By CJ Hitz
Do you want to learn how to write a Christian devotional? In this blog post, we will cover how to determine your devotional topic, length, and format.
The word “devotional” is something we hear quite often in Christian circles. Webster defines the root word, devotion, as “religious fervor; an act of prayer or private worship; a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation.”
So, in a sense, writing a Christian devotional is like creating a private worship experience through the written word. It’s a form of stirring up someone else’s religious fervor through the words we write.
Christian devotionals can be found on social media channels, website blog posts, magazines, or books to name a few. We have personally written and published several books containing 21 individual devotionals. For example, A Heart for Prayer: 21 Days of Drawing Close to Father God.
Years ago, we heard it typically takes 21 days to form a habit. The goal behind any of our 21-day devotional books is to help people develop a daily habit of meeting with God and encouraging their faith in some way.
If you’ve ever wondered how to write devotionals, this post is a great place to start.
How to Write Devotionals
Determine Your Devotional Topic
The first step as you consider writing a devotional is to determine the topic or theme. The devotional title should relate to this topic in some way. For example, let’s say the main topic of a devotional is growing and maturing in faith. The title might be something clever like, “Growing Pains.”
I’m a huge believer that a Christian devotional should originate from the time we spend reading the bible. As we saturate our hearts and minds with God’s Word, there will be stories or illustrations from our lives that may come to mind. For example, let’s say you find yourself meditating on Hebrews 12:1,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
As a long-distance runner, that word “endurance” certainly stands out. I have all kinds of stories and experiences of training and developing endurance. For me, the next step would be looking at Hebrews 12:1 in the Blue Letter Bible app on my smartphone (or BlueLetterBible.com) . Then I’ll zoom in on that word “endurance” and the Greek root word.
Digging in like this helps me extract more gold nuggets that might aid my hypothetical devotional titled, “Enduring to the End.”
One of the keys in learning how to write devotionals is to have a folder or journal you fill with personal stories and illustrations which can be used for content. Years ago, I remember hearing evangelist Ray Comfort say, “I actually pray for things to happen in my daily life that could be used as illustrations for my writing and speaking.”
I enjoy beginning a devotional with a story or illustration before transitioning to a key bible verse or passage I’m highlighting
Some of our devotional topics could be inspired by personal stories and experiences which then remind us of a story in the Bible.
If you would like to learn more on how you can have the right motivation so you can determine your devotional topic, check out our podcast on The Key to Motivation.
Determine Your Devotional Length
A typical devotional should be anywhere from 150 to 500 words in length. When thinking of how to write a Christian devotional, I like to think of leaving a person with a nugget of truth they can chew on throughout the day. Or perhaps something that whets their appetite (appetizer) to dig into the bible even more.
The shorter the devotional, the more choosy you have to be with your words. It’s the same with a speech. A 10 minute speech will take more thought and effort than a 45 minute speech. In the same way, a 150 word devotional will take more thought than a 500 word devotional.
I love Eugene Peterson’s book, Every Step an Arrival, as an example of shorter devotionals. Each of the 90 devotionals is 150-170 words which means there’s no room for fluff. The writer certainly knows how to maximize his words.
If you’ve been commissioned by a Christian magazine to write a 250 word devotional, you don’t want to give them something that’s 400 words and hope they don’t notice. Sure, those extra 150 words contained some wonderful prose but failed to meet the desires of the magazine.
In a similar way, if you’re writing a book containing 365 devotionals, being concise in your word count becomes important unless you’re trying to compete with The Lord of the Rings series with its 576,459 words.
Again, if you’re writing a book of devotionals, staying consistent with the word count is good practice. It helps you make the most of your words while also giving your reader that measure of what to expect each day as they sit down to devour what you’ve written.
Like any good writing, be prepared to add and subtract the words you write. Some like to do this as they go, while others will hammer out a messy first draft before going back to refine it.
One of our academy members finished her devotional book in less than 3 months. You can read her story here.
Determine Your Devotional Format
A final thing to consider as you write your devotional is format. This is something you can easily do at the beginning as well. I think we can all agree that the devotional title should be at the top and in larger letters than the main devotional body. But how about after that? This is where each person’s preference comes in.
Some like to highlight a single bible verse below the title that’s either centered or aligned to the left. Others might highlight a quote by a popular author or pastor. This verse or quote gives the reader a clue about where you might be going from there. You could even choose to jump right into the devotional body without any highlighted quote beforehand.
After completing your devotional, you might want to leave the reader with a discussion question or thought to meditate upon. You could also point them to another bible passage for further reading on the topic. Another way to close each devotional is to write out a prayer the reader can lift up to the Lord. Whatever you choose to leave the reader pondering, keep it 1-2 sentences.
No matter what you decide upon, try making this format consistent if you’re writing a devotional book. A magazine or website editor will most-likely give you a specific format they would prefer for their audience.
Learning how to write devotionals is something each of us can become better at with practice. If you have stories, love to write, and enjoy watching others draw closer to the Lord, writing Christian devotionals may be something God wants to do in and through you!
Resources for How to Write Devotionals
- Bible Gateway (https://www.biblegateway.com/) – Find out what any bible verse says in numerous translations (i.e. NIV, NLT, KJV, NKJV, NASB, etc.)
- Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/) – Look up the Greek or Hebrew meanings of individual words within a particular verse in scripture. I enjoy using the BLB app on my smartphone as well.
- Open Bible (https://www.openbible.info/topics/) – Type in a specific word (i.e. “faith” or “trust”) and see what the bible has to say on that topic.
- Writing Wheel eBook: Learn 5 proven writing strategies so you can get more writing done. Download it for free here.
- Writing Devotionals video training: If you want to go deeper, we have training on how to write devotionals inside our online membership, Christian Book Academy in the Specialty Books module.
In the academy, we help you write words that outlive you and self-publish books that fulfill your calling. Click here to find out more and join our community of Kingdom writers.
Share Your Tips on Writing Devotionals
What advice do you have for writing devotionals? Share in the comments below.
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