Inspiration For You

Tips on How to Prepare a Devotional Talk

The most important credential of the devotional speaker is her credibility. How believable is she? Does she testify to the truth of her message because she believes it herself? Does she practice what she is recommending to others? The answers to these questions will determine the impact of her massage.

Preparation Gives You Credibility

The Need to Pray: The first preparation for a devotional talk takes place in the heart of the speaker. It is essential to pray for:

• the choice of the topic, if one has not already been assigned
• God's help in the preparation of the material
• the presence of the Holy Spirit in the delivery of the talk

Consider the Group

• What kind of people make up the group?
• What are their backgrounds (culture, education, socio-economic status)
• What issues do they face in life?
• What are their spiritual needs?

General Aim of a Devotional

• To focus attention on God and His relationship to us
• To provide opportunity for the listener to strengthen her connection with God
• To encourage commitment and faithfulness to God

Specific Aim: Set a specific aim for the talk and write it down. For example, my aim is to show that:

• God loves us completely, or
• God walks with us daily, or
• Forgiveness heals us, or
• Love makes us free

Tools: Study relevant Bible passages for each of the parts of the main body of the talk. There are several tools that can help with this task:

• A concordance to help locate Bible verses
• Various versions and translations to compare different readings of the text
• Bible dictionaries and Bible encyclopedias to help give the context, historical background, cultural and literary characteristics of the text
• Bible commentaries to assist in interpreting the text. Thus, God walks with me when....

by Carole Ferch-Johnson