Family Devotions that Work
I’ve been a dad for 11 years. During that time we have struggled to find the best way to do consistent family devotions. This has been a difficult journey for us for a few reasons:
- I was determined to create a time my kids didn’t hate. It is a sin to make the bible and prayer boring.
- As a recovering legalist I wanted this time to be very beneficial, something we yearned for, rather than one more hoop to add to our pride.
- When I commit to something I tend to commit fully, and typically “overdo” it. So I’m prone to make spiritual disciplines too ornate, with too many steps, and too many moving parts. I felt like when we got it right, it would be very simple.
If you have a discipline you intend to follow throughout your life, KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Here is what we do:
- About 8:30PM everyone gathers in the living room of our home.
- I break out my IPAD and open my ESV study bible app.
- We read one chapter (Currently reading Revelation)
- I give some insight from the text. Typically, these are things that a mature Christian can gather from a cold reading of the text, no commentary or study work needed.
- Others contribute what they see in the text and we may discuss a bit.
- We quickly take prayer requests and pray.
- Kids sent to bed, tucked in, complete with both mom and dad praying over each kid.
It’s simple, it works, it’s actually fun. It’s a nice conclusion to our day. What do you do to spur your tribe on to love and good deeds? Let us know in the comment section below!
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