I love this article on no-frill family devotions. In it the author proclaims the trouble with “big” family devotions – inconsistency.
Key paragraphs:
“I was grateful for an older friend who came along and encouraged me to scrap the complicated model and simply pick up the Bible and read it to my family. “Just start reading through a book of the Bible, maybe start with the Gospel of John,” he said. “Now that my kids are grown, they tell me that our time together reading the Bible was the most meaningful part of their spiritual formation.”
“When I asked him what kind of discussion they had about the text, he said they would talk about what the passage revealed about God and what it revealed it about us and our need for God–but he said there were many nights his family would simply read a chapter from the Bible, pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate it, and call it a night. He pointed out that squeezing in a no-frills family devotion was better than skipping them just because of limited time.”
That’s been our argument all along. As a reminder, our articles on this subject are here:
Introduction to Family Devotions
7 Principles to Guide Family Devotions
10 Suggestions on What to Do for Family Devotions
4 Practical Suggestions for Family Devotions
When NOT to Have Family Devotions
4 Questions to Ask When Reading Your Bible
