How do you do family devotions?

From Gospel Translations

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Current revision as of 14:06, 8 November 2008

The following is an edited transcription of the audio. 

How do you do family devotions?

The Bible is central during family devotions. You don't ever need another book in that setting if you don't want it, as long as they're being read elsewhere.

But I have heard good things about The Big Picture Story Bible from Crossway books. The people I respect really admire it. It's a book for kids, but it covers the whole range of Scripture and is theologically solid.

You can find lots of books to use. Either way, mom and dad should be reading books to children all the time, and not just during devotions.

As for devotions, those who have little children can read a verse or two, sing a song, say something about the missionaries in the picture book, pray a short prayer, and then you're done.

I no longer have little children, but our current family practice is like this:

1. We use the Global Prayer Digest, which we've used for 25 years. It takes a one-page description of some unreached people group in the world and tells you how to pray for them. That way you can pray about missions every time you meet as a family and breed missions into your children.
2. We have also printed out about 50 hymns and worship songs, and that has become our little hymnal at home. We sing one song every night, sometimes two.
3. We're reading our way through James right now. Depending on how dense it is and how much I need to apply it to our family, I may just read two or three verses. Usually I read more than that, but some passages (like James 1:3-4) take time to unpack.
4. We also take time to work on the Fighter Verse for the week.
5. Then we pray. We pray for the missionaries and for the things that we just talked about.

We do that every morning, and in the evening we do the same thing, minus the prayer digest. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes each time.

We've always done something like this, but we've changed it here and there over the years.

Don't let it become too complicated. You have a Bible and you know where to get songs. The missionary piece is important, I believe, but you may build something else in.