I always meant to have a daily time of prayer and Bible study with our family.

I always meant to teach my kids the importance of being in God’s Word each day.

I always meant to create a home environment, by God’s grace, where it’s entirely normal for us to pray for each other.

I always meant to, but things got busy. The kids got more numerous. Mornings became more hectic. The seasons came and went, and still I meant to incorporate this discipline into the regular life of our family. And then I began a year long discipleship relationship with some other men in our church where we weekly sat together, prayed for one another, and tried to live out the role of a leader in the different aspects of our lives. One of the lasting effects of that year has been that “meant to” actually came into existence.

We have, by God’s grace, been maintaining a family devotion for a number of years now. Some days are better than others, and we’ve had to adjust our rhythm several times as the kids continue to grow and the daily schedule changes. But there are some practical things, I think, that I’ve picked up along the way.

I tried to summarize some of the stuff our family has learned in this little e-book, 11 Keys to Starting Family Devotions. And in the end, I’ve discovered that getting started is probably the most difficult part. That, and the fact that just showing up day after day is one of the best things we can do to maintain this practice.

My hope in putting this resource together is that a lot of moms and dads out there who are meaning to do something like this would have a tangible and simple guide for how to get started and an encouragement to keep going. And that as they read this, they, too, will discover that there is nothing really mystical about this process – it’s just the decision to get going, stumble along, and then go at it again tomorrow.

You can download the e-book for free by subscribing to the blog through the box on the right side of the website. By subscribing, you will not only get the e-book, but you’ll get daily posts delivered to your inbox. I hope you will, and I hope the resource is helpful for you and others.