Private time with God is an essential part of your spiritual growth. Your connectedness with God and your personal development as a person are your responsibility. Without a daily plan for spending time with God, you will stagnate and likely never progress in your walk with God.

Some individuals, perhaps only a few, have a disposition that allows them to spend hours in spontaneous prayer without structure or plan. Some describe this as following the lead of the Spirit. Many of us cannot relate to someone who can pray for hours without structure. For us, spontaneity leads to heavy eyelids, a wandering mind, frustration, and eventual defeat. I have spent many hours sleeping on my knees!

Shortly after I became a Christian, someone told me about the importance of having a daily devotional life. The idea of spending regular time with God fascinated me. In those beginning months of being a new Christian, a friend gave me a copy of a book detailing the life of George Muller. George Muller was a man who lived in the nineteenth century and founded and ran homes for orphans. God used him to care for thousands of children during his long life.

George was a man of prayer who trusted God to supply all his personal needs and the needs of the children in his care. He spent long hours on his knees reading the Bible and praying daily. As a result of his faith, tens of thousands of abandoned children’s lives and destinies were permanently changed for the better.

After reading his life story, I decided to follow his pattern of devotion to Christ. At the time, I was serving as a U.S. paratrooper in Vicenza, Italy. Once I decided to begin having daily devotions, I made plans for the following morning. My usual wake-up time was 5:00 a.m., so I decided to get up at 4:30 and spend thirty minutes doing my devotions.

The following day, I sprang out of bed at 4:30, excited and filled with anticipation. I got on my knees and began to pray, but within a few minutes, I started having difficulty concentrating on my prayers. My mind wandered, drifting along with each random thought that interrupted my prayers. I did not regain consciousness until they woke me up at five o’clock.

I wish I could say that the next few prayer sessions brought an emotionally rewarding experience. It did not! Although able to concentrate when I read and studied the Bible, prayer continued to be challenging. I loved the idea of prayer, yet I couldn’t master the exercise. For years after that, I read books about prayer instead of praying. When I did pray, I asked God to help me discover the secret of a rewarding prayer life. I knew it would significantly impact my life if I learned how to pray.

In my early thirties, I was in charge of a small mission in North Carolina. The place was wild. Most of the men at the mission had been in and out of our facility for over ten years. I sat at the front desk each night to monitor for men who might return to the mission under the influence of alcohol. Nearly every night, someone came back to the mission drunk. When I confronted them about their drunkenness, they erupted with offensive threats and accusations against my character. Often, I had to call the police to have them removed from the premises.

At first, their behavior was confusing to me. After all, residents must attend morning, afternoon, and evening Bible studies while staying at the mission. They also had access to trained counselors to help them process their issues. I believed that if I exposed them to enough Bible teaching and preaching, their lives would transform into something beyond their current situations.

I saw little in the way of real and lasting transformation in their lives. At the time, I hoped that some of the seeds I planted in their lives would someday bear real fruit. Nevertheless, it seemed their addiction condemned them to live lives of continuous setbacks and failures, suffering without meaning and despair without hope.

During that same time, I began to experience some progress, some meaningful change in my condition. Yet, my setbacks were still so tumultuous, devastating, and painful that I was often overwhelmed with guilt and remorse. I felt trapped, a victim of my defects and character flaws. I understood the frustration of the Apostle Paul when he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24, KJV)

I followed all the usual, regular Christian disciplines. I attended church on Sundays, read and studied my Bible, and read many helpful Christian books. Of course, I also continued reading books on prayer. Despite my previous failed attempts, I still tried to have a meaningful devotional life. I knew that if I ever hoped to overcome myself, to have a deeper relationship with God, and to become godly in my character, I would somehow have to transcend my lack of progress in this area.

In my desire to help the men and women who knocked on my door daily seeking help, I continuously searched for a method or technique to help them become successful. Over time, I discovered the devotional writings of the early Christians. It appears the men and women who had written those manuscripts understood me.

Based on what I learned from their writings, I experimented with myself and the men and women in my programs. It took about ten years to develop a devotional plan that helped bring changes to my life in a more significant way. I also began to see progress and success in the lives of the men and women who were the primary focus of my work.

Perhaps your daily devotions fail to measure up to your expectations. Just as I did for many years, you have tried to have a consistent, regular devotional life but have been unable to make it happen or be constant. So, instead of dealing with the guilt associated with failure, you gave up. You decided you lacked the proper temperament that made praying and meditating on God’s Word possible.

Do not give up yet. Here are just a few of the benefits you will experience from your daily devotions:

• You will have a clearer understanding of God’s will for your life.
• Closely related, you will have a more excellent knowledge of the Scriptures, giving you a better sense of direction and guidance from God for decisions you need to make.
• Over time, you will begin to change and become more Christlike in your behavior.
• Your wisdom will mature and grow.
• You can weather the spiritual and emotional storms that will most certainly come into your life.
• Setbacks and failures will not destroy you.
• You will have a more positive and happier perspective on your life.
• God will be your friend.
• You will learn to embrace surrender and brokenness.

No matter what is happening in your life, you will trust in God’s power, love, and wisdom.

• Your friends, family, and coworkers will notice a difference in you.
• Your pride will gradually diminish, replaced by humility and service.
• Your life will grow more significant and durable.
• You will make substantial progress in your quest to live a more godly life.

If you desire to fulfill God’s purpose for your life, you must begin practicing daily devotions. A plan is necessary to keep your mind occupied and focused; in other words, you need structure and a path to follow. Thank goodness I did not have to invent something new. Church history is replete with examples and instructions on how to have daily communion with God.

