In our first segment called “Solving the Family Devotion Dilemma, Part 1: Younger Kids,” we looked at some age-related tips to help with your family devo time with preschoolers and elementary-aged kids.
This segment cranks it up a notch by considering ways your teens can have more meaningful Bible study and prayer times on their own and with your family unit. Sharing these ideas with your teen provides opportunities few parents are brave enough to tackle! But if you’ll rise to the challenge, your family can experience some interesting and life-changing discoveries about God and His current involvement in your daily lives.
Younger Teens
For preteens (5th–6th graders):
Depending on your household routine, many tweens go to bed on their own—making it more difficult for “bedtime prayers” or devotions, as you may have had when they were younger. But, this is a great age for them to begin keeping a record, or journal, of their Bible reading and personal prayer times with God.
Journaling is normally more common with girls than with boys, but not exclusively! If your son enjoys writing, then it would be great for him to keep entries—maybe in a spiral notebook—of what he reads from his Bible, along with a few prayer requests.
Preteens can also benefit from watching God work through answered prayers by keeping a prayer checklist somewhere in their bedroom—perhaps on their wall. This can make a great visual reminder for the ways God answers their prayers—whether those have to do with asking God’s help with concentrating on school work, assistance with friendships, or healing those who are sick.
Older Teens
For older teens (9th–12th graders):
Your older kids in high school are definitely in the age bracket where family devotion time becomes more involved. An approach we’ve tried—and has been fairly successful—is to all have the same Bible passage to read that day, and then meet up for a few minutes in the evening to share what the passage means to each person, and how it can be applied to daily life. You may also choose to have separate, individual Bible passages to read/study/share with the family.
Remember, it’s ok for your teen to have a different perspective on the Scripture, or to have a lot of questions—wondering what the passage even means! Take this opportunity to discover meaning of words or phrases right there on the spot by using online commentaries or Bible dictionaries. Learning these things together can be interesting and a time of spiritual growth for your whole family. Be sure to end your family devotion time with prayer requests or sharing thankfulness for how God has provided answers or direction since you last met together.
Why bother with family devotions?
The point of family devotion time is that your family members are digging into God’s Word together—even if it’s only for a few minutes each day. Modeling Bible study and prayer time alongside your kids is setting a great example that’s actually mandated to us as parents from the book of Deuteronomy (chapter 6) and throughout Scripture. Once you start on this path of making it an intentional part of your day, you’ll find how this “dilemma” can be changed to delighting in a stronger relationship with the Lord—for yourself and your entire family.