Did you know there are over 15,000 devotional books for sale on Amazon?

The choices are endless. With so many to choose from it can be overwhelming trying to pick the right one. How do we decide which one is right for us when there are so many to sift through?

If you’re searching for a new devotional book, I recommend using these six steps to guide you in your quest to find the perfect devotional. I use this process myself when I’m trying to choose the right devotional book, and it makes the decision process much less complicated.

1. Pick the Right Topic

To help narrow down the choices, we first need to decide what type of devotional book to get. But where do we begin? Do we just pick one that looks good?

As tempting as it is, we don’t want to grab the first aesthetically pleasing book we see on the shelf. We want to choose one that’s right for us—one that will meet us where we are and encourage us to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Before we choose the topic, it’s important to pause and take a few moments with the Lord. As you spend time with God, ask Him to reveal any areas in your spiritual walk that need attention, and with a willing heart listen to His promptings. No one who knows us better than the Lord. Allowing Him to speak to our heart can help us determine the topic of our devotional book. For example, if He reveals our prayer life is lacking, then a devotional on prayer would be a good choice.

2. Ask for Recommendations

Now that we’ve decided on the subject matter for our devotional, it’s time to get recommendations from friends and family.

Have you ever bought a book and then been disappointed after you read it? Me too—which is why I love to gather feedback from people I know personally. Personal testimonies from those who have read the book are more intimate and provide deeper insight into what we can expect from the book.

3. Get to Know The Author 

The recommendations from your friends and family are in, but you don’t recognize some of the authors’ names. What now?

Before we decide on a book, it’s a good idea to visit the author’s website or author page. By visiting their site, we’ll be able to discover more about who they are as a person, their beliefs, and what they’re passionate about.

4. Take a Peek Inside

The best way to get a taste of what a book entails is to sample a few of the pages. Technology, or rather the internet, has made it easier than ever to do this. Online bookstores now give us the option to peek inside of the book before we make our purchase.

While most books have this option available, there are still a few out there that don’t. If you’re not able to view a few of the pages online, you can always take a trip up to the library to glance inside the book.

5. Make Sure it’s Biblically Sound

This next step is so important!

To grow as Christ followers we need to regularly spend time in God’s word—and by that, I mean the actual bible. Devotional books are wonderful, but they aren’t designed to replace the bible.

When you’re deciding on a devotional book make sure the material in the book can be backed up by scripture. A good devotional will always point to Jesus and encourage you to seek God’s word for yourself. If you decide to follow only one step, please let this be the one you choose to follow.

6. Pray for Wisdom

You have prayed about your theme, gotten recommendations, checked out the authors, peeked inside, and made sure it was biblically sound, but you’ve only narrowed it down to two or three books. You want to pick the best one, but you can’t decide.

Which one do we choose when they all seem exceptional?

When I served as the Bible Study Coordinator on the women’s ministry team at church, one of my responsibilities was to pick and choose bible studies for our ladies to participate in. There are 1000’s of studies available so even after getting recommendations, checking out the authors, and figuring out the theme it was challenging trying to pick the right one.

I wanted to choose wisely, so when I couldn’t decide I would ask God to give me the wisdom to determine the best study for our ladies. And you know what? He always leads me to the right one. James 1:5 says, “ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  If you’re still unsure about which devotional to get, ask God to help you choose the best one. He’ll provide you with the wisdom to make the right decision.

I hope these steps will help you choose a devotional book that’s right for you. If you’re looking for a few good recommendations, I invite you to read  10 Must-Have Devotional Books That Will Encourage Your Heart.

Thank you for joining me today.

~Kelly

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