Someone once said, “The gospel brings man to God; devotions keep him close to God.” Daily devotions are the lifeblood of the Christian life, a time deliberately set aside to draw near to God. It is time consecrated to removal from all other activities and to be alone with God in order to understand what he is teaching us through his Word. When we eat, we stop other activities and we sit down. We are not eating while running or showering. Or at least we shouldn’t. And since feeding on God’s Word is more sacred than physical nourishment, we should be even more committed to stopping everything else for the time of devotion. So, put your phone away and go into your closet so you can be alone with God.
But once you are there, what should you do? Here is a number of things that should be part of your daily devotions.
Meditation
This is when we take reading of Scripture to the next level. Meditation allows us to plunge the riches of his Word. It is when we descend from our bird’s eye view and zoom in closely on a particular part. A word of caution, however, about the word meditation. Do not confuse this with techniques characteristic of Eastern mysticism, where you chant various mantras or focus intensely on specific phrase. Instead, meditation on Scripture is about thoughtful concentration upon God’s Word.
Donald Whitney provides a useful illustration in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the need to go beyond merely reading every day a portion of Scripture, by comparing it to the preparation of a cup of tea. The cup of hot water is the mind while the Word of God is the tea bag. Reading is similar to dipping the tea bag into the water once. Meditation is immersing the tea bag and leaving it until the flavor has been extracted.
When we read the Bible, we need to absorb all that is beneficial for us. The way we can do this is by meditating on God’s word. This is a word that runs through Psalm 119. Over and over again, the psalmist says, “I will meditate on your law, on your word, on your precepts…” God wants us to have a meaningful interaction with his word, one that is eye opening and life changing. He wants us to be transformed by his Word.
In addition, it will guide us in decision making and it will encourage us when we are weak or anxious. Mediation is crucial to a believer’s pursuit of holiness. It is necessary if we are to grow spiritually and stay on the narrow path. Mediation is at the heart of the discipline of devotion. But it is not the only thing you should do.
Confession
A healthy meditation, among other things, helps us to see the sins in our lives, how we failed and displeased God. Once we start to see what the Bible is revealing to us in the verses we focused on, we have the chance to see how we measure up to that and to ask ourselves certain questions. Am I living like that? Is this true of me? Is there something in my life that is in contradiction to what the Bible is teaching me in this passage? Answering this type of questions, with honesty, will show us where we failed and it should lead to confession.
In fact, devotion cannot even be practiced as long as sin is not dealt with. The psalmist confesses, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” (Ps 66:18) So, if we are aware of sin, whether this is at the beginning of our devotion or the result of meditating on God’s word for some time, we need to confess our sins.
The fact that we are saved should not give us the false impression that we do not need to ask for forgiveness any longer. The Lord’s prayer contains these words: “Forgive us our sins.”
We are still in the flesh and commit sins which displeases God. This should also displease us and produce sorrow because we acted against God’s expectations. Sin will affect our relationship with God.
When a child is disobedient, the father does not disown him or kick him out of the family. But, in order that they enjoy their relationship again, there must be reconciliation. The child needs to ask for forgiveness. Even if we remain saved, unconfessed sin will keep us far away from God and will make us miserable.
So, confession is another practice needed in devotion. Once we are free from the burden of sin, we are free to do the next thing.
Adoration
As we let the tea bag to soak, we begin to see the majesty of God and adoration will inevitably follow. Mediating on God’s word regularly will increase our understanding of God’s character, how great and amazing he is. Second, it enables to see his mighty acts, from creation to salvation; we see his amazing providence. And that will lead us to praise him.
The discipline of daily devotions, then, is when we deliberately remove ourselves to a quiet place for a period of time so that we can draw near to God for the purpose of knowing him more, of knowing what he says to us. We do this by meditating on his word, by asking him to enlighten us and help us to be changed by his word. This will lead to confession of sins but also to adoration and praise.
Prayer also is a major part of devotion but I will deal with that in a separate post.