Workshop: How to Give a Devotion or Testimony in 5 minutes or less

In February 2018, I gave a workshop for the Stuttgart PWOC on how to give a devotion. People were sharing good things, but often they were too long, or it was too hard to get someone to say yes. So when asked, I said yes, and put together this presentation, which took up about 40 minutes, including "question and answer" time. I have amplified my notes and slides to recreate what we experienced that day. I hope you find it helpful. 
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A couple of years ago, I went home to visit my parents and my dad asked me to make him a good German supper. “What’s your pleasure?” I asked. “Bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potato salad,” he replied. “I can do that,” I replied and off I went to gather the required ingredients. I went to a local German deli and picked up some homemade sausages, dug into the cabinet for a can of sauerkraut I had sent for Christmas, and boiled up some new potatoes to make the recipe taught to me by my German neighbor. When I put the dishes on the table, my dad looked at the bowl of potato salad and asked, “What’s that?” “German potato salad,” I replied. “That’s not potato salad! Where’s the mayonnaise and eggs and bacon?”” He said. “Well, don’t tell my friend, Sandra, who spent a lot of time making sure I got this just right.” When we finished eating, I asked him how it was. His reply – “It was good, just not what I was expecting.”

All of this is to say that the content of this workshop is mine alone, curated over the last 35 years of giving devotions, testimonies and sermons, warts and all. It may not be what you're expecting, but I hope you enjoy it just the same.

PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) offers women in the military community a place to grow in faith in Jesus Christ and in faith with one another. Bible study is a large part of that journey. Program days and retreats are also an important party of our PWOC experience and we are very thankful for those who plan for these occasional opportunities for learning and fellowship. Outside of those events and our weekly bible studies, our morning fellowship devotions are a very personal way that the gospel message gets transmitted among us. We are always happy for those who are willing to share. 

Think about these questions:
How many of you have been asked to give a devotion at PWOC or some other event? How many of you have said yes? 
What convinced you to say yes? What keeps you from agreeing to take on this challenge? 

Please don't feel alone if you don't know how to start planning to give a devotion… I often feel that way. Also, don't feel bad if you did it and felt like it went off the rails somewhere along the way. It happens to all of us, even those of us who have done it for a long time. 

I’m willing to guess that these are the questions that you all have when beginning the process of preparing a devotion: Do I pick my scripture first and then share a personal experience to go with it? Or do I think of something I want to share about my life and then choose a scripture to fit the story? That is usually where most people start. But I'm going to ask you think about this process in a new way. And that will begin with some definitions – my definitions of devotion, testimony, and sermon.

A Devotion is a story that describes an experience of the presence of God or gives a model of discipleship or faith journeys. The key goal is Inspiration. In a devotion, we are often asking people to see how God is experienced in the world.

A Testimony is a story that tells of your personal experience of God, with the additional purpose of converting marginal Christians or unbelievers and encouraging those who already believe. 

Lastly, a Sermon is a manner of examining scripture to impart biblical knowledge and/or inform Christian Discipleship. It is usually given in a worship setting, complete with scripture readings, hymns and other elements. This is a much more intricate and in-depth process and not the expected length or scope for a devotion or testimony. 

Here are some things to remember as you prepare for to give a devotion or testimony.
• We have very short attention spans – usually about 5 minutes unless we are prepared to concentrate longer. One typewritten page is usually more than 5 minutes
• Devotion time is like a warm up to the day – opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit as we prepare for class and the community that we share there.
• Preparing for something short is harder than preparing something long

• Think about stories you’ve heard or seen, something you’ve read, someone you know and tell the part of the story that inspires you.
• Think about the scriptures you know best - Stories Jesus told, stories about Jesus or lessons from characters in the bible.

• The best devotions come when we pay attention to what’s going on around us and see God present in all the experiences of our lives, not just the overtly religious ones
• It helps to think of your faith story in snapshots or video clips
• Ask yourself these questions: How do I see God working in my life? What changes did or will I make because of this encounter with God? How am I encourage to stay the course and keep the faith?

• Choose scriptures wisely - Make sure they mean what you think they mean. It’s better to choose a few scriptures that you study well, instead of making a scripture fit inappropriately. 
• Stay away from platitudes. They often do more harm than good.

• AND It is also perfectly acceptable to read a prepared devotion that was meaningful to you if you prefer not to share something that you write yourself.

I’ve been doing this a long time, so I’m pretty accomplished at the 5-minute devotion, which some people in my family call, “the blessing.” I like to think it’s not because I’m super holy, because I am not! But I do try to be intentional about seeing God and Jesus and examples of the Kingdom of God in the things I read, the shows and movies I watch and the places I go. 

