Daily Devotions

“Therefore, at the beginning of the day let all distraction and empty talk be

silenced and let the first thought and the first word belong to him to whom

our whole life belongs.” - Detrich Bonhoeffer

I’m not a morning person. I am not one to spring out of bed ready to tackle

the challenges of the day. Instead I usually wake up grumpy, sit in my

bathrobe while I eat breakfast, and contemplate going back to bed for the

rest of the day. This week I was challenged by Bonhoeffer’s outline for what

the Christian day should look like. Let’s take a look.

The day begins with morning devotion, which should be divided into five parts.

The first part is the reading and praying of the Psalms. The Psalms were given

to us as prayers to pray in all phases of life. When a believer prays the Psalms

“he learns to pray the prayer of the Body of Chris” (Bonhoeffer 49). Bonhoeffer

argues that even if we cannot connect with the prayers for ourself we ought to

pray them for our brothers and sisters whose hearts cry these things.

Next the believers should read the scriptures. This should be more than reading

a few selected verses, but rather include portions of scripture from both the Old

and New Testament. Especially in a family setting it can be difficult to maintain

focus for the entirety of the reading, but it is an important habit to train in

yourself and in your children. We cannot avoid reading the scripture for fear we

won’t fully understand its meaning. Instead this fear of not understanding should

fuel our desire to dig deeper into the meaning of the Word of God.

After this, believers should engage in the singing of hymns to God. This made

me very excited as music is a passion of mine. I love that Bonhoeffer recognizes

the importance and impact of singing praise to our Father. Our song “is the simple

song of the children of this earth who have been called to be God’s children…”

(58). Bonhoeffer argues that all singing should be done in unison and only hymns.

I am of the opinion that praising God can take many different forms and that there

is a time for harmony and beauty in our praise to God.

Singing then leads to prayer. This is a petition for God’s mercy for the coming day

and should express the hearts of all present. Bonhoeffer warns the church to avoid

lofty prayers that draw attention to themself instead of humbly expressing our needs

to the Almighty. This communal prayer is different from the petitions we personally

bring to God every moment of the day.

The morning devotional should be finished by the sharing of the table. This nourishes

to the Christian family and gives them strength for the rest of the day. Eating together

encourages a spirit of thankfulness.

Right from the start I found this challenging. No matter the time of day I

struggle with keeping a consistent devotional time. I always have. I feel like I

have tried everything but nothing sticks for more than a month or so. The past

month I have been convicted of this. How can I expect to grow but not make

the sacrifices necessary to deepen my relationship with God? I encourage you

to, with me, seek God in the first moments of your day and thus commit

yourself and your day to the Lord.