Do Your Personal Devotions Affect More More People Than You?

In the US today, thousands of personal devotional books have been written for every occasion and “brand” of Christian.  Over time, the vast volume of these resources (many of which are very good) have led us as Americans into believing that we should interpret the Bible by saying, “what does this passage mean for me”.  This individualistic approach in turn has led us into the lie that says our personal devotional time is for us only and has no affect on anyone else.

The truth is, that while reading scripture with a self-application mindset is a great way to do devotions, this approach is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how we should be reading and understanding Scripture.  Recently I have been thinking and talking with fellow believers about how our personal devotional time affects so many more people than ourselves. 

The quiet time that we have with God throughout the day is a primary way in which we speak to and hear from God, discerning his will and growing deeper in relationship with him.  This truly is personal!  What is critical to remember is that how “in tune” we are with God in our personal lives affects our behavior towards the people around us.  When we have open ears to what God is telling us we are aware of when he is telling us to act for his purposes, whether it is to walk across the room to talk to someone, or to move around the world to be a missionary. 

Pastor Mark Oshman has been known to say that our prayer and meditation of the Word with God is personal but not private.  What he means is that our private relationship with God affects our relationships with other people.  A perfect example is George Müller who well known for his extremely close walk with the Lord through daily prayer and Scripture reading.  He said,

“The result of this (morning prayer and meditation) is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened, and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, either very soon after or at a later time, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.”

Throughout his life, Müller gave thousands of orphans homes, schooling, and food through the simple act of praying in support.  Undoubtedly, his personal prayer life led to tremendous impact on each of those orphans and consequently their families later in life.

We see a much greater and more powerful example as we read through the gospels and learn of Jesus’ continual private times of prayer and meditation.  Undoubtedly, if Jesus spent so much time in private prayer when he had nothing to confess, how much more should we!

We have no difficulty in imagining a church where none of the members has any personal time with God and consequently are not in tune with how they should be serving the Lord.  We can also imagine a church where each member lovingly prays and worships the Lord and meditates on Scripture each day.  We can have no doubt that God will powerfully use this second church as a body in powerful ways because of their daily personal communion with him. 

As we consider how we are serving the Lord today and where God is leading us, we must remember that we are part of the body of Christ and that our daily walk with God is about more than just ourselves. 

PRS