Devotional Prompts

By Don Michael, Sr

Discover the simple joy of keeping a record of your reflections about God, yourself, and others and watch as your most important relationships deepen over time. The purpose of the Devotional Prompts is to help you with your personal devotional time, your everyday private worship. Each prompt presents a tenet of faith or personal discovery for you to consider, and includes a call to action. Going beyond passive reading and acceptance, Devotional Prompts encourages you to write out what's in your heart, to see the wisdom of God you have glimpsed in your own life, and to highlight those areas in your life where you need to grow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David R. Michael
• Release date: Dec 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310897511

Book preview

Introduction

The purpose of Devotional Prompts is to help you with your personal devotional time, your everyday private worship. Each prompt presents a tenet of faith or personal discovery for you to consider, and includes a call to action. Going beyond passive reading and acceptance, Devotional Prompts encourages you to write out what's in your heart, to see the wisdom of God you have glimpsed in your own life, and to highlight those areas in your life where you need to grow.

Devotional Prompts was created so you could have a devotional once per day for nearly 6 months. However, you can use the prompts as often or as seldom as you please.

There is no right or wrong way to respond to the prompts in Devotional Prompts. These prompts serve only to get you started thinking and writing. If possible, try to write for at least 10 minutes, being as direct and be as honest as you can.

NOTE: This ebook contains all 177 prompts from the Devotional Prompts 1 and Devotional Prompts 2 add-ons originally created for use with DavidRM Software’s The Journal.

Take Joy

Joy is not just a feeling, it is an attitude that comes from within us. Joy is not dependent upon our situations, though our situations will try to determine our attitude. When people see our joyful attitude it can cause them to be drawn into the same attitude. Therefore, if we choose to smile as if we have no problems, then that will keep the atmosphere around us upbeat. Sometimes we just have to take joy even though we may not want to. The Bible (Phil 4:4) says Rejoice, and again, I say, rejoice. Choose joy and keep yourself and those around you happy.

Write down at least 5 things in your life that bring you joy. If situations or people try to bring you down today, remember what you wrote and let the joy show through.

Casting

As a boy, I liked to cast a baseball up on the tin roof of our house and catch it as it came back down. It was a lot of fun because I could play by myself and know that the ball was always coming back down to me. Sometimes, though, I would cast it too hard and it would roll down the other side of the roof, then I would have to go look for it. As I have grown older, I have learned that many times being able to cast things away is a good thing. In fact, I learned that I could cast all my cares and worries over to God and He would take care of them. Casting those cares and worries to God is a good thing, as He told us in I Peter 5:7: Cast all your cares on God, for He cares for you. Now I cast them away and don’t go looking for them again as I did with my baseball. I have found that if I let them go, God can work them out.

Have you learned to cast your cares and worries away? Write down those cares and worries that are bothering you, write across them I cast these over to God, for He cares for me. Now don’t go looking for them again, let them go.

Specific Words

We live in a world of words. Everything that happens does so because somebody has spoken it or written it in some form. You want a hamburger, you don't just ask for food, you are specific in what you want: I want a hamburger. Most people fail to realize just how powerful specific words can be in determining the way their day/life goes. Think about some specific words that you have spoken before and the results that you received.

Write down what you want today for your job, your spouse, your friends, and even your boss. Be as specific as you can.

Encouraging Words

Words are important in social relations. We need to be careful what and how we say anything. Words can build up or tear down. Many children go through their childhood without hearing an encouraging word. These children will grow up with a very low self esteem and probably end up doing the same thing to those around them. Sadly, even adults working together tend to tear each other down instead of building up by speaking encouraging words. Proverbs 18:21 says: Power of life and death is in the tongue. Have you spoken encouraging words today, or have your words been derogatory? Learn to listen to what you are saying. Speak words that will build up, help and encourage.

Think of people in your life who need specific words of encouragement. Write down their names. Follow up by writing down all the times you encouraged someone today. Make it your goal to do even more tomorrow!

Words for Self

The person we tend to speak negative about the most is: ourselves. We put ourselves down, we call ourselves ugly names, and we wonder why we have low self esteem. One way to turn that around is to begin speaking well of ourselves. It is not wrong to talk to yourself, everybody does whether they admit it or not. When you speak to or about yourself, say words that build up and encourage. As you do, you will find that you feel much better about yourself.

List some of the words that you have spoken about yourself and a list of words that you should be speaking. Pay attention to what you say about yourself today.

Hope

Hope is one of the least understood words that we use. It is generally used for what might happen but isn't really expected. I hope it doesn’t rain even though rain is predicted; I hope it snows when snow is far away; and other hopes without substance. Biblical hope (Phil. 1:19-20) is an earnest expectation based on a sure fact or foundation. That kind of hope will bring results. When you hope for anything, find something to base it on. Don't just blindly say I hope so. Base your hope on something solid. I like to base my hope on the promises found in the Bible.

Write down your list of hopes, and what you base those hopes on. If there's something on your list that seems to have a weak foundation, write down ways you could shore it up.

Words for Children

Children are a gift, given to us to train and care for until they are mature enough to take care of themselves. Many children seem to never reach that point of maturity. Why? Sometimes it is because of the words that were spoken to or about them as they were growing up. Words that hurt or demean, such as, You'll never amount to anything, You're such a dumb brat, You hard-headed, stubborn, good-for-nothing, why did we get stuck with you? should never be spoken to children. If you have been guilty of speaking harsh, destructive words to children, maybe you need to apologize and then think about other words that you could have used that would have accomplished better results. Watch the words you speak to or about children, whether they are your own or somebody else's.

Think back to your childhood and consider the words that were spoken to you and/or your siblings, did they encourage or did they discourage? Make a list of good words to speak to children.

Words for Loved Ones

What we say to or about one another is very important. The person we are guilty of speaking the harshest about by tearing them down with words is the one we care for the most. Does this sound like you, if so, what are you going to do about it?

Today decide that you are going to speak good, kind, and encouraging words to and/or about each other. Make a list of good things you can say about each other and use it.

Jealousy

What makes you jealous? Jealousy is an emotion controlled by your spirit and affects your whole being. Jealousy has destroyed more marriages and relationships than almost anything else. Take charge of it by building trust and knowing that you are loved. Don't allow what is probably innocent behavior to cause jealousy. The Bible says Love is never jealous.

Make a list of what may be causing jealousy and strive to not allow it to control you anymore.

Kindness

Being kind is one of the easiest things we can do to make others feel good, but it seems to be one of the hardest things to do. Could it be that we are waiting for someone to be kind to us first? Learn to be kind and you will find that kindness will come to you. Do you remember the last person who was kind to you? Did it cause you to desire to be kind to the next person you met?

Make a list of people who have been kind to you and how you can return the kindness. Now make a list of those to whom you need to be kind and decide what you can do to show that kindness.

Keep On

Don't give up! There may be something going on in your life that makes you want to give up. Let this note be an encouragement to you to not give up. You can overcome. Believe in yourself and keep on.

Make a list of