Developing a Good Devotional Life

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning everyone. I was thinking about how important it
is to develop a good devotional life, how important it
is to have a great daily time with the Lord.
My name is pastorale Krok and this as healing begins,
and I have Stephanie with me.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Say hi Stephanie, good morning everybody.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
And we're going to talk about how to develop a
good devotional life. And I'm using Sarah Young book Jesus Calling.
Got some good good points from that that I think
is helpful. In fact, you ought to go get her book,
Jesus Calling and use it to help you with your

(00:52):
devotional life on a day to day basis. When you
think about that, I think about the fact that when
you accept Christ, you're going to Heaven, right, Stephanie.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
You sure are. We're looking forward to seeing you there.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Yeah. But you know what, if you don't have a
devotional life and you're not talking to the Lord very
much and reading his word, you won't be prepared and
ready for Heaven the way you need to be. And
I know, if you're anything like me, you want to
be ready when you step into heaven. So having a
good devotional life, knowing how to pray probably is one

(01:26):
of the very basic things that our believer should know
how to do. So, uh, let's look at some good
key points. You want to read the first point, Stephanie.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so the first point about developing a good devotional
life is just to start by quieting your heart so
we know that. So in forty six tenses, be still
and know that I am God. And sometimes it takes
a few minutes. It doesn't just happen naturally. You got
to take all those thoughts captive and kind of drain
the thought bank, if you will, until you are still

(01:58):
enough to be able to hear what it is he
wants to say to you.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Did I ever tell you that silence is loud? So
one day I decided that I was going to take
time and spend three days alone with the Lord without anybody.
Oh my goodness, that was crazy. Do you know that?
You know what the first thing I did was, Stephanie.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
I have no idea.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I fell asleep.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
That must have been nice.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
No, wait a minute, okay, I want to share this.
I was spending three days with the Lord, and the
person who was counseling me in this said, if you
find it when you're going to spend three days with
the Lord, you fall asleep, she said, go to sleep.
It means you're tired. Your body's tired. So I found

(02:44):
that quieting my heart was difficult, that all the thoughts
were came racing into my head of everything I needed
to do, that I didn't have time to be quiet.
You know what, Now, I get up at four point
thirty am. I know not everybody does that and spend

(03:05):
two hours hour and a half to two hours. Do
you know what's quiet at one point thirty in the morning.
It is not even the birds are chirping. I mean,
it's really quiet and really beautiful. Go ahead, read number
or two.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Engage in listening prayer. So prayer just is a fancy word.
We used to say you're going to talk to God.
But a part of talking to God is listening to
the answer that he gives you.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
And Sarah Young encourages believers to listen intentionally for God's voice. Wow,
if you ever say to the Lord, Lord, I love you,
now listen to what he says back to you. You
hear him say I love you too. So this is
a good point to have a journal. Lord, what do

(03:57):
you want to say to me today? This is a
good point to have a journal and write down some
of the thoughts that come to you. Don't judge them,
just write them down and then go back and read
over them.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Right, Yeah, definitely. And it can come as a thought, right,
it can come as a quick image or a flash
or a picture, and then just ask the Lord, what
are you trying to show me? What does that mean?
Or it could come as a verse, or it could
come as all of a sudden you remember a song,
look up the lyrics. There's different ways that God chooses
to speak to people. But take this time seriously and
then go a little deeper with it so you can

(04:32):
really clearly hear and understand what He's trying to communicate
to your heart.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Well, I know there's a lot of denominations that believe
that God doesn't speak today, but I don't believe that.
Jesus said, my sheep know my voice, and another they
will not follow. So God can speak to us through
his word, but he can also speak to us through
the still small voice in our hearts, the whisper or

(04:59):
an impress that we get from the Lord, and how
he feels about us.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Absolutely, and I just love to speak to the point
you made about where the church is at and that
if you start to when you're reading your Bible, look
for all the ways that God spoke to his people.
You'll see that he spoke through dreams, he spoke through visions,
he spoke through prophecy, he spoke through his word. So
just know that and start watching for that. That will

(05:24):
help you if you're in a place where the church
doesn't believe that God still speaks today, because he does speak,
and that's why he sent his son so he can
speak to you well.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
And there's different devotional books like Jesus Calling Jesus Always
or Jesus Listens Sarah Young rotosos would be very good.
I always like to have a devotional book to read
because sometimes the ostler has thoughts that speak to me
for the day, and you can get like the daily

(05:54):
devotionals like Oswalt Chambers has a devotional book. You know,
there's different ones that have devotional books. So each devotional
entry is written as if Jesus himself is speaking directly
to you based on the scripture. That's what Sarah Young.
So sometimes we need something like that to get us going,

(06:16):
you know, because launching out into something new might feel
awkward at first.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Right, Yeah, everything new feels a little awkward, but you know,
just be kind to yourself and find your own rhythm,
find what works for you, and that'll change and it'll
morph a bit over time. But just be who you
really are.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
And take it in little bites, as I would call it,
Start small and work your way up. Number four is
scripture meditation. Would you read the points under there?

