What comes to mind when you hear the phrase 'daily devotions'? A religious ritual? Something useful and relevant or old and unnecessary? If you’ve grown up around a church environment, you’ve likely heard of a daily devotion in some form. If you’re newer to this stuff, the phrase may sound a bit weird to you. This post is here to unpack the concept and to suggest that even though daily devotions might sound old-fashioned, they can be an effective and life-giving tool that holds transformative power to deeply impact your Christian journey.
A daily devotion refers primarily to the Christian habit of engaging with Scripture, spiritual reflection and prayer on a daily basis. Such a practice can take varying forms. I’ve heard people call it “quiet time”, “devos” or even their “coffee with God”. Some set aside a few moments in the morning. Others use the time before they sleep. Mostly, such devotional time involves taking intentional space to read a Bible passage, pray over it and consider how it might apply practically to their lives. There’s no formula to this, and you will find all Christians do it differently. Many use these times to listen to worship music or to undertake scriptural meditation like the ones found on the Glorify app . That’s all good stuff! A daily devotion is not something we do to impress God. It’s an intentional relational activity designed to help us get to know Him more closely. But what’s the point of it all? Are daily devotions something you should consider and start trying to practice? This post proposes YES! Doing helpful things daily and with devotion can have a huge positive impact on your life. Engaging with Jesus daily and with devotion can deeply and positively transform every part of your being. Let’s break the idea of daily devotion into its two constituent parts to explore this further.
“Give us today our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11 The best relationships in our lives are usually the ones with daily interaction. Right? Think about it for a moment. Who is that friend that you can’t go a day without sending a meme to? Who’s the first person you call when you get some good or bad news? The deepest and most intimate relationships in our lives are the ones that we invest into on a daily basis. It’s the same with God. Scripture is full of references encouraging us to commune with God daily. If you have the time, do a simple Bible word-search for “daily”. The results may surprise you. Our life is designed to be lived with Jesus day-by-day. If we only spend time with God on a Sunday, we miss out on the depths of the beautiful relationship that Jesus has to offer us. Each day is an opportunity With God, there can be power and fruitfulness in each day. Each day, we can see God move, act and interact with us. Little and often always beats doing something big and rarely. In short, a consistent, daily relationship with God will impact your life far more than an irregular, long-distance one. God wants intimacy with you. And that intimacy is built in daily practices. In the little moments. In the mundane things. When Jesus teaches us to pray, “give us today our daily bread”, He yearns for us to go to Him and ask Him for this each day. Otherwise He would have said “give us this week our weekly bread” or something similar. God wants your attention, and He wants it daily. Why? Because He loves you and desires to spend time with you. That’s where a life with Christ becomes most interesting and exciting.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 Half the power, then, of a daily devotion is in its regularity. The other half, though, comes from our decision to be present in that daily practice. We don't just turn up to be with God each day for the sake of it. Rather, we engage with Him deeply because He is King of Kings and worthy of all of our worship and attention. Devotion is defined as “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person or activity.” Although it’s an old word, it has plenty of relevance for our Christian journeys today. The early church, in the passage above, modelled the importance of devotion. They didn’t have much physically - many of them weren’t rich, intelligent or qualified. However, they were committed and deeply invested in the practices of their faith and they saw incredible miracles as a result of that. Following Jesus takes everything Christianity cannot be lived as half in, half out. It will never work. Jesus demands our all and promises us everything in return. As we deny ourselves, we find the beauty of Christ and it satisfies us forever. This takes devotion! It means prioritising the things of Jesus over those of the world. It requires showing loyalty to and enthusiasm for God. And it takes searching Scripture and praying earnestly to discover more about the incredible God that we serve. Ultimately, following Jesus demands our hearts. Our devoted hearts. A key part of growing in the practice of daily devotions is intentionally choosing to desire God and to commit practically to His ways. This doesn’t happen overnight, but is transformative over time. The art of devotion is one which will bear amazing fruit in your life. What would it mean for you to foster your devotion to Jesus today? Our advice: just start somewhere.
A daily devotion is effective for your Christian journey because it is something done regularly and because it’s something you can really invest your heart and commitment into. At Glorify, we’re committed to helping you grow in spiritual rhythms so that you can find joy and intimacy with God each day. All of them are linked to building healthy and sustainable habits in your life. You can also access Glorify’s daily worship on the app - an easy way to build a daily devotional routine into your life. Who knows what God could do in your life as you start to engage with these practices? Photos by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
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