Here's an example of a devotion, using the criteria previously discussed:

Nathan Chen, Olympic skater, had a disappointing short program in the 2018 Winter Olympic games. He was the favorite of many commentators, and when he fell in the short program, lots of people were heard saying that he didn't live up to his hype as the most balanced male skater for both athleticism and elegance. His preliminary skate was so flawed that he barely made the finals of the men’s competition, which placed him at a significant disadvantage in the finals, making him one of the first skaters of the night. And in that brief 5 minutes, he skated one of the most beautiful programs eve, landing 6 quadruple jumps, a new Olympic record, and the 3rd highest score for a long program in competition history. Her finished 5th overall, but in the end he said that he had to go out there and give it everything he had, for his teammate and the love of skating, and because that's everything he had been training for.

And as i was watching this story unfold, i got this glimpse of how this is like a life of faith. We want to live perfectly, but we make so many mistakes along the way. Instead of giving up, we are called to get back up and start fresh every day. In Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he wrote:

So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1-2 CEB

So, if you fall, get up. And give it all you’ve got. There is joy ahead of you, if you will only keep running toward it. Amen.

Discussion: I often see the God-life in the things I see on TV or in the movies. I don’t think that something has to be explicitly religious or Christian to have great spiritual value. This kind of discernment comes with practice. Religious people are quick to say that the media industry has worked hard to keep religion out of what we see and hear. But I don’t find that to be true. Some of my favorite books/movies/plays with strong religious themes are Wonder, Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman, recently released on DVD. I could do a whole season of devotions from just those three works. God, faith and discipleship literally drip from the words on the page and the songs. If you begin to look, I think you’ll be surprised at the places where God shows up, even when you least expect it. These insights are a great way to remind people of how God is all around.

Here is an example of my testimony (I have many different permutations of this, filed by decade!):

I’ve been a Christian my whole life – I don’t remember a time not knowing who Jesus is and why I need him in my life. And I was raised as a High-Church United Methodist, so the idea of preparing a testimony was really foreign to me until I got to college, where I met a lot of people who asked me the question, “Are you saved?”, which was also a new concept. At first that question really turned me off, but gradually I came to appreciate the opportunity to share how I met Jesus at every step along the way. There were lots of times when I didn’t think I needed God, or that he had taken a break from me. But eventually I realized that he doesn’t do that, ever, and preparing multiple short testimonies has helped me break my crazy, complicated story into manageable pieces. 

The story of my call to ministry is interesting to me and travels a very winding road. But now in my late 50’s I realize that I’d rather talk about the ways that God is still working through me. And as I prepared for PCS season 11 times and my husband’s retirement from the AF last year, I realized that my signature story is in the parable of the Sower (Mark 4:3-9) 

I went into the ministry confident that I would pastor churches in SC and follow a traditional model, like most of my friends. But 11 PCS’s, pastoring 4 congregations in 4 different states, and volunteering in 3 chapels and 5 local churches later, I realize that while I may not see the harvest in most of the places I serve, my call is to be a faithful sower, sharing the good news about Jesus, and modeling a life a faith wherever I go. 

When I was in SC recently, I went to a retreat planned and executed by a woman who was a 7th grader in my first pastorate. As a 7th grader, she did this cool thing at a worship service… she interpreted 1 Cor 13 in personal language, saying, “When I a child, I did childish things, but now I am a woman” … I knew that she got it. And it was something that has bound us together for over 25 years. As the weekend retreat was winding down, I realized that her vision had touched 50 people in a way they would never forget. And as we closed, she gave kudos to her team and then said, but none of this would have been possible without Pastor Deb, who keeps telling me that God will use me if I will just let him. Humbled and blubbering, I realized that while I don’t really remember saying that to her, the ways that I talked and preached and lived over the years made an impression that lasted and inspired, long after I was gone. 

My prayer every day is this: Lord, give me the courage to live faithfully every day, sowing the seeds of your love and grace in all that I say and all that I do.  Amen

Discussion: I find that one of the ways that I am prepared to share devotions and testimonies is that I write them down. For instance, I know that a 5-minute devotion will take up one, single-spaced, typed page. To begin, I write topics in a journal, then fill those pages with quotations, memories and scriptures. Eventually, they will make their way into to a devotion, testimony, or sermon. For me, the process of producing this kind of utterance often starts long before I am even asked to speak. It has become a part of my spiritual discipline and serves me well along the way. 

There is much to learn and much to share. I encourage you to begin the journey of preparing in advance for a word of faith and hope. I promise it will be time well spent.

Peace, Deb

© Deb Luther Teagan, Feb 2018, Stuttgart, Germany