Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PROVERBS 3:5-6; MATTHEW 6:25-34; EPHESIANS 2:10 During our teen years, it can feel like the pressure is on. Whether it’s making a career decision, choosing a college, or getting ready to stand on your own two feet, the approaching adult life can be terrifying. There is so much to think about and so many people telling us we need to decide. I’ve struggled with all three of those decisions and...

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:11-15; 15:58; GALATIANS 6:9-10 The Cave of Echoes looked like any other cave, but people in the town nearby knew it was special. Like all caves, it was mysterious and beautiful, with dark, twisty corners whispering promises of secrets to those who dared to enter. But those familiar with its echoes ventured into its depths not for thrill or adventure, but something more. Those...

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 9 I blinked at my phone screen and swallowed the lump in my throat. How could this have happened? I had donated $65 to a Christian charity the month before, back when I was employed, and now I had just received a receipt claiming I had donated another $65 this morning. $65 pulled straight out of my savings rather than my “extras” stash. I discovered that, either by clerical err...

READ: PSALM 100:1-5; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:18 We’re called to give thanks to God at all times. But how? When I was thirteen, I had to wrestle with that question. Things weren’t going well for me, and I was depressed. My parents were divorced. My mom got remarried to a man I had trouble getting along with. Then, when my mom lost her job, we lost our house and car. We ended up having to move to a cheap...

READ: MATTHEW 6:8; 28:20; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 PETER 5:7 What number do you call in an emergency? In the United States, people call 911. In Hong Kong and Kenya, the number is 999. In Denmark, it’s 112. In many countries, there are different emergency numbers depending on whether you need an ambulance, the police, or a team of fire fighters. When you call an emergency number, you are immediately in c...

READ: ROMANS 13:13-14; COLOSSIANS 2:1-14 The early church went through many periods of persecution after Jesus’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9). Yet, the church grew quickly. By the 300s AD, large portions of the Roman Empire had converted to Christianity, including a man named Augustine of Hippo. Born in the year 354 in present-day Algeria, Augustine was one of the greatest thinkers in Christia...

READ: MATTHEW 28:16-20; ACTS 1:1-11; 10:34-48; 1 PETER 3:15-18 I have a confession. For a long time, I was scared to witness to others about Jesus. I knew Jesus told His disciples that, through the Holy Spirit’s power, they would witness about Him “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Yet I was afraid to witness to people because I didn’t think I had a very good argument. I thought it was up to m...

READ: PROVERBS 4; GALATIANS 5:13-26; EPHESIANS 4:17–5:20   Guard your heart Guard your heart   Everything you do Flows from it through you   From your lips Past fingertips   Where your feet may go Every thought God knows   Self-improve Won’t help you   Let the Spirit lead God knows what you need   So guard your heart • Savannah Coleman   • Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for...

READ: PSALM 34:17-18; ROMANS 6:6-8; EPHESIANS 4:26-32 Harper hid her head under the pillow. She couldn’t take another shouting match. Her parents were just warming up, and lately the fights had lasted late into the night before freezing into a contest of “whoever-talks-first-loses.” Something was different. Usually about this time of evening, cabinet doors would slam before Dad made some quiet rem...

READ: PSALM 19; JOHN 1:1-14 Psalm 19 is a psalm of praise and a wonderful description of God’s magnificence. It opens with a declaration of the glory of God’s creation, which speaks a language that is universal to all. The heavens and the earth proclaim God’s majesty and creative power. Looking at creation gives us a tangible glimpse of the majesty and glory of God. The psalm then switches gears a...

READ: PSALM 73:23-26; LUKE 5:1-11; HEBREWS 10:24; 12:1-3 It was the first and last time I played the piano at school. Halfway through the song, everyone was laughing. I fought back tears while my teacher studied the piano and identified the problem. Someone had placed clear tape across the keys. When I pressed one key, four more went with it. It sounded terrible! Worse yet, I was too afraid to try...

READ: JUDGES 6:36-40; LUKE 12:6-7; JAMES 1:5 Some of my favorite childhood memories involve books. I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be a writer. After college I started selling a few articles here, a few stories there. But I was far away from the best seller status of my childhood dreams. Was I on the wrong track? Maybe my job as a library assistant was all I would ever be. I grew increasing...

READ: MARK 2:1-12; ROMANS 5:6-8; 1 JOHN 4:19 Two teenagers in Tennessee risked their lives to save an unaccompanied toddler who ran toward a busy highway. With an oncoming truck barreling toward them, the teens snatched up the toddler just in time. On another occasion, two other teens came to the rescue of a capsized boat in the Florida Keys, saving six people—including a four-year-old, and a thre...

