My Personal Devotional Routine

Devotions. Quiet Time.

Some people cringe at these words, because they feel that it is one more thing that is forced on them, or one more thing that they cannot seem to get right.

I am treading lightly while writing this blog post, because I know that personal time with the Lord is not one size fits all, and I know that I have leaps and bounds of progress that I need to make in this area myself. But I figured that sharing what I do might help someone else get an idea of what it can look like. And I would love to hear from you- what do you do for your personal devotional time?

Remember that nowhere in Scripture does it tell us to wake up early and do this, this and this- alone. That is a more modern notion. But Scripture does tell us over and over that time with God is what leads to knowledge, wisdom, peace, and so much more. So it is important that we are making this a priority.

I usually wake up around 6:15 so that I can be awake before the kids. Spoiler alert: this usually doesn’t actually happen. Somehow the kids have an internal alarm that alerts them to Mom being awake.

I keep my devotional material near my bed, so I can just switch on the light and start working through it. I honestly don’t go in any particular order, one morning I will read my Bible first, the next morning I may journal first.

Lately I have been grabbing my prayer journal first, because I find it is the one part of this that does not come naturally to me, and if I leave it for last I usually just skip it. I ordered this prayer journal from Val Marie Paper at the beginning of this year. It was pricey and I feel like overall, it is a fairly simple concept- write down various people and points for prayer at the beginning of the month, then prayer for 1-2 points each day throughout the month. BUT, I feel like the effort and time commitment to this is a challenge for me! I obviously need to work on my prayer life, and this has really helped me step into the habit of actually *praying*. I feel really inadequate in this space because I don’t do great at Thanksgiving or just praying to God about his goodness, but I am starting to feel like I’m grasping the habit of praying for other people and praying through some of my own heart issues. This is an area that I am for sure a work in progress.

After the prayer journal, I open up my actual Bible. It is extremely important to me that I am reading the Bible, not someone else’s reflection on a portion of the Bible. I don’t think that small devotionals are bad- I just don’t want them to be the only way that I am consuming the word of God.

For the last year, I have been working through reading the Bible chronologically. It really helps me to have a goal plan, otherwise I just wander aimlessly and don’t feel motivated at all to pick up the Bible. I know some people feel it should be much more spirit led, but I’m thankful that God gave me a task-oriented personality and I’m sure he will be just fine with me using that personality to stay on track in reading his word. Even if it does require me checking my reading off on a box.

One thing that I would really like to improve on while reading my Bible is actually studying it. I know Bible study methods and can implement them during a Bible study, but I really struggle to actually stop and do deep study while I’m reading. I do try to at least read the notes at the bottom of my study Bible and underline and re-read passages that are really sticking out to me. But I would really, really like to improve in this area and I think that will be my next “project” after I finish reading through the Bible.

If you are not familiar with how to study the Bible, I find these particular tools especially helpful:

• Annotation (make observations, take notes, look for any mention of God and his characteristics, look for repeated phrases and ideas
• Prayer- praying FOR my time in the Word, praying Scripture
• Repetitive Reading- reading a chapter or passage multiple times, looking for new things to stand out, meditating on things already read
• Context- searching Scripture and some outside texts/materials to learn the context of the passage. So Ezekiel was written in the midst of the exile of the Israelites. People were NOT following God- and it had been like that for years and years. Knowing that context is important!
• Cross-Referencing- this is flipping around in the Bible to find other passages that are mentioned in the Bible passage that is being read. It also really helps to build context.
• Word Study- picking a word or two and studying the definition, meaning, word of origin, and where else it is mentioned in the Bible. We recently did a word study on the word “remnant”.
• Comparing Translations/Reading the Bible in a different language- sometimes reading multiple translations can help us have a better, more whole understanding of what the author is staying. I also find it really helpful to read the Bible in more than one language.
• Outlining- write my own outline for the passage
• Paraphrasing- after reading a passage, turn around and try to convey the message of it in my own words
• Reading Commentary- reading commentary that other pastors or church leaders have written on the passage

Obviously, that would not all be done in one day- in fact, it may take weeks and months to cover each of those study tools on one passage!

The next thing that I do is to write out some Scripture in a journal. I started doing this last year and it has been an amazing game changer for sitting in a passage and actually studying it instead of just speed-reading it. I like to pick a book of the Bible and write out the whole thing, about 5 verses at a time. But there are a ton of great Scripture writing plans on Pinterest! Right now I’m working through 1 Corinthians, because that is what our church is currently preaching through.

Lastly, I will often write in my journal. This isn’t spiritual at all, mostly just me writing through frustrations or chronicling what we have been doing lately. I usually print pictures from my Sprocket and stick them right into my journal, so it makes it a really fun scrapbook!

I know that seems like a lot, but in reality it takes me 20-30 minutes. And in case you think that I get it all done in total and complete silence….think again. The boys were actually WRESTLING on my bed this morning while I was trying to have “quiet” time. Ezra came into my room about 2 minutes after I got up, and Kiah and Tera followed not far behind. As much as I would love to have complete peace and quiet while I do this, at least I know that they are seeing me reading the Bible and making it a priority.

So that is what I tend to do in the morning for my quiet time/devotions. Like I said at the beginning of this post- this is NOT one size fits all! Theo reads his Bible in the evening and doesn’t do any extra journals or writing. If reading this post makes you feel inadequate, throw that thought out! Just start somewhere. Set a timer for five minutes and read one chapter of the Bible. It can be so overwhelming to know where to start, so if that is a struggle for you, pick an engaging book like James or 1 John. Ephesians is a personal favorite of mine. the Bible does not have to be read in order, nor should it just be read one verse taken out of context at a time. It is important to eventually read and learn the whole arc of the narrative of Bible, but don’t start there! Start with NOTHING but the Bible and keep it super simple- one chapter at a time.

And I’d love to hear from you- how do you spend daily time in the Word?