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, so they're suggesting or pastor giales suggesting. Each daily
devotional entry includes scripture references. So after reading the devotional,
look up the references, go open your Bible, find those scriptures.
I would encourage you to write them down, writing them down,
reflect on the scriptures. And for me anyway, I always say, God,

(07:08):
what are you showing me about you and the scripture?
And what are you saying to me about this scripture?

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, and the other thing is, let's talk about Bibles
for a second. Some people have a Bible and they say,
I can't really read. This is very difficult for me
to read. Well, there are different versions of the Bible
that make it easier to read. You could get the
New International, the ESV, the New American Standard. There are
many different versions of the Bible. That aren't just the

(07:36):
King James, whether these and the doos. I like all
different types of versions to look at to compare, So
you might want to pick a version of the Bible.
You got a different version over there right with you.
I do.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
I love, especially when I'm doing devotionals or studies, when
I'm looking at Versus, I love to look it up
in the NIV, the amplified version and then the Passion translation,
so you kind of get your basic Englis and then
they amplify goes a little bit more into the meaning
of the original words, and then the Passion puts it
in the language of love. So those are three of
my favorites that I love to use.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Is the amplify so you can hear it better? Ah?

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, Actually it is right in the spirit because it
amplifies the meaning of the original language. So it just
makes it clearer to understand the meaning behind or the
definition of the words that are being used in the
original language. It's extremely helpful.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Go ahead read the next point.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Personal journaling and reflection is number five.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Keep a journal to record what you sense God speaking
to you personally. That is so important. It is so important.
Now listen, if you're journaling and all you get is negative,
you're a ratch, you're no good, you're yes, you're that.
That's not the Lord because he doesn't speak that way.
He will speak to you with love. He'll speak to

(08:55):
you with grace. He speaks to you because He cares
for you right now, and how the devotional impacted your thoughts,
emotions and decisions. You know, it's important to highlight what
you're capturing in your journey with God over time because
sometimes you can go back and look at your journal
later and say, Wow, that's actually come to pass. God

(09:19):
actually did that for me. So it's really important. Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Number six, Yeah, could I just speak to that last
time a little bit, and I would just say make
it relevant to your current life and circumstances when you're journaling,
right because like pastor seeing you go back and they're like, wow,
look at where I was here and look at where
I am now. So it's a good litmus test for
how much you've grown. So Number six is practice gratitude

(09:44):
and awareness of God's presence.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
I think that's really key being thankful. You know, God
is with us a whole lot more than what we think.
Sometimes we think he's not here, but he is really
with us. Sarah, how are young? Emphasizes developing gratitude by
intentionally noticing God's gifts throughout ease state, What blessings did
you receive? Did you know a glass of water is

(10:11):
a blessing? Yes? It is. If you were thirsty in
the desert and someone handed you a glass coal water,
you'd be thankful.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
A friend of mine told me a story when she said, Stephanie,
when I eat a salad now, she said, I look
at the lettuce and I think how many people had
to do something for me to get this lettuce on
my table. She thought about the farmer, She thought about
the harvester, She thought about the truck driver, she thought
about the store person. I thought, Wow, that's a beautiful
way to be thankful about many things.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yes, and if you look at what has happened in
your day, you're going to be able to see where
the Lord was with you. And sometimes you can't because
that's when he carried you. Huh. Sounds like footprints in
the sand, right.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah. Well, and when we can't see, you know, let's
just ask him because he'll remind you. Oh, do you
remember that that car almost swiped you? But it didn't
hit you, right. Do you remember that your boss yelled
at you, but then your coworker came and comforted you.
That was me, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, he
can help us find those little things.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
And then I like this one dialogue throughout your day.
So in other words, and I do this. I try
to do this at night when I'm awake, when I
roll over and I am awake for a second, I
like to be carrying on an ongoing conversation with God,
just telling him I love him, thanking him for every step,
thinking him forever, blessing you know. I mean, even when

(11:40):
things are going not going well, I want to thank
Him for all he's doing, inviting Him into every activity, problem,
or decision, no matter how ordinary they seem. You know.
Sometimes well we consider the little decisions that we think
are not very impactful, but they wind up many times
having the most impact. So inviting God into your day

