10 Minute Daily Devotions

The Anglican tradition has a good, flexible framework for brief 10 minute daily devotions. In the Book of Common Prayer, devotions for morning, noon, early evening and night can be found on https://bcponline.org/ (under Table of Contents: Daily Devotions). The Book of Alternative Services also has a section on Home Prayers (available here for download - https://www.anglican.ca/about/liturgicaltexts/).

Here, as a start, is a simplified version of a morning devotion during Lent:

Open with saying Psalm 51 together (or choose a favorite Psalm) as a call to worship: Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.// Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.// Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.// Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.// Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Choose a daily Bible reading: here I recommend either choosing a reading or two from that day's lectionary readings (https://lectionary.anglican.ca/ - a three year plan for reading through the whole of Scripture) or choose one book of the Bible to read together during Lent (perhaps one of the Gospels). Read a brief portion together. If you want, ask open-ended questions like “what did you hear in the passage?” or simply have a time of quiet reflection.

Sing a hymn or song together or say the Apostles’ Creed.

Offer prayers: One simple guide for doing so is the 5-finger prayer:  holding up your hand, show the children how the shape of their fingers helps them remember ways to pray: Thumb: closest to us: pray for those dearest to our hearts; Index “pointer”:  pray for those who instruct, teach and heal us – they need direction and wisdom to do their job well (parents, teachers, doctors); Middle: the tallest of the fingers: pray for those in authority (government); Ring: the weakest of our fingers: pray for those in need (sick, poor, estranged); Pinkie: smallest finger: once we have prayed for others, we have the perspective we need to pray for ourselves and our needs.

Say together The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen

Close with a Collect [see other options in Prayers for the Beginning of the Day post]: O Lord our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us in the same with your might power and grant that today we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings may be ordered by your governance, to do always what is righteous in your sight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen