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Daily Devotion: How To Pray & Read The Bible Every Day for Christians

8/18/2013

13 Comments

 
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Are you the type of Christian who loves God but doesn't regularly pray and/or read the Bible on your own? It's something you do along with others at church, but it's not part of your daily life? If so, take heart! This isn't a guilt trip blog post, but a reality check with a few helpful tips. 

I've been there and have to admit sometimes I still let my everyday priorities get out of whack!

I don't think we need to be sold on the benefits of a daily devotion to prayer and Bible reading. What we need is a way to make them part of our daily life. A way that works for each of us personally. Allow me to offer a few ideas that have helped me to be more consistently in the word and prayer.

Perspective. Way too often I think of prayer as some service I do for God like a favor. The opposite is much more true. Prayer is deliberate communication with the Lord. It's how we acknowledge him in all our ways so he can direct our paths. If we don't remain connected to him through prayer and interaction with his word, we will not have his mind. We'll have our carnal, fleshy, wicked mind...

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  (Romans 8:5-8)

Position. The Bible doesn't make any one position (kneeling, bowing, etc., ) a requirement. I remember in a prayer meeting years ago, a fellow minister regularly walked around the room and prayed. That was new to me, but soon I was doing it. I found it particularly helpful during early morning prayer! Don't be bound by the idea that one physical position is more “holy” than others. God is more interested in the position of our heart then the position of our bodies.

There are times when kneeling is absolutely the right way to approach our God. Sometimes we need to humble ourselves and honor him as The Almighty God who has no equal. There is none beside him; No one above him. He is our friend, but he is also our King.

Time of Day. Starting the day with prayer is always a good thing, but what if you're not a morning person? Since the Bible doesn't stipulate any one time of day over another for prayer, we shouldn't either. Some of us are sharp in the morning, while others are night owls. You might be at your best during a midday work break. No matter the time of day, be realistic with who you are and make an appointment with the Lord when you're most fresh.

Prayer Length. Here's a question for you: Who is going to be more physically fit: the person who works out ten minutes a day everyday, or the person who exercises for an hour once a week?

The Bible doesn't command us to pray for a certain amount of time, but our love for God should motivate us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). If you're like me, you've set some unrealistic prayer goals for yourself only to fall short and feel guilty. How about we do something very different. Let's lay a foundation of some ultra-realistic goals that are simple to reach and build from there. Consider this: The person who prays 10 minutes a day for 7 days will have prayed longer than the person who prays for an hour once a week. The same goes for Bible reading. I agree that it's the quality and not the quantity of time that's important, but most of us have neither. Look at this as a place to start.

Tools. For Bible reading, I use the One-Year Bible (KJV) by Tyndale House Publishers. Everyday I get portion of the OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs. It's all in one book and at the end of the year, I've read through the whole Bible. For about the last 15 years, the One-Year Bible and coffee is how I've started my mornings. 

If a Bible reading chart works for you, great. Use it! If you'd prefer to take a book of the Bible and get into it, do that! Whatever tool or plan works for you, use it to help you stay in the Bible daily.

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For Prayer, I'm going to suggest a timer. (A timer?) We can do almost anything for 10 minutes, can't we? But how often have we said or thought, “I don't have time to pray.” I think there's something about us psychologically that needs to know how long something is going to last before we commit. "2 hours, are you kidding??? 10 minutes? Okay, I can do that."
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Using an ultra-realistic strategy, I suggest setting a timer for 10 minutes, then turning our attention to heaven. If regular prayer is completely new, then set it for 5 minutes for a whole week, then bump it up to 10 minutes.

Try this:  Start by praying the scriptures. Open your KJV Bible to Psalm 103 and read out loud of the praises to God and the promises from God. Then confess any sins, seek forgiveness, make your requests known, praise the Lord for his goodness, then be still and listen. Prayer is 2-way communication. Give him time to speak. You will be amazed just how fast 5 or 10 minutes passes. You'll soon find that the timer will go off, but you won't be done. 10 minutes will become an effortless 15 minutes or more a day and your relationship with Christ will deepen dramatically. In his presence, you'll discover greater peace in your life while hearing his voice more frequently throughout the day.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalms 16:11)

Have ideas for daily devotion, prayer and Bible reading? Share them in the comments below!