(12:05):
and helping him to help you be aware of His
presence daily.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah. One of the practical ways I do that this
might help you is sometimes when I'm driving my car,
I'll imagine that Jesus is sitting me next to me
in the seat and I think, is there anything I
need to tell him? Are we just chilling and driving together.
I'll imagine him if I'm going to do something that
I'm a little nervous about, I'll imagine him standing next
to me, holding my hand or telling me it's going

(12:35):
to be okay. Or I'll remember some of the things
that he said to me in my own personal time
or devotional time. So those things can be practically helpful.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
And it gives a prayer example. Jesus, guide me, now,
help me stay focused on you throughout my task the
day in Jesus' name. It's also good. And this is
reminded me of this. How many times have I been
working and all of a sudden some one's face comes
before my mind. All of a sudden, I'm thinking about

(13:04):
someone I wasn't planning on thinking about. Many times, that's
God speaking to me about praying for them, helping them,
interceding for them. It's so important that you do that.
So we have some examples of daily routine Daily devotional
routine by Sarah Young. You want to read that first one.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Yeah, So we mentioned this earlier quiet moment Getting still
right two to three minutes begin by sitting quietly and
invite God's presence. And that's key. That an invitation to
God to come is very key because you want to
hear from Him, not from your own mind or thoughts.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Then reading three to five minutes, slowly read today's devotional
from Jesus calling, and.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
Then scripture meditation for five minutes. And that's just deeply
reflecting on the provided Bible versus looking them up, journaling them,
you know, deeply reflecting on.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Those listening and journaling five to seven minutes, write down
whatever God impresses on your heart, responding as if having
a conversation with Jesus.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Absolutely, that is the key, because he wants to be
in relationship with you. And then finally closing in gratitude
prayer with the spirit of thankfulness. So just thank God
specifically for his presence, for his blessings, for what he
revealed to you, for what He's about to do in
the day to come.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
Amen. So what will be some of the results. First
of all, there will be a deeper sense of intimacy
with Christ. Wow, go ahead to read the next.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
One absolutely, And then there will also be an increased
ability to recognize God's presence daily. So The more you
do this, the more you practice his presence, the easier
it gets to recognize Him throughout your day. Your ears,
your spiritual ears will be open in a tune, and
your spiritual eyes will be open in a tune. So
you'll be more sensitive as you go throughout your day.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
There will be a strengthening of your faith and trust
a mid life circumstances. Wow, that's a big one for today.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Amen. Yeah, and your relationship with Jesus will be more personal.
It becomes a personal relationship with Jesus Christ versus a
duty or a religious practice or discipline. It's very different.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yes, perlationship intimacy into me c right, absolutely intimacy. So
we just encourage you to start a devotional time. Maybe
it's not early in the morning for you. Maybe it's
more at night, or maybe you're a young mom with
young kids running around, and maybe that's why you're up

(15:45):
at one am in the morning. I don't know. But
the thing that I think about having a devotional time
is I want to give God my best when i'm
my best. I don't want to start reading my Bible
and find myself snoring and sleeping, which, oh, by the way,
I've done that before more than once, where I sat down,

(16:07):
had my Bible open, but I was tired and found
myself taking a nap instead of praying. One time I
was in college, I was in the prayer room, Yeah,
and I had my backup against the heater because it
was winter, and I was setting on my legs, crossed
my Bible like this, and I had my eyes set.
I was just sitting there looked. I looked so perfect.

(16:28):
And people were saying, man, you.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Just prayed for a long time. I thought, no idea.
I was sleeping and I wasn't snoring. I was just
in a place of peace. But maybe when you go
to sleep.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
Think about this, God still speaks.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Ah, maybe you have a dream or a vision when
you're sleeping. So sometimes sleep isn't bad. And so yeah,
it's it's all about learning to walk with Jesus, right.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, there's no perfect way to do it all. There's
no perfect way to walk with Jesus. I think the
key is authenticity. Do it authentically, do it honestly, and
just be the real you because He made you to
be you. There's no other you, so enjoy that process.
Be authentic, be yourself, embrace who you are and be

(17:21):
honest with him about where you're at, and it will always, always,
always be worth your time.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
When you have a baby, they learn to walk gradually,
they learn to develop their thoughts, their speech, how they walk,
how their relationship with you. So we're no different. The
Bible says, as young believers were to crave the spiritual

(17:46):
milk of the Word, so by it we can grow
up in our salvation. So God just wants you to
know he wants to be with you. He wants to
walk with you. And it's okay if you feel awkward,
it's okay sometimes if you don't know what to say.
I tell people, you know what prayer is. I said,
just like you, just talk to me, talk to God

(18:08):
the same way. That's right, it's just talking to God.
You don't have to sound like this, Dear Lord, our
prayers are you off? You know? No, it's about Lord here,
hey at scale, Yeah, I need some things today, I
got some things i'm facing. I need your help Lord,
that's right, help me to overcome today's circumstances and empower

