10 Things You Can Do to Start a Family Devotional Tonight

One of our most popular posts of the last few months was also the longest. It was a transcript of a lecture I gave at the annual Bible Lectureship at Freed-Hardeman University. The post, which can be found here, shared many practical things to keep in mind for leading a family devotional.

But maybe you are still on the fence. Maybe you know you need to start a family devotional, but you are still afraid of actually making that first step.

Here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be a giant leap!

No matter the age of your children, there are several things you can do that will get the ball rolling on making the family devotional a regular part of your life at home. Just to help you get started with ideas, here are 10 that you can do tonight with little (if any) preparation. Just pick one and have your first family devotional tonight!

1. Read the Bible. No, not all of it in one night. But pick a favorite Bible story, or choose to read through a book over the course of a few nights. Currently, we are reading the entire New Testament (a chapter or two at a time) for the Parade of Winners event at Lads to Leaders, but you can choose to read something much shorter.

2. Memorize a verse (or two). Pick one you already know, but help you kids memorize a great verse. Proverbs 3:5-6 is a great one to start with. Spend 5 or 10 minutes each night for the next week memorizing this passage together. Maybe start a “verse of the week” devo idea, and you’ll learn 52 (or more) each year, as a family.

3. Reuse Bible school materials. If your children regularly attend Bible classes, chances are you have drawings, coloring sheets, or even crafts lying around that go relatively unused. Use them! Let your kids talk about the Bible story again, then read the Biblical text that goes along with it.

4. Have on object lesson. What spiritual things come to mind when you look at a table? A television set? A door? A salt shaker? Simply pull out an object and talk about how that thing makes you think of God, Christ, the church, or some other spiritual concept. What a great way to help your child look at the whole world through the eyes of eternity.

5. Take a creation walk. Instead of walking just to “get fresh air,” go out and talk about the wonders of God’s creation. Let your kids pick up leaves, creepy-crawlies, or whatever else and talk about how wonderful it is that God made everything with purpose and design…including the feet you are walking on!

6. Make a prayer list. Let your kids help you come up with some things to thank God for, some people they know are hurting, and other things that are on the hearts of your family. Spend serious time in prayer, and make sure to mention–specifically–the people, events, etc. your children listed.

7. Have a service night. Kids love activity, so why not make your devotional all about serving others? Raid your pantry and make some gift baskets to take to a neighbor’s house. Create some cards out of cardstock for a church member who is sick. Spend the time showing your kids how to make a phone call to someone who is ill or hurting.

8. Sing. Family devotionals are a perfect time to not only sing the songs your kids love from church, but to instill in them the wonderful old hymns of the faith. You don’t even need a songbook. Just open up and sing a handful of favorites, praising God together.

9. Play a simple Bible game. There’s no need to buy one, either. Make it up. Ask trivia questions and let the kids move across the rug with each right answer. Or grab a sheet of paper and play a version of Hangman with short Bible phrases.

10. Make Bible art. Let the children draw their favorite Bible story, or create a sculpture out of Play-Do of something from Scripture they love. Then discuss this together, reviewing the Biblical text to help everyone remember all the details of the story.

By the way, did you notice that none of these things costs a dime? These are all things you can do tonight with little-to-no preparation and you don’t need any money. All you need is the dedication and courage to step up and start your very first family devotional.

Will you?

QUESTION: What are some other easy ways to start your very first family devotional? Share some suggestions in the comments!

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Photo credit: Jeff Noble on Creative Commons

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