A Devotional Life That Pleases God

Last Sunday at First Baptist Church, Covington, Louisiana, I preached on worship. I gave our folks goals I desire for all those who are part of our church.

I want our folks to experience large group worship, small group ministry, and individual, private times of worship.

Large group worship should be a weekly encounter with God in the context of worship with others. Small group ministry refers to the kind of Bible Study that we do on Sunday mornings, but it includes so much more than Bible Study. It involves a shared life of ministry and mutual love and concern. Individual, private worship refers to your devotional life.

This is the most important part of individual, private worship: It should be pleasing to God.

If our worship pleases God, nothing much else matters.

How do we get a devotional life that pleases God?

First, don’t make your devotional time a legalistic endeavor. When I grew up, having a “quiet time” was spoken of as if it was on every page of the Bible. In fact, a “quiet time” is not on any page of the Bible. Neither is a devotional or what I have called “individual, private” worship of God. These are simply attempts to help you have a time with God each day which pleases Him.

We need to understand that neither the time, place, method, or name matters to God. God is love. He simply wants to have a relationship with us. How we carry out that daily worship will depend a lot on our personality, experience, and situation in life.

This is what I do. I spend time with God as soon as I get up in the morning. I find that when I have read the Scripture and prayed I am ready for whatever the day may bring. The early morning is perfect for me, but it is not perfect for everyone. I know many people who arrive at work early so that they can have their individual worship then. Others use their break time to worship. Still others use the last part of the day. The time does not matter. A heart devoted to God does matter.

Second, let your devotional time fit your need for God. I personally do not use a devotional guide for my individual time with God. Many others do. I am neither right nor wrong in what I do. I read through the Bible in my individual time, usually about three chapters per day. Then I pray and meditate on Scripture. I find praying Scripture extremely worshipful. You can read how I do that here.  http://waylonbailey.com/2011/08/why-and-how-to-pray-scripture/. At least for this point in my life, I find this worshipful, meaningful, and satisfying.

Tomorrow’s post will give some suggestions for getting started. Getting started is difficult for many people. Tomorrow, I will help you find a way to do so.

If you would like to receive all my posts (usually each day of the week), you can subscribe to waylonbailey.com below. Simply type in your email address and click subscribe. It’s free and easy. When you receive a return email, confirm your desire to subscribe by clicking on the link.

Waylonbailey.com is my ministry across the Internet. I would appreciate your subscribing and also forwarding this and other posts to your friends. Thanks for your help and support.


 

Share this post

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email

4 Responses

  1. Thanks for the beautiful picture. This morning I took my cup of coffee , walked into my back yard, touched the holly loaded with turning berries, admired the blooming camellias, tied up a tomato vine in the green house and pinched off the blooms on a basil plant. I thanked God for this place where I dwell. I can never go outside in the early morning where ever I am without thanking Him for the beauty of his creation. Thank you for the time you give to post the devotions. It gives me another time in the day to breifly ” think on these things”

  2. Praying scripture is a great way of walking in the spirit and something I had gotten away from until reading your message this morning, thank you. I also love Christian music and use this to pray and medetate just by really listening to the words of the message in the song. If anyone wants suggestions try Amy Grants “Hynms For the Journey”. Just focus on the words of the songs and realize the power in them. Its also my way of personal worship. Thanks again Pastor.

  3. Thanks for the suggestions. Many people use music in just the way you described and find it extremely helpful. Though I do not deliberately use music, I often find myself praising God through an old hymn or a new worship song.

Leave a Reply to Getting Started in Your Private Worship « WaylonBailey.com Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *