This continues a series of reflections on personal devotions written by individuals from many different walks of life. This reflection was written by Ben Rau, a husband and father of six, including 2 sets of twins.
Devotional life in our home, both at a family and personal level:
- Devotions occur in our house with the entire family when we gather at breakfast and dinner. We read through the Bible (usually 15-25 verses at a sitting due to our children’s ages), discuss and apply the word, then sing from the Psalter, followed by prayer. Encouraging our children to pray for the family has helped them grow in the practice of leading devotions.
- We hold devotions with our children before bed in smaller groups of similar ages – teaching them the practice of closing their day with devotions and nourishing them in the practice of praying out loud is important.
- As husband and wife, we do devotions before bed as well, with scripture reading, discussion and prayer. We try to read from a different testament than we’re reading through as a family.
- My time for personal devotions is spent in the morning. I target waking up 45-60 minutes before the kids are up to get in the right frame of mind for the day and have found that’s a great time to prioritize devotions while the house is quiet. Reading through a book of the Bible in sections, reflecting on what I’ve read, and going to God in prayer is my normal routine. In addition, I’ve used daily devotional/meditation books and outlines over the years with great benefit, sometimes drawn on biblically-oriented podcasts or recorded sermons, and read articles in the Standard Bearer or Beacon Lights as well.
Learnings and ideas that have helped me in my devotional life:
- Since we need daily nourishment, find a routine that is consistent that you can commit to. We truly need God’s “new mercies” each day. For me (and I assume many others), starting the day off with God in their thoughts is the best time to make sure this isn’t lost among the busyness of life. Just hoping to fit it in later in the day without a specific plan in place makes it unlikely to happen.
- Remember that God looks upon the heart (I Samuel 16:7). We will not be perfect in our focus during devotions or our love for God and ought not gauge God’s grace by our effort or fervor. However, if our worship is not motivated properly we cannot think God will not know, and we must seek his grace to continually reorient our hearts to him.
- That said, we must not gauge “success” in devotions by your feelings or your track record of faithfulness. Canons of Dordt Head 1 Article 16 helpfully reminds us that there will be seasons in our life where our experience and desire is to be closer to God than we feel at that time, and our calling in those times is to persist in the ordinary means of grace and trust that God will grant us what we seek in due time.
- Knowledge of God is not an end in and of itself – it must be motivated at trying to draw near to the God we love. If you find your devotions as becoming a time where you grow intellectually but not in appreciation and love for our covenant God, you’re getting of track.
- Hide God’s word in your heart (Psalm 119:11) so that you have “anchor” texts that you can come back to in times when you don’t know where to turn. These will likely be different for everyone, but you likely already have favorite texts you turn to – keep building on this list!
- However, also be sure to draw on the breadth of God’s word. Read entire books of the Bible to gain context on what themes are present across the book; follow cross-references to see how passages relate to the rest of Scripture. Read from the Old and New testaments.
- While all of the Bible is truly God’s word and represents the record of the gospel, the richness of the gospel message is not equally distributed throughout the Bible. As an example, it is not only OK but probably also wise to spend less time deeply studying the list of Esau’s descendants in Genesis 36 than you do the words of Christ throughout the book of John.
- Realize that learning to deeply read and mine the depths of God’s word is a skill you can improve at and gain knowledge in. Grasping God’s Word by Duval and Hayes is a fantastic book on how to read and study the Bible that I would highly recommend.
- When your perspective has shifted inward on yourself and your life to too great of a degree, reorient yourself with passages that force you to confront God in all of his splendor, glory, majesty and greatness. For me, Job 38-41, Isaiah 6, Isaiah 40, Romans 5, Ephesians 1 and John 1 are a few passages that have helped me keep this perspective.
- While personal devotions are important, so is spending time in the word with the people you’re “doing life” with (whether family at home, roommates at college, or spouse once married). Blend the two in a fitting and appropriate way.
By Ben Rau
Young Calvinists 