Doing Devotions!!! – INspire! Youth Ministry

How to Make a New Habit!

How many of you have a simple habit that you just can’t shake?

How long have you had this habit?

Any idea how long it took to make this “thing” a habit?

Did you ever try to make a new habit or break a yucky one?

Were you successful at making it? Did you put in enough time to break it?

Today we are going to talk about devotions, what a devotion is, how to do one, and in the end, challenge you to make a habit out of doing devotions every day :0)

What is devotion anyway?...

You have heard of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, right?

Noah Webster was a man that wrote the first American dictionary.

He noticed that the school books that we continued to get from England taught about loyalty to the king in England. He also saw that our new nation needed a common way to spell words and introduce new words, like skunk and squash, which were not in the British textbooks. He published his first “speller” known as the “Blue Backed Speller”.

After his Christian conversion, he published a new edition of the dictionary in 1828 that included a bunch of biblical references.

webstersdictionary1828.com

Noah defines “devotion” as:

DEVOTION, noun

1. The state of being dedicated, consecrated, or solemnly set apart for a particular purpose.

2. A solemn attention to the Supreme Being in worship; a yielding of the heart and affections to God, with reverence, faith and piety, in religious duties, particularly in prayer and meditation; devoutness.

3. External worship; acts of religion; performance of religious duties.

As I passed by and beheld your devotions. Acts 17:23.

4. Prayer to the Supreme Being. A Christian will be regular in his morning and evening devotions.

5. An act of reverence, respect or ceremony.

6. Ardent love or affection; attachment manifested by constant attention; as, the duke was distinguished by his devotion to the king, and to the interest of the nation.

7. Earnestness; ardor; eagerness.

He seeks their hate with greater devotion than they can render it him.

8. Disposal; power of disposing of; state of dependence.

List of Devotionals:

Josh McDowell’s Youth Devotional (online)

http://www.josh.org/resources/daily-devotional/todays-youth-devotional/

Our Daily Bread

odb.org

Then and Now
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/then-and-now-teens/

My Utmost for His Highest

utmost.org

Answers in Genesis

answersingenesis.org/devotions/

Lets Give it A Try!

Devotion in Our Daily Bread March 18, 2014: 2 Corinthians 2:12-17.

Recommended Devotional Steps:

Read the verses
Define words you are not familiar with
Read the devotion
Think about how these verses apply to my life
Pray about it and apply it!

21 DAY CHALLENGE!

Psychologists say that it takes 21 days for people to develop a habit. Lets find out!

I challenge you to do a devotion each day starting TOMORROW, and in 3 weeks, you will have started a FANTASTIC habit!

Why do this, you ask?…

Top 10 reasons to start a devotional habit:

10. It would help you answer “The Bible” category questions when watching jeopardy.

9. You would experience that cool feeling when you recognize the verses that the Pastor or Sunday School Teacher is teaching about.

8. You would “smell more fragrant” to an unsaved world.

7. You would get to know God better.

6. You would be better able to discern what is counterfit and what is truth.

5. You would have more amunition to defend your faith.

4. You would be better able to encourage your friends and family.

3. It would be a great Easter present for yourself.

2. It would be a great Easter present for God.

And the number one reason is…

It would make God smile that you were spending some time with Him!