READ: PSALM 23; JOHN 10:1-18 Anxiety has me tossing and turning until I hear someone whispering my name from outside. I crawl out of my tent and see a man. The sun is just starting to rise, and I can make out a staff in his hand. Is this a shepherd? As if reading my thoughts, he says, “I am the good shepherd. Your shepherd.” I follow as he motions me forward. We walk until we come to a beautiful,...

READ: 1 CHRONICLES 16:11; PSALM 23; LUKE 5:15-16 When I was in college, I distinctly remember being overwhelmed by various assignments. It felt like there was never going to be enough time to finish everything on my to-do list. I was exhausted and irritated. I felt like there was no relief in sight. I knew I needed to keep up with my devotions, because I knew that was important, but how could I gi...

READ: JAMES 1:2-5; ROMANS 8:28-39 BOOM! Thunder crashes. Lightning illuminates the house as the walls shake and dishes rattle in the cupboards, followed by an even louder thunderclap. I grew up in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona. Most of the year, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But during monsoon season, the rain came with a vengeance. Streets flooded, dry washes became roaring rivers, tr...

READ: MARK 9:14-29; LUKE 24:36-53 Doubt. The very word conjures up images of wrinkled foreheads and turned-down mouth corners. Contrary to how we may feel about it, doubt can actually benefit our spiritual growth. And remember, Jesus Himself was patient and loving to those who wrestled with doubts. In Mark 9, a desperate father brought his son to Jesus for healing. The boy had been possessed by a...

READ: PSALM 103:1-13; MATTHEW 10:29-30; ROMANS 8:14-16; 1 JOHN 4:14-19   Today my dad gave me a hug I felt safe and warm inside It made me think of how You love me And are holding me so tight.   Today my dad encouraged me “You’re my child, and I’m proud of you.” And I thought of all the ways You tell me that too.   Today my dad was busy He missed a really big day But I remembered You’re always her...

READ: PSALM 68:4-6; JOHN 1:9-14; 3:16-17; EPHESIANS 1:5 When Father’s Day comes around, how do you feel? Maybe you have a great relationship with your dad and you’re excited to celebrate him. Praise God for that! Or maybe you wish that it was any day but this one. Maybe you decide you’ll treat it like just a normal day. But that’s not so easy to do…You go to church and the message is all about fat...

READ: COLOSSIANS 1:15-23 Think for a minute about everything you see around you every day—the sky, your home, your shoes, your food…Within each of those visible objects are invisible objects that are working together to create something tangible. Your shoes are made of molecules, which are made of atoms, which are made of electrons and protons and neutrons, which are made of quarks. Inside the sun...

READ: JONAH 4; MATTHEW 12:38-42; ROMANS 10:9-13 Out of all the biblical prophets, Jonah is probably the most infamous. The book focuses on a prophet who didn’t want to go to the city of Nineveh when God told him to. It’s not hard to see why. Nineveh was a brutal and cruel place, where they removed the noses and ears of some of their prisoners, practiced witchcraft, and worshiped idols. Nineveh was...

READ: PSALMS 23:1-3; 116:7; MATTHEW 11:28-30 Let me take you several thousand feet above sea level. It’s a warm, summery day, and the sun shines hot on your head. Sweat runs down your back. You’ve just climbed from the bottom of Yosemite to the top of a mountain. Green trees fill the park as far as you can see. Mountains surround you. The normal response would be to sit down and enjoy the view, ri...

READ: PSALMS 64:1-10; 116:10; 142:1-7 Have you ever greeted someone you haven’t seen in a while with a friendly, “Hi, how have you been?” and they responded with a shrug and said, “I can’t complain”? I never know how to interpret that. I end up translating it in my head to mean, “I’m not quite content, but there’s nothing glaringly wrong with my life.” Often, I end up wondering if they would like...

READ: EXODUS 16:8-31, 35; NUMBERS 14:8; PHILIPPIANS 4:10-20 Sometimes God only gives us what we need for the moment. Can you relate? Maybe God is only providing enough money for your family to get by each month, or maybe He sent you a temporary friend instead of a longer lasting friendship. You fill in the blank. In the book of Exodus, when the Israelites ran out of food in the wilderness, they be...

READ: PSALM 8; MATTHEW 5:1-16; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6; PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18 It was midnight. I put my paddleboard into the saltwater of the Puget Sound, then pushed off the shore and hopped aboard, surrounded by darkness. I dipped my paddle into the water, gently swirling it around, and gasped—the water sparkled! It looked as if the stars had fallen into the ocean. In utter disbelief, I did it again and...