Developing A Heart for God

I really wanted to enjoy this devotional, but unfortunately I’ve been disappointed so far. There are some glaring editing issues, including phrases and partial sentences that appear to have been accidentally pasted twice, resulting in awkward and confusing sentences. My greater concern, though, is with some of the biblical applications themselves.

I completely understand that a devotional has to narrow its focus. I don’t expect every entry to explore the full meaning of a passage. My concern is that some of these devotionals don’t simply focus on one aspect of a biblical truth, but make very definitive statements that seem to reduce that truth to a particular interpretation.

For example, the first devotional states that “the summation of the law of the Lord” is mercy and builds its understanding of walking blamelessly almost entirely around that assertion. Later, when discussing idolatry, the author suggests that we can identify idols by considering how much we pray. Prayer is incredibly important, but presented this way, someone could easily conclude that spending more time on ordinary activities than in prayer means those things have become idols.

The issue for me isn’t that these devotionals need more information added to them. It’s that some of the conclusions are stated so definitively that there is very little room for a reader to understand them as simply one possible application. I worry that, rather than helping readers thoughtfully examine their hearts and relationship with God, this approach could unintentionally encourage a more legalistic understanding of Scripture and create unnecessary guilt.

There are good ideas throughout, and I really wanted to love the concept, but the combination of the editing problems and the way several passages have been presented has made this devotional difficult for me to recommend.

I bought 2 copies of this on a flash sale & I’m so glad I did! One for me, one for my niece. So much wisdom & depth.

Developing a Heart for God is a beautiful hardcover devotional on Psalm 119. Psalm 119 can be the most dreaded Psalm in the Bible, but it has some of the best verses. This book works through all 176 verses one at a time with beautiful photographs on almost every page. I am usually not a big fan of devotionals because I would rather just focus on the Bible, but this book does exactly that - focuses on the Bible. It focuses on one verse at a time and then gives commentary on just that one verse. The goal of the book is to focus on mediation and prayer as discussed in the introduction. It is fascinating to dive deep into just one verse at a time and be able to mediate on just that one verse. Each verse page ends with a prompt for what to focus on while you mediate and pray. This devotional makes a great resource for families or to give as a gift.

I really enjoyed this devotional! It’s beautiful and perfect to have out on the coffee table. I love how it breaks Psalm 119 down into easy to read daily devotions. I’ve always admired David’s prayers and I love how this devotional helps to enrich your prayer life.

Developing a Heart for God is an inspiring devotional book that goes through the 176 verses of Psalm 119 one verse at a time. The photographs are lovely. Each day gives us the verse, a thoughtful commentary and a question to prayerfully answer.

Developing a Heart is full of rich meditations about God and his Word based on Psalm 119 that can be used for the whole family. Although the scripture quoted is not in our family's preferred version, most of the meditations are still very applicable and it's nice to compare versions as a commentary of sorts. The physical book has a beautiful layout with high quality photographs that add to the experience. Although I have mostly used the audiobook version of this resource, I found myself frequently referring to the text to copy quotes into my commonplace book.

I'm not a big fan of devotionals as many I have encountered go over one verse and then someone's story. This book does not. It goes over every verse in Psalm 119 and has other Bible verses in each devotional lesson, digging deeper into that verse, referencing passages in the Old and New Testament. Full of many full color pictures, this book is not only pleasing to the eye but a read to dig into God's word as a daily devotional.
Good for the coffee table and good to read with a cup of coffee.
I now never need to wonder what to gift someone, this is it.

A wonderful daily verse by verse devotional concentrating on the entire chapter of Psalm 119- King David’s heartfelt prayers. This devotional will provide the ability to meditate on each verse daily and gain a better understanding on how to apply our own heartfelt prayers to the Lord.

A wonderful daily verse by verse devotional concentrating on the entire chapter of Psalm 119- King David’s heartfelt prayers. This devotional will provide the ability to meditate on each verse daily and gain a better understanding on how to apply our own heartfelt prayers to the Lord.

This visually captivating devotional would make a beautiful gift for anyone in middle school and older. It is a guide for how to meditate and pray through Psalm 119. If you’ve never learned how to pray through God’s Word this is a wonderful introduction on how to do that.