Episode #72—Cultivating a Healthy Devotional Life

As Christmas approaches and many of us anticipate time off during the holiday period, this is an ideal opportunity to establish or renew habits of devotional life that can carry us into the new year.

A devotional life—sometimes called a quiet time—is fundamentally about getting alone and quiet before the Lord before the day becomes distracting. It’s time spent reading God’s word and praying, directing your life towards seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. As Paul exhorted in Colossians 3:1–2, “Set your minds on things that are above, where Christ is.” Our life is hidden in Christ, and devotional time orients the trajectory of our day heavenward.

This isn’t merely about ticking a box. It’s about gaining proper perspective as you start each day, never knowing what lies around the corner. A devotional life means setting your heart to be devoted to God, and therefore spending time in his word in prayer.

When people ask about great resources for devotions, the instinctive answer is simple: the Bible. But how do devotional books and the Bible work together?

Many start reading Genesis 1 and work systematically through the Scripture. Reading three chapters daily, and five on Sundays, will enable you to complete the Bible in a year.

However, there are numerous other approaches. The Robert Murray M’Cheyne reading plan divides readings between the Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms. Don Carson’s two-volume work For the Love of God provides daily devotional thoughts on Scripture passages. These aids can be tremendously helpful.

We should be careful of superficial approaches—“devotions for busy people” or “one minute a day with your Bible.” Such minimal engagement is essentially worthless. We need to set apart a decent amount of time for meaningful engagement with God’s word.

Think of 365-day devotional books as supplements rather than substitutes. A verse from John 3:16 with John Piper’s thoughts, or Hebrews 1:5 with Alistair Begg’s reflections are like dessert or a starter before the main course. They provide predigested food, but sometimes we must digest Scripture for ourselves.

A faithful Christian doesn’t necessarily have to read through the entire Bible every year. What matters is having meaningful time in the word. If your devotional passage is 1 Chronicles 1–3 (genealogies), you’ll struggle to extract much. It might be more beneficial to spend an entire year living in the book of John, reading slowly and meditating deeply.

The goal is to become marinated in Scripture, as one person described Mary’s knowledge evident in the Magnificat. We want to marinate ourselves in the word, listening to the Lord himself—not just to respected teachers, however helpful they may be.

Different seasons call for different approaches. One might spend a year digging deep into the New Testament alone, or combine the New Testament with a prophetic book like Isaiah alongside a good commentary. Reading programmes that take you through the entire Bible once while doubling up on the New Testament and Psalms can provide concentrated exposure to certain portions of Scripture.

The key principle is flexibility without compromise: It needs to be the Bible, but the specific method can vary according to your needs and circumstances.

A personal devotional life equips us to fight our own sin, to evangelise effectively, and to be healthy church members. But what about family devotions?

Some families, like Joel Beeke’s, manage thirty-minute devotions with singing and extended Scripture reading. That’s wonderful, but not everyone is suited for that pattern. What is essential is heeding Deuteronomy 6, which instructs fathers to ensure their families are saturated with the truth of God’s word.

The book Everyday Talk emphasises that everything we do provides opportunities to teach God’s word to our children. Having a set time—whether after breakfast or dinner—to read Scripture, pray, and perhaps sing a hymn is valuable. But it’s crucial not to burden families with unrealistic expectations of lengthy devotional times. What is necessary is pointing your family to Christ every day, and reading Scripture together and praying remains the best way to accomplish this.

As children grow and household seasons change, maintaining these rhythms becomes more difficult, but the focus must remain on directing children towards Christ. Husbands and wives benefit greatly from reading Scripture and praying together as well.

Practical approaches vary widely. Some families work through systematic theology books designed for children, like The Ology. Others read through a Gospel slowly, asking inductive questions. Interaction with children around the text, combined with prayer and hymn singing, creates rich spiritual formation.

The rhythm needn’t be so rigid that missing a day feels catastrophic. The goal is saturation—soaking children in God’s word through regular exposure, memory verses, and conversation.

Not everyone has the privilege of being home with children for morning devotions. Many must catch early trains or leave for work before the household wakes. This is where Everyday Talk becomes crucial. When your child comes home reporting something troubling a friend said, or asking what their Muslim classmate meant about prayer, you can open the Scriptures together and show them how to respond biblically.

This requires parents to know God’s word themselves, which circles back to personal devotional life.

Many struggle with prayer, finding their minds racing with thoughts about children’s needs, work meetings, and daily tasks. How can we focus during prayer?

You might find help in reading a psalm daily, sometimes simply praying the psalm itself. This anchors his mind in God’s word. One Puritan observed that God loves the sound of his own voice—when we pray Scripture back to him, we honour him with his own words.

The Lord’s Prayer, though sometimes dismissed by Protestants wary of empty ritualism, was given as a pattern. “Hallowed be your name” can lead to reviewing God’s names and asking him to be glorified in your life. “Your kingdom come” prompts prayer for submission to God’s will for yourself and your family. This structure helps when your mind feels scattered.

Consider Psalm 9:1 : “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.” That single phrase provides minutes of prayer content. Thank the Lord, listing specific blessings. Ask him to help you be thankful wholeheartedly. The verse continues: “I will recount all of your wondrous deeds.” Meditate on God’s wondrous works, recounting them. “I will be glad and exult in you.” Exult in him as Creator, as Provider. Two verses can sustain several minutes of focused, biblical prayer.

Beyond praying Scripture, pray systematically for your church. Work through the church directory. Pray for people facing difficulties. If your church distributes prayer requests, use those. We all have sin to confess as well.

Structure and biblical content are the antidotes to scattered, unfocused prayer.

The Christmas period, with its extra time off, provides an excellent opportunity to establish new patterns. If you’ve fallen behind in devotional life, don’t despair—use this season to begin fresh. Read more, because you have more time. Establish routines that can carry forward into the new year.

Whether you’re reading through the entire Bible, focusing on particular books, using a structured reading plan, or combining Scripture reading with devotional aids, the goal remains constant: saturate yourself in God’s word, set your affections on things above, and direct each day’s trajectory heavenward. In an uncertain world where we never know what’s around the corner, beginning each day grounded in Scripture and prayer equips us to face whatever comes with faith, wisdom, and Christ-centred perspective.