Daily Bible Study – Immanuel experience…

LEARN and PRACTICE the WORD of GOD

Prepare for Christmas – December 19

Devotion

Devotion to God implies ardent affection for Him—a yielding of the heart to Him with reverence, faith, and piety in every act, particularly in prayer and meditation. Every devoted Christian desires to be more devoted to his God. To desire to be more devotional is not an evidence of lack of devotion, but, on the contrary, an evidence of devotion.

Devotion belongs to the inner life and lives in the closet, but also appears in the public services of the sanctuary. It is a part of the very spirit of true worship, and is of the nature of the spirit of prayer.

Our devotion to God must be as our closest friend.

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Our devotion to God should be wholehearted. 

I Chronicles 28:9 “And you, my son, Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

Our devotion to God must obey Him wholeheartedly

Mark 12:29-31 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

Acts 2:42–43 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”

Prayer and fear of God is the highest form of devotion

Prayer promotes the spirit of devotion, while devotion is favourable to the best praying. Devotion furthers prayer and helps to drive prayer home to the object which it seeks. Prayer thrives in the atmosphere of true devotion. It is easy to pray when in the spirit of devotion. The attitude of mind and the state of heart implied in devotion make prayer effectual in reaching the throne of grace. God dwells where the spirit of devotion resides. All the graces of the Spirit are nourished and grow well in the environment created by devotion. Indeed, these graces grow nowhere else but here. The absence of a devotional spirit means death to the graces born in a renewed heart. True worship finds congeniality in the atmosphere made by a spirit of devotion. While prayer is helpful to devotion, at the same time devotion reacts on prayer, and helps us to pray.

Devotion engages the heart in prayer. It is not an easy task for the lips to try to pray while the heart is absent from it. The charge which God at one time made against His ancient Israel was, that they honoured Him with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. The very essence of prayer is the spirit of devotion. Without devotion prayer is an empty form, a vain round of words.

Prayer: Abba Father,  I believe Your Son Jesus Christ. As he is loyal to You, let us also be loyal to You and Your Son. Please keep us safe in the earthly life. As You are our Comforter, Counsellor and Refugee,  give us the discernment to have a holy life. Kindly release your angelic ministry in favour of us. Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. He is my Friend and I want to be true friend of Jesus. Fill us with Holy Spirit and lead us in Your Way. I pray by the name of Jesus. Amen