5 Things You Can Do for a Family Devo TONIGHT
Today’s post is nothing fancy. However, as one who regularly advocates for families to have devotional time (we call ours “Bible time”), it only seems right to offer some ideas of things a family can do.
Obviously, based on the age and spiritual maturity level of your children, you might need to pick-and-choose from this list, or alter slightly. However, I think a lot of families decide not to have devotionals simply because they cannot think of a way to start. (Either that, or they are too busy, which is a whole different discussion.)
So, if you need something you can do tonight–or any night–here’s a list of no-prep, or almost-no-prep, devotional ideas to get you started.
- Memorize a Verse as a Family. You can simply read it a lot; learn a little song to help with memory; or make a game of it. Imagine if you did this even just once each week. In 5 years, your children would know over 250 verses just from your family Bible time!
- Review Bible Class Lessons. For a lot of families, this is a great place to start! If your children are small and are bringing home a worksheet, craft, or handout, utilize those to review. If they are older, simply go to the text of the Bible and discuss it together.
- Use Those “13-Chapter Books. We have been doing this lately with a book written about two decades ago, but we simply read a chapter and go through the discussion classes. All the prep work has been done for you! Call Gospel Advocate Bookstores or the Freed-Hardeman University bookstore if you need a recommendation, but it is likely you have some of these around the house somewhere.
- Sing. Whoever said that every devotional had to have a spoken lesson? It’s just your little family, so no one will know if you are totally off key! Sing a few favorites. (This is a great way to have a devotional on Saturday night, to help prepare for worship on Sunday.)
- Watch a Video from PtP365. If you or your congregation does not have a subscription to PtP365, do yourself a favor! It’s worth every penny (and more!). Hundreds of lessons are there for you to use. We list one of these most weeks in our L2L Family Plan newsletter so families can have an idea of one to watch for a family devo that goes along with memory verses or another event. A large number of lessons for tweens and teens are there, if you will just do a little searching.
With this being released on a Wednesday, you may choose not to have a devotional tonight (since, I hope, you will be in Bible class!), but these ideas are ready-made and can help your family get started. And, once you get started, you will likely find that you enjoy these few minutes a few times each week learning God’s Word and simply being together, doing the most important things you ever could do as a family.
To borrow from a song, “O why not tonight!”
“…and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15)
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
