In December, I was in the market for a new devotional book. I went to this used bookstore in town to see what they had, and I picked up this book that I'd never heard of before. It was called "31 Days of Praise" by Ruth and Warren Myers. I thought it looked interesting, so I bought it and took it home. I read through it during the month of January and liked it so much that I read it again during the month of February. I have already recommended this book to a friend, so I thought I'd recommend it to you guys. I found it to be just what I needed. Even if you can't find this book yourselves, I hope these tips that I learned from it will be helpful.
Here are three things I learned from "31 Days of Praise":
1. Taking it slow.
I hardly know how to describe this, but this devotional helped me to slow down and relax. I guess a lot of devotional books for me just felt like a part of the day's work. You wake up, read your devotional, then go and do more work. This book didn't do that with me. It felt like an escape, almost. It kinda took me out of my day. It felt nice. It was a time to sort of rest from what I had to do. That's a good feeling to have about a devotional book. It's okay to slow down and rest and just be with God.
2. It's not about you.
I had this discussion with my friend about devotionals and how she liked ones that are practical. I have always liked those kinds as well. The thing with this book is that it isn't so applicable. It doesn't give you a Bible verse and say, "This is what you should do because of it." This book is structured to be a prayer to God. It's about taking the time to be grateful and thanking God for who He is and what He's done. I've never read a devotional like this. I found this book helpful for me because I tend to get really focused on applications and getting things right, but this helped me to just stop and be grateful for a minute or two. It helped me take the focus off of what I was doing and focus on who God is.
3. Be grateful.
How could I talk about this book and not talk about gratefulness? The word was mentioned twice already in my previous tip! Each day, you are given a new thing to be thankful for and to praise God for. It may be something He's done for you or just who He is. Each day is different. One day could be about thanking God for your family, and the next could be thanking him for the people who have hurt you. One day could be about praising God for His goodness, and the next praising Him for His justice. This book brought me a new perspective. It got my eyes off of my worries and reminded me of all the good things I should be grateful for.
Like I said, even if you can't get your hands on the book, I hope these tips were helpful. I think you can get this book online, though.
There's also more than just the devotional days. There's some more information that the authors give about the inspiration for the book and more details about praise. I just thought I'd talk about the devotional days since that's the main focus of the book.
What are some devotionals that you like? There are so many out there! If you've been looking for one, this'll be good for you.
Good luck!
