible and a little study about each one… so I’m really enjoying the book and I do it every morning.
(I also don’t let myself get out of bed to feed the Cats and Ducks until I’ve done my devotions)
And… My Dad sometimes asks me if I’ve done my devotions ( I thank God everyday that my close Family (Mum, Dad, Brothers…) are Christians and I pray that more of my family (Aunty’s, Uncle’s…) come to know the Lord.
~Renee
In the past, when my schedule was more stable throughout the week I used to do my devotions always after lunch, before starting any kind of school work. Since I knew I had to do school work anyway and that I decided to read the Bible before doing so, it helped me keeping consistent. Nowadays I usually do it after I come home after the day.
One thing that I learned and that I always try to keep in mind is that if I’m doing it before going to bed I never do it in my bed, because if do I might fall asleep or if I fight to stay awake, I most likely will not understand everything that God has to teach me at that time.
I usually read a devotional book written by Word of Life. The one I read is in Portuguese, and it’s produced by the local branch of this organization, but they might have it in English too.
One important thing to note about devotional books is that they’re there to help you read through the Bible and understand it better. They’re not meant to replace the Bible. So your main focus has to be always the Bible itself. Read all the verses and think and meditate about everything that you read. After all, the Bible is the word of God, not devotional books.
God bless yo all!
I am professing my faith in Jesus Christ this year (yay!!), and so once a week I get together with my mentor (she is really awesome btw!) and we just talk about the Bible, God and our faith in a coffee shop somewhere for hours. And just talking to other people like that I think has greatly improved my faith in God. And both my mentor and I challenge ourselves each week to do devotions everyday for 5 days in a 7-day week. And, I will admit, it’s hard!!! But we keep each other accountable to do it, which, in my opinion, really helps because then we talk about it and try to answer each other’s questions (and if we can’t, we ask our pastor). Anyway, I would STRONGLY recommend a mentor or really good friend to do devotions with, so you don’t procrastinate or give up. 🙂
It is hard to stay dedicated to doing devotions! Right now I’m going through Dannah Gresh’s Love Feast ( http://purefreedom.org/tag/get-lost/ ). I would highly recommend it for any girls out there! For my Awana group, I have to read through 1/4 of the Bible every year, so I try to read at least a chapter of the Bible every day. I try to do devotions first thing in the morning, and then pray at night, and maybe read a Christian non-fiction book. But of course that doesn’t always happen. Don’t get too discouraged if you miss a day. Just wake up the next morning determined to do better today!
I’m nowhere near as consistent in devos as I should be. (This post was a good reminder for me today as well!) A couple people have mentioned that they read through the Bible in the year, and while that’s a good goal, I prefer to focus on a smaller passage a day and then look at context. I love the Gospel Meditations from http://churchworksmedia.com/. At the beginning of each day you read a chapter (with one verse marked as a key verse potentially to memorize), and then it gets into the explanation part of the devotional. At the end it gives a prayer that asks God to help you apply the lesson from that day. These Gospel Meditations are 30 days long, and the Prayer one has been one of my favorites so far.
Almost every morning, i read a chapter in my Bible and pray before i start the day. Sometimes i’ll also journal a little if there’s something that’s eating at me. The biggest way to stay consistent is to WANT to do it. When i was 12, i was reading 3 chapters in my Bible every day until i got into Leviticus or somewhere around there and just got so overwhelmed I stopped all together. Plus, if your heart’s not in it, i don’t think you should do it. It doesn’t do anything for you…spend time with God in a way that speaks to your heart.
It is a good idea to start with a short devotional in the morning before school. I thought my devos would be hard to follow through, especially because perseverance is not my thing, but it’s easy! On days when I am going to be really busy, I will read that days devos in the morning, and the next days at night.
That is a tough question. For quite a while I would struggle with keeping steady devotions every morning. I think that the best thing to do {I did this myself}, is to tell God that you are having a hard time, and then Ask Him to help you with it. He will, and if you keep praying, it will become easier and easier.