Christopher D. Hudson - Once-A-Day At the Table Family Devotional: 365 Daily Readings and Conversation Starters for Your Family

FAMILY DEVOTIONAL

365 daily readings and conversation starters for your family

Christopher Hudsons mission is to help people read, understand and apply the Bible. Chris leads a team of Christian publishing professionals at Hudson & Associates, which exists to create Bible resources that strengthen the church. Chris served as general editor for the Voices of Faith Devotional Bible (Zondervan) and College Devotional Bible (Zondervan) and is a regular contributor for the daily inspiration found at Facebook.com/TheBiblePeople. Chris has been an active teacher in his church for nearly 20 years and lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.

Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning childrens products. The worlds largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) holds exclusive publishing rights to the New International Version of the Bible and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.

ZONDERVAN

Once-A-Day At the Table Family Devotional
Copyright 2012 by Zondervan

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

EPub Edition OCTOBER 2012 ISBN: 978-0-310-41918-1

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Once-a-day at the table family devotional / written by the Livingstone Corporation.

p. cm. (Once-a-day)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-310-41917-4 (softcover : alk. paper)

1. Families Prayers and devotions. 2. Devotional calendars. I. Title.

BV255.L58 2012

249 dc23 2012024204

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Jamie DeBruyn
Content provider: Chris Hudson

What do people mean when they say, Im too busy not to pray?

When is the best time for you to pray? Why?

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

P SALM 5:3

In 1 Samuel 13:14, God describes David as a man after [Gods] own heart. One of the ways that King David sought God was through prayer. Davids conversations with God were notable.

In Psalm 5, we find three clues to Davids prayer success. The first is found in the words, In the morning. David didnt pray whenever he felt like it; he prayed every day. More specifically, he prayed every morning. He dedicated the first part of his day to God.

The second clue is found in the words, I lay my requests before you. David wasnt shy about telling God what he needed. He approached God with confidence, the way he would approach a friend. He shared what was going on in his life and what he thought he needed.

The third clue is found in the words, wait expectantly. David didnt drop his requests at the Lords door and then go on his way. He waited for Gods response. Sometimes God said yes; sometimes God said no. Either way, David listened to God.

If you want to be a person after Gods own heart, you need to devote yourself to prayer as David did.

PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for meeting with us any time we approach you. Let us never forget what a privilege it is to talk to you. Amen.

What are some things that people are devoted to?

What gets in the way of devotion to God?

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 desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

1 C HRONICLES 28:9

Devotion is the word we use to describe participating in a short Bible study and discussion, like the one were having now. But the word devotion also refers to the attitude that drives us to seek God.

To be devoted means to be dedicated. And in this verse, David is telling his son Solomon to wholeheartedly dedicate himself to God. King David knew that people cant halfheartedly serve God.

When we do serve God with wholehearted devotion, God will reward us. When we make him the focus of our lives, he will bless us. Thats his promise. The more devoted we become, the more he blesses us.

To devote our life to God means that we live completely for him. It means that we live our life to please and honor him. We seek him, worship him and love himwith our whole heart.

PRAYER

Dear God, you are the only one who deserves our wholehearted devotion. Help us clear the obstacles in our lives that keep us from being wholeheartedly devoted to you. Amen.

Share a time when someone knew you were a believer without having been told. What gave you away?

Share a time when you knew someone was a believer without having been told by that person. How did you know?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Godthis is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will ishis good, pleasing and perfect will