Your time with God indicates your priority on your relationship with him. If you are too busy with work, family, hobbies, or even your church activities to spend daily, quantity time with God, then you have placed a low priority on your relationship with him. You spend time pursuing the things that are important to you.

Although the Bible does not explicitly state how much time you should spend with God daily, your daily activities should place him supreme in all your undertakings and thoughts. The time you spend with him cannot be limited to a few moments between scattered activities and commitments. Like a date with someone you love, you should carefully plan the time, place, and activities for your daily appointment with God.

The Word of God is the Holy Spirit’s primary tool for changing and transforming your life. Your date with God should always include significant time for reading, meditating, and praying the Word. These disciplines will ultimately lead to a more Christlike character that increasingly produces the fruit of the Spirit.

First, you should block out at least one hour daily for devotions. Your desire to overcome character issues and experience God’s presence and power in your everyday life will lead you to view spending an hour in God’s presence as a privilege instead of a sacrifice.

The schedule consists of five parts:

• A daily devotional reading
• Meditation on a Scripture verse
• Prayer rooted in Scripture
• Prayer
• Bible reading

Many people are unable to spend more than a few moments with God because they lack a structured format that is useful and meaningful. In the beginning, a well-thought-out structure may seem mechanical, perhaps even too formal. That is because the program is new and unfamiliar. It will soon flow and feel more natural as you become more competent in your daily devotions.

Don’t wait until you are ready to start because, emotionally, you may never be prepared. Get with it and begin right now. Follow this basic outline:

Opening Prayer

Open your time with God with prayer. Your prayer should include the following:

• Praise for who he is
• Things you are grateful for
• Confession of sin
• A request for guidance during your devotion
• A general surrender of your life to him

Devotional Reading

Here is a list of books that I recommend for daily devotional reading. Each day, you should read a section of your chosen book. Limit your time to about fifteen minutes.

• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
• Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey (Hardcover) by Jerry Bridges
• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (Paperback) by W. Phillip Keller
• Don’t Waste Your Life (Paperback) by John Piper
• Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts (Paperback) by Jerry Bridges
• The Tender Words of God by Ann Spangler

As you read, ask God to speak to you. Pray that he will use this devotion to make you more like Christ. Do not be in a hurry!

Scripture Meditation

In Psalm 1:2 (KJV), we read, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

I’ve used a simple, focused format in my devotional life and recovery programs for years. I use a spiral notebook, one page per devotion. You can use this format on any verse in the Bible, but my primary concentration has been Psalms or Proverbs. Each day, I select just one verse for my meditation. In this notebook, I write down responses to the following instructions or questions:

• Copy the verse from the Bible that is the focus of today’s
• Using your words, rephrase the verse to make its meaning
• What is the teaching of the verse? What is it trying to say?
• What does the verse say to you personally?
• What changes do you have to make in your life because of this meditation?

Such meditations will help you focus on God and deepen your surrender to him.

Scripture Prayer

The best method for keeping your prayers focused on God and his direction for your life is using the Bible as your prayer book. Praying the Scriptures has long been a practice of Christians for deepening their connection with God. I have used it primarily for praying verse by verse through the New Testament (skip the genealogies).

Here is an outline to use as you pray through the Scriptures:

• Select a passage of Scripture to Slowly read the passage of Scripture, thinking and listening as you read. When a phrase or verse stands out to you, repeat that verse repeatedly as though you were attempting to memorize it.
• As you read, ask yourself these questions:
  • What is God trying to say to me?
  • What does this passage say about me?
  • Do I need to make any changes in myself?
  • Does this passage require anything of me today?
• Reflect and listen to God’s quiet voice; pray for his direction and respond to what he says through this

Once you pick a phrase or verse, focus on it using the above structure for several minutes. Then, continue to read until another passage or phrase stands out, and repeat the exercise. Do this for about ten minutes.

Daily Bible Reading

The best way to read the Bible in one year is to buy one with a daily reading plan. If you prefer to use your own Bible, you can find Bible reading plans online. A reading program ensures that you read the whole Bible, not just your favorite parts.

Do not treat daily Bible readings as an assignment to be completed. Remember, you are interacting with the Creator of the universe. God desperately wants to have a relationship with you. Do not cheapen it by being in a hurry and treating it as a duty; instead, treat it as a date with your best friend. If you need additional time to complete your Bible reading, set aside a time later in the day for that purpose.

Closing Prayer

Spend the last few minutes of your devotional time praying for your needs and the needs of others. Using a separate spiral notebook, draw a line down the middle of each page. On the left side, write down your prayer request and the date. Record the answer and the date in the right column beside the corresponding prayer request when God answers your prayer.

This method is helpful in two ways. First, it will provide you with a list of everything you have committed to praying for, ensuring that you continue praying for a problem, person, or need until God answers your prayer. Second, you will eventually have a written record of God’s answers to your prayers. In a world that questions the value of prayer, your notebook will prove that God still hears and answers your prayers.

Conclusion

Now, you have a basic outline of a daily devotional plan that has been tested and proven to be robust and life-changing. Unfortunately, no shortcut exists that gives you overnight success in personal transformation. As a journey begins with the first step, you, too, must take the first step in fulfilling God’s destiny for your life.

God’s plan for your life is more significant than your present condition. For his plan to become a reality, you must be willing to spend time with him each day. If you could have changed yourself without living in the presence of God, you would have already done so.

God wants to have a relationship with you. A relationship is not just accepting a gift; it is the product of significant and quality time spent regularly and consistently with God.