If you’re looking for a spiritual practice and positive habit that will bring you closer to the Lord, turn the page on something helpful…like a daily devotional habit.
A book isn’t going to give you everything, but it’ll keep you grounded and connected to your best self. As Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…” (Luke 10:27).
This is not something you do just once or overnight. You do it day by day by day. It becomes a daily devotional habit.
1) Pick a time of day.
Start your daily devotional habit during a time when you won’t be distracted. What works best for you? For me, it’s first thing in the morning because my mind is freshest. And I like setting the spiritual course of the day before sheer busyness—and noise—take over.
2) Pick a place.
This might seem like a stretch, but it helps to go back to the same place each day. You are more likely to keep your habit of reading a daily devotional if you have a comfortable spot to return to. The external stimuli of the setting become your internal stimuli, whether it’s the rumble of the radiator, the hum of the air conditioner or the birds chirping outside. They all say to you, “This is my time. This is my place.”
3) Pick a book.
Of course, you could develop your daily devotional habit online through an app, but I find there’s something helpful—no matter how old-fashioned—about having a printed text in hand. A page a day works nicely. You read, you meditate on the passage, you pray, you might even want to scribble a note or two in the margins or underline something helpful. Use a book marker and see how it tracks your spiritual journey over the year.
4) Look for some Scripture.
If you pick a book, maybe it’s the Bible. I like reading through a few Psalms every day, working my way along. But if you’re using a devotional, such as Guideposts’ Walking in Grace (which features some of my prose), notice how it amplifies a biblical text. An everyday example can bring a Bible passage to light.
5) Settle in community.
When you read a devotional day by day, you discover that you’re sharing that same world and that same moment with people all over the world. When I pray in the morning, I know I’m not alone. There are millions of people—although I can’t see them or Zoom with them—here with me as we’re here with God.
6) Keep it up.
Sure, some days the schedule gets crazy. You miss practicing your daily devotional habit. Fret not. You might have forgotten God for a moment, but God has never forgotten you. Each day offers a new opportunity to work on that key relationship in your life—you and God. Together.
7) Give thanks.
Developing a daily devotional habit is not always easy, so celebrate when you accomplish it. What a joy that you can do this. Give thanks for it. And I’m there with you, giving thanks for you as well.
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