“Daily Devotion” is a phrase coined in the Christian community as the time we spend with God, generally first up in the morning, to read His Word and to Pray.

We know that in order for any relationship to be strong we must treasure it. For our relationship to grow we must spend time together – this is also true with our relationship with God. We must spend time talking and listening to Him just as we do with other people who are precious to us.

Define Daily Devotion

The dictionary defines “Devotion” as

• Profound dedication
• Earnest attachment to a person
• An assignment or appropriation to any purpose
• Often used as a religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship.

All these definitions apply to our Devotional time:

• We are dedicated to building a relationship with God
• We are attached to God and His Word
• We assign or give of our time to our relationship
• Our time together is one of worship, one of prayer
• We have learnt in our house that our Quiet Times (another word for this time) are to be times of relationship building not necessarily increasing in knowledge. Pursuing knowledge is reserved for our times of Bible Study, either as individuals or as a family.

Another dig into the dictionary helps define daily devotions further.

• Devote – give up, (oneself, one’s efforts, a possession) exclusively to a person, purpose or pursuit
• Devoted – zealously loyal or loving
• Devotee – worshiper of a deity, pursuit of a person
• Devotion – devotedness (to), devoutness, self-surrender

Therefore … My devotions (a time I devote to God) should be focused – exclusively on Him not me!  So often we use this time to get answers to our life’s dilemmas: I want this, I want that! I am sure these requests are a valid part of a relationship but if I hit my husband with “I need this… this needs to be done… can you do this…” Without any of the “I love you… You’re wonderful… Thank you!” I may as well hire a maintenance man.

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Why have a Quiet Time

I want a relationship with Jesus and a successful relationship will be focused on the other person. It’s not about me!

We need to learn how to worship God, sit in His presence – because He is amazing, not because we need something. We need to learn to soak, to dwell, to praise, to listen. It is this aspect of our relationship that we need to pass onto our children.

Over the years I have learnt that it isn’t so much how we have our time with God, but that we do spend time with Him.  It isn’t about being up early and reading for a set time, it isn’t about journaling, or doing it before the kids wake up.  It is about finding the time, and the focus, and getting to know Jesus.

Our daily devotion isn’t something we have on our to-do list, it is a mindset that gives our love and attention to Jesus daily.  

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