Devotional reading is purposeful reading that is focused on allowing scripture to help us interact with the Lord. This is well described by George Muller of Bristol:
The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication;so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer…
Now what is the food for the inner man: not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts… (Cited in “Desiring God” by John Piper, pp155-157)
This is a great way to start your day. Wayne Grudem also uses a method like this:
Usually I just “camp” on a phrase or verse, sometimes writing it out and pondering application to my own life. I also keep a blank notepad beside me because God often brings to my mind things that I need to do and I make a quick note.
Typically with this method you wouldn’t necessarily read as broadly as you might with the time otherwise. Alternatively you might also be more selective in where you read from – for example spending more time in Psalms than in perhaps the first five books (the Pentateuch).
Slowly moving through the text allowing ourselves to soak in it and respond to what we find there is a great practice, however, it may not be for everyone. Personally I’ve found this more effective the longer I’ve been a Christian. If you are new believer, you might prefer the hunger based method for the moment.
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