Do you have personal daily devotions? If you've ceased, it's time to dust off the Bible and get back into seeking the Lord regularly. The Lord is commanding you to seek His face.
Psalms 27:8 (NKJV) "When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
Preacher and parishioner, no one is exempt.
Job said this...
Job 23:11-12 (NKJV) "My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food."
It's been a while but it's like riding a bike.
It's time to reestablish your regular time of devotion to God.
The woman from Samaria met the Lord at Jacob's well (see John 4).
She thought that she was a worshipper, but the Lord revealed that her adultery and worship can't be done. Sin separated her from being a true worshipper in spirit (life) and in truth. Exposing her sin was an act of Christ's mercy.
As soon as she was told that she was speaking to the Messiah, she dropped her water pot, went into the city, and told the city that the Messiah was there. As a result of seeing for themselves, they all believed.
We have so many people claiming to be worshippers, but many of them that live in sin are false worshippers.
Personal devotion serves as a place where we regularly present ourselves before the Lord for inspection.
Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
It's a time to get cleansed and get a daily check up from the Lord.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified."
Notice the example of the Lord.
Matthew 14:22-23 (NKJV) Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.
Now when evening came, He was alone there."
devotion | dəˈvōSHən |
noun
love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause:
• religious worship or observance:
• (devotions) prayers or religious observances:
Many true believers have given themselves to daily devotion. The purpose of such devotion serves as a way to maintain unbroken fellowship with the Lord.
John 15:1-8 (NKJV) “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
We see that the Lord Jesus set aside time to have such devotions.
Devotions are made up of times of prayer and reading the Word of God.
It’s simple. One cannot and should not be done without the other.
The Lord established regular devotions for Himself because He maintained His connection with the Father.
Mark 12:28-30 (NKJV) “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”
We prove our love for the Lord when we obey His Word (see John 14:15, John 15:14, and 1 John 5:1-5).
The disciples of the Lord Jesus wanted to have a template of personal devotion.
You will note that the Lord was ending His devotion to the Father and when He ceased, He was asked to teach them to pray as John the Baptist taught his disciples.
Luke 11:1-4 (NKJV) Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”
Many people refrain from using the Lord’s Prayer repetitively because of what the Lord said about “vain repetition.”
But if you were to study “vain repetition,” it’s connected to….
Matthew 12:33-37 (NKJV) “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
So what’s vain repetition or idle words?
repetition: g0945. βαττολογέω battologeō; from Βάττος Battos (a proverbial stammerer) and 3056; to stutter, i.e. (by implication) to prate tediously: — use vain repetitions.
AV (1) - use vain repetitions 1;
to stammer to repeat the same things over and over, to use many idle words, to babble, prate. Some suppose the word derived from Battus, a king of Cyrene, who is said to have stuttered; others from Battus, an author of tedious and wordy poems.
idle: (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary) 2. argos (ἀργός, 692), denoting “idle, barren, yielding no return, because of inactivity,” is found in the best mss. in Jas. 2:20 (RV, “barren”); it is rendered “barren” in 2 Pet. 1:8, KJV, (RV, “idle”).
In Matt. 12:36, the “idle word” means the word that is thoughtless or profitless. See idle, slow; cf. katargeo, under abolish.
In the Lord’s Prayer, there’s nothing that’s idle or inoperative, or stammering words like unintelligible word salad.
The Lord Jesus warned His disciples about the religious leaders in Matthew 6. And the religious leaders were rebuked by the Lord in Matthew 23 for using prayers as an outward show to impress people. But the Lord desires His people to be in secret devotion to the Lord.
Matthew 6:5-6 (NKJV) “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
Now there’s a difference between group public prayer and personal devotion.
Here’s an example of group prayer.
Acts 4:23-31 (NKJV) “And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the LORD and against His Christ.’
“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
It would have been an act of pride and arrogance had they went to the Temple to pray this prayer before the religious leaders. Instead, they went to their own company of believers among themselves and appropriately prayed, and the Lord responded.
The earthquake wasn’t just the only way that the Lord responded.
“…and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
So be very humble and crucify pride and arrogance.
1 Peter 5:5-6 (NKJV) “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time….”
So does one have to have a “set time” for daily devotions?
Should I do devotions every day?
There’s examples of the kind and frequency one does have devotions.
For instance, the Lord told Joshua in Joshua 1:8-9 (NKJV) “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Then you have Psalms 1:1-2 (NKJV) “Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.”
So we see that when we rise and before we retire for the evening, we have clear examples of when we should meditate in the Word of God.
We also have clear examples of the Lord Jesus having times of prayer in the mountains.
The advantages and benefits of daily devotions, constituted of prayer and the reading of the Word, is for the purpose of establishing unbroken fellowship with God and to keep one’s heart clean before God.
Be free and stay free of contaminating influences.
2 Timothy 2:19-21 (AMP) “But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also [utensils] of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble [use] and some for menial and ignoble [use].
So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.”
If you have stopped your devotions, just pick up where you have left off and then maintain your devotions for the rest of your life.
Select a quiet place or wait until people have left for work. Perhaps you have to wait until everyone went to bed. Then, go to a room where you could close the door so no one could hear you.
We do have a lot of people that pray so loud that everyone down the block could hear them and that defeats the purpose of the Father seeing in secret.
You don’t have to be loud.
Look at this example.
Hannah, in 1 Samuel, had the right heart. It wasn’t “public prayer” praying.
It was “personal prayer” praying. It was between her and God.
Eli saw her lips move but he didn’t hear a word that she had prayed.
Hannah received her answer when Samuel (Samuel’s name means “heard of God”) was born.
So select a time, place of seclusion, and close the door.
Music with devotional aspects is permissive.
Remember that in the Psalms, certain Psalms were played with musical accompaniment.
Have your Bible with you and it’s also good to have a Prayer Journal.
Never pray unBiblical prayers. Bravado before God is to be shunned, stay humble and broken before the Lord. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A SHOW!!!!
Never miss a day.
Comments