Making Daily Devotions a Habit This Year

Let’s face it, life is busy and picking up a new habit is never easy. However, January can be an opportune time to establish or reinvigorate healthy habits in our life. With the bustle of Christmas and New Year’s behind us, we can use this less hectic time to focus on building strong devotional habits. We all know that spending time in daily devotions has many benefits, so I want to offer you some tips for how you can make daily devotions a habit in your life.

Find the right time

It is important to make sure you have enough time to read, reflect, and absorb your devotions. If you are trying to read a devotion with distractions around you, it will be more difficult to learn what God is trying to teach you. Having distractions might also lengthen the amount of time it takes you to complete your devotions, especially if you have to stop, find where you were at and refocus every couple seconds. Identifying the right time for devotions and committing to it will also ensure a set ‘devotions’ time slot in your schedule. When could you make devotions a part of your daily routine?

Find the right place

Now that you have the right time, try to find the right place. Perhaps this is in your kitchen, your bedroom, the park, or any place you won’t find yourself distracted. If you have kids, try doing devotions in a quiet place before they wake up, or after they go to school. If you work full time, read devotions at breakfast, or when you get to the office in the morning. There is no wrong spot for devotions. Wherever you are, God will meet you there. If you have a moment alone during the day, use that time and place to meet with God through devotions.

Find the right style

In the busyness of life, time is always an issue. Many of us make the excuse that we do not have enough time for devotions, so we just don’t do them. What we may not consider is that devotions come in different lengths and styles. There are longer devotions, ones that might take more time to digest and there are short devotions, like Today, that only take a few minutes to read. When we find the right length of devotion, we can stop using time as an excuse for not having a devotional habit. Of course I suggest you start with the Today daily devotional, but if it’s not right for you, there are many other options out there. You can also read scripture during your devotion time or find a Bible study guide online.

Don’t get discouraged

Turning daily devotions into a habit is no easy task, but don’t get discouraged. If you forget to do devotions one day, just pick it up again the next day. The more you integrate time into your schedule, the more of a habit it will become. Lastly, don’t mistake the word habit with chore. You should never go into devotions with a negative attitude. Devotions should be a quiet time to reflect and find peace. Enjoy the time you can spend alone with God.

Finding the right time, place, and style of devotion are essential for growing in your relationship with God. We at Today pray that these simple tips will encourage you to make daily devotions a habit this year!

See our other resources on getting closer to God this New Year