One of things I have committed to doing for several years now is having a consistent family devotion time. Currently, we try to make this happen on Monday nights. It's the one night of the week where we are not obligated with church or karate or volleyball. I try to set aside this time with family to have a devotion because. . .
it models for my children what personal devotion time looks like
it makes us a stronger family unit
it makes praying and conversations about God less awkward (By the way, totally normal for the first few devotions you have together to feel awkward. Don't let that deter you!)
It's important to know when you decide to have a family devotion time the devil will do anything he can to distract and discourage you from having it. The devil doesn't want any of the things mentioned afore to take place. He doesn't want our children to know how to have personal time with God. He wants our families weak and broken. And he definitely wants us to feel insecure in our prayer life and uncomfortable talking about God. We are in a spiritual warfare and we need to be mindful and intentional with our time. Every Monday my flesh wants to talk me out of our devotion time. You are exhausted. It's okay to just skip it this one time. Sometimes I really have to push myself to remind my husband what night it is and get everyone together. When I listen to my children's prayer needs and then hear their prayers for each other though, I know it's so worth it.
Family devotion time doesn't have to be long, theological discussions. When our kids were toddler age, we would sing a fun Bible song, pray, and read something applicable to them from a child's devotional book. Now that my kids are a little bit older, we still use different devotion books, read from the Bible and discuss prayer needs. Right now we are reading Louie Giglio's Indescribable: 100 Devotions about God & Science.
What does your family devotion time look like? Do you have a favorite devotional that you use?
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.
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