(18:31):
me for what I need to do today. That's what
it's all about.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
But yeah, I don't even know what I need Lord,
I know this. I'm tired, I'm worn out. I can't
take it anymore. Would you please just speak to me seriously,
like just being real.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
Well, the Bible says before a word is on your tongue,
he knows it. That's right, So he knows what you're
going to ask for before you even ask. And then
people say, well, why do you ask? Because by asking
God for things, it shows that I have faith that
He can meet my needs.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, and I think too, it builds the relationship, right
Like if you have a kid, you have a son
or a daughter who has a need, but they never
tell you. It breaks your heart. You want them to
know that you love them and that you want to
hear and that you care. So God cares about you
and wants you to know that he cares.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Oh, absolutely, absolutely So I've enjoyed my devoce. I used
to keep all my journals and go back and review
things that God had shown me, things that are written down.
I don't journal as much anymore. I do record things
on my phone. I have things recorded on my cell phone.
But time with God is critical. I will share with

(19:34):
this with you. If I take the time to spend
those beginning hours with God, my whole day goes better. Yeah,
it's almost like God multiplies your time. He gives you
more time than what you had to begin with. I
don't know how he does it, because I got up
at four point thirty, went to bed at ten thirty
last night, I got up at forty thirty this morning,

(19:55):
and technically I should be more tired than him right now.
But God is an inviting you. He's inviting all of
us into a deeper intimate relationship with him.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Absolutely. Not only does he multiply your time, but then
he'll multiply your impact, and it's like your whole day
is lighter, it's easier, it's smoother, it's less frustrating and
less complicated. So it's well worth it to put him first.
It's sort of like a tithe of your time, if
you will. When you give him your time, he blesses
the rest.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
An amen. So why don't you just pray for those
that are developing their walk with the Lord and their
devotional time A minute?

Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, so Father, we just praise you for the one
that's listening today right now, and who is just like man,
I'm trying to figure this out. I don't know what
this looks like for me. It sounds like these people
are here, What does this look like for me? I
asked that you would give them a clear blueprint, a
clear strategy that they would have peace about about how
to spend time with you, even if it's while they're
driving or running or riding their bike. I don't know
what that looks like, but you know, or give them

(20:56):
a picture right now of how they can utilize their
time to spend with you and give them peace, give
them resources, give them a versus to focus on in
a plan that will help them draw close to you.
And you've promised when they draw close to you, you
will draw close to them. So we thank you and
praise you for the growth that is now occurring and

(21:18):
is going to occur as they continue to seek your
face with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. In
Jesus' name, Amen.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Lord, it's exciting to know that the creator of the
universe wants to spend time with us. It's exciting to
know that the creator of the universe wants to have
a conversation with us, and that he is not too
busy to stop and take time with us because he
loves us and Lord, that is amazing to think about it.

(21:50):
He can be with everybody all at once, millions of people,
no problem to the Lord. So I pray that people
wouldn't feel like they're bothering God or that their little
request doesn't matter. But I pray that each person would
bring the requests before the Lord, knowing that you love
and care for them in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
So yeah, So, man, develop that time with God. Don't
give up. You know it's going to take time. You
got to develop a habit, and you got to make
it a priority. If you're going to heaven, spending time
with a maker of heaven ought to be a priority.
That's where we ought to be. So as we wind

(22:36):
up this morning, I just want to say, made the
Lord bless.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
You, amen, and keep you.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
It causes face to shine.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Upon you and be gracious to you.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
And you know what I'm thinking. She doesn't know what
I'm thinking.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
He keeps asking me to read his mind, but I
don't think I'm ever going to get there.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
I want you to know as we sign off, Jesus
is waiting to meet with you. If you're at home,
I want you to see the Lord sitting on your
living room couch waiting for you. That might freak you
out a little bit if you saw that when you
came out of your door. But he's here. He wants
to meet with you, he wants to love on you,

(23:18):
and he wants to spend time because he cares for you. Well.
From Stephanie and Gail, have a great night, have a
good morning. Whatever it is for you right now. Thank
you for listening. Are you struggling with emotional pain, anxiety, trauma,

(24:04):
or feeling stuck in life? At Spiritual Care Consultants, we
believe that healing is possible because we've seen it happen
every day. We offer one on one spiritual care for
both adults and children at no cost, right in our
office or through secure zoom sessions. Whether you're facing grief, stress, depression,

(24:24):
or simply need someone to talk to, our trained consultants
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We combine biblical wisdom, compassionate listening, and proven spiritual care
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learn more, visit www dot SCC Healingbegins dot com and

(24:47):
if you have any questions, ord like to reach out
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