13 Comments
Patricia Green link
8/18/2013 06:51:48 am

Thank you for sharing these tips on building a stronger prayer life. It speaks to me of a deeper relationship with my Father. I also love to spend time singing His praises, literally. He hears my beautiful noise and knows my love is for Him alone!

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Patrick Sipperly link
8/18/2013 08:09:02 am

Amen, Patricia!

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Ursula
8/18/2013 11:03:27 pm

No matter what your practice is for your daily worship, it can always be better. Thank you for your words and tips, I know I'll use them and share them! Everyone practices differently and no one is to judge how others choose to worship the Lord, the Lord will do that Himself. I know I can always us improvement and encouragement and I hope to provide the latter to those that I can. Bless you for doing the same Pat! You are a good steward and I am thankful to have you in my life. (cyber life, but it still makes an impact!) Blessings on your ministry; keep up God's work.

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Patrick Sipperly link
8/19/2013 12:03:57 am

Thank you for your encouraging words and witness, Ursula. Please make yourself at home here on the website. Our spiritual connections are supposed to be highly interactive and mutually edifying. Hearing how someone else worships the Lord, or prays, or how they engage the word can make a huge difference in another life. I wrote this post to not only share my experiences, but to hear from others like yourself. Thanks a bunch for sharing!

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Alicia
8/20/2013 01:24:12 am

Thanks Pat, I also would encourage those that are not reading at all to try just a little and work your way up. Maybe start with just 5 verses a day and slowly increase that. I know for me that reading the Bible through in a year is too much so I read it through in 2 years. I use a daily reading Bible and read the old testament one year then the new testament with Psalms and Proverbs the next year. I also attend Bible studies as being able to reason with others about the scriptures is very important to me

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Patrick Sipperly link
8/20/2013 02:12:11 pm

Great input, Alicia. Every little bit matters, every bit good. And I love your motive behind Bible studies. Engaging the scriptures and being able to show why you believe what you believe according to book(s), chapter(s), and verse(s) is both comforting and wise I think!

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Grace
8/20/2013 08:29:00 am

Lord your Word is a light unto my path. In this dark world I must seek Your light that I may be able shine it upon those hidden areas of my heart that I need to expose to myself. Let me be diligent in my daily Bible reading not forsaking it for any fleshly pleasures. For in Your light, I see light! Amen.
Thank you Pat for your ministry and for your passion to teach and serve!

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Patrick Sipperly link
8/20/2013 02:13:20 pm

Thank you Grace! I agree with you in your prayer.

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Ben S. Monteith
8/20/2013 10:25:09 am

When we pray, we talk to GOD. When we read the Bible, GOD talks to us.

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Ben S. Monteith
8/20/2013 10:36:38 am

Please pray for my employment situation. I was just fired today, because I respectfully expressed my dis-satisfaction with being told to do shoddy clean up work. The owner and I got into an argument. Some ungodly things were expressed in our conflagration. I have owned up (to GOD), and claimed 1John 1:9. I have also reported the place of employment to the health department, because it is not properly sanitized. Before I left, I told the manager/owner that her establishment is filthy. The truth hurts. Please pray for GOD to have his hand on my wife, because when she finds out about this she is going to be furious with me. I'm struggling to find employment that I can stay with 'till I'm too old to work. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME. I'm distraught.

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Patrick Sipperly link
8/20/2013 02:17:07 pm

I will certainly agree with you in prayer, Ben. May the Lord lead you to the next field he has for you. May he make a way where there seemeth to be no way.

If you haven't, check out Craigslist.org in your area. I've found freelance work there, and sent a lead to my wife from there and that has turned into her next place of employment!

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Rocy Ann
9/5/2013 01:31:57 am

Praise the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you Bro. Pat for having this website. I'm blessed and happy to share the same faith as you.
My family loves the Lord. We've been into Baptists, Methodists, and I even joined an Ecumenical Group. But as we searched for truth, God saw our hearts. He led us to a Church where Biblical principles are applied to real lives. APOSTOLIC JESUS NAME CHURCH, PHILIPPINES. A Oneness Church that believes on the New Testament Plan of Salvation.

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Patrick Sipperly link
9/8/2013 01:35:46 am

Thank you for visiting and commenting on the site, Rocy Ann. Blessings to you!

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