Finding Intimacy with God Through Daily Devotions

by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Before I was born, my parents dedicated me to the Lord and purposed to teach me (and the six other children who would follow) the Word and ways of God.

Much as a greenhouse is designed to nurture young plants and protect them from forces that might damage their tender roots, our parents sought to create in our home a climate that was conducive to spiritual growth, where we were nurtured in the Word and ways of God and sheltered from unwholesome or dangerous influences.

The Spirit used the spiritual care of those earliest years to cultivate the soil of my heart, to make it tender and responsive to His wooing and to make me aware of my need for a Savior. My first conscious memory, in fact, is of the afternoon of May 14, 1963, when at the age of four I gave my heart to Christ. In that moment, God planted within me a seed—the seed of eternal life—and placed within me a new life—the life of His Son, Jesus.

Until that day, according to God’s Word, I was “dead in . . . trespasses and sin” (Eph. 2:1). I had no connection to the God of the universe. But at that moment, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, I became alive.

At the time, I had little comprehension of the fact that God is the supreme Lover who desires intimacy with His creatures. And I certainly had little awareness of the incredible price He had paid to make it possible for me to live in union and communion with Him.

All I knew was that I needed Him, that He wanted me, and that Jesus was the One who made it possible for us to have that relationship. And early in my Christian life, I learned about one of the practical means to cultivate such a relationship with God. It had to do with something my earthly father practiced daily—something he called “devotions.”

Each morning, in the midst of an extremely active and busy household and with the demands of growing a successful business, he managed to spend an hour or more alone with the Lord. 

Early in his Christian life, my father was challenged to give the first part of every day to the Lord in the Word and in prayer. From that day, until the day he went to heaven twenty-eight years later, he never missed a single day of this devotional practice. Nothing was more important to him than growing in his relationship with the Lord, and he believed strongly that nothing was more essential to maintaining that relationship than a daily time alone with the Lord.

Daily devotions were not something my parents ever forced on us, but the influence of my dad’s example and training in this area was profound. Although he has been with the Lord since 1979, the image of a dad on his knees before the Lord (I don’t know how many kneeling pads he wore out over the years) is indelibly etched on my mind and heart.

Since my early childhood, I have made a practice of beginning my day with the Lord; this discipline has not always come easily for me. As much as I value and need it, I have often struggled to make it a consistent reality.

There have been mornings when I’ve allowed my pillow, my phone, or an overflowing inbox to win out and have ended up spending only a few hurried moments with the Lord. At times, I have missed out altogether on spending time alone with Him.

But I have come to believe with all my heart that this is something worth fighting for. The enemy of my soul knows that if he can win this battle, he will be able to defeat me in other areas of my life. He hates God, and he works tirelessly to convince us that we can operate on our own, independently of our Maker. He’s well aware that if we take that path, we will end up spiritually defeated, frustrated, barren, and fruitless. Worse, we will end up doubting God and His goodness, in bondage to our flesh, and resisting His will.

Over the years, I’ve discovered another, even more important, reason to guard this time alone with the Lord. I have come to see practicing “devotions” less as an obligation of the Christian life and more as an incredible opportunity to know the God of the universe. He has issued to you and me an invitation to draw near to Him and experience an intimate love relationship with Him. For me (most days) “devotions” have become not so much a duty as a delight—an awesome privilege to share sweet union and communion with the Bridegroom of my soul.

Yet, I’m convinced that few subjects evoke such feelings of guilt, failure, and frustration among believers as the matter of “daily devotions.”

Of those believers who do have some sort of devotional life, many approach this time with the sense that it is something they ought to do. Others have tried and failed so many times that they are tempted to give up, or they already have. Still others have never even started and have no idea what they are missing.

Then there are those whose lives bear the sweet, rich fruit of meeting with God on a consistent basis. I’ve been blessed to know a number of these people over the years, and the fragrance of their lives has deepened my own longing to know God.

Adapted from A Place of Quiet Rest: Finding Intimacy With God Through a Daily Devotional Life by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. (©2025). Published by Moody Publishers. Used with permission. 

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is the founder and lead Bible teacher for Revive Our Hearts, a ministry dedicated to calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. Nancy's love for Christ and passion for helping women cultivate a vibrant devotional life are evident through her writing, digital, and conference outreaches and her two daily audio teachings—Revive Our Hearts and Seeking Him. Her books have sold millions of copies and are reaching the hearts of women around the world. Nancy and her husband, Robert, live in Michigan.