Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PROVERBS 3:5-6; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-8; 1 PETER 5:7

Can you remember a time when you had to wait for news that really mattered? Like when the results could mean you made the cut for the team. Or that you got into your favorite college. Or they could mean another surgery. Or cancer. How do you find peace in the waiting?

That’s hard for just about everybody! You often hear people say, while awaiting their (potentially) difficult news, “I think I can handle what the news is. It’s just the waiting that is so hard!”

One time, after undergoing many of these “waiting trials,” I had another wait in front of me. Friends were asking me, “Have you heard the results yet?” They were echoing my own questioning mind…which way would this go?

Then I did something different than all the other times. I prayed a different prayer. I asked for “pre-peace.” I asked God for His peace before I knew the outcome.

I prayed, Lord, you know all those times I endure those long days of waiting, until the answer finally arrives? Then, when I know the outcome, I give it over to You, and I have peace. But Your Word says that as I rejoice in You and commit my requests to You with thanksgiving, I will have peace. Can we just fast-forward this part? My request is known to You. Will You give me this peace, now, even before I know how this turns out? I focused on His presence, goodness, and love.

And do you know what happened? His peace flooded my heart. My mind stopped whirling with all of the “what-ifs.” Just like it says in Philippians 4, His peace was beyond understanding. I still didn’t know the results. Yet I was super joyful and full of peace! His peace guarded my mind and heart. This is such a joyful way to face the waiting times. I hope you can enjoy God’s perfect peace, even before you know the answer. • Kristen Merrill

• Have you ever experienced God’s peace in a season of waiting? Even if we don’t feel Jesus’s peace all the time, He is always with us through the Holy Spirit. He loves us, and He sits with us in the anxious waiting, inviting us to bring our struggles to Him in prayer. Where do you need to experience God’s peace today?

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (CSB)

READ: DEUTERONOMY 4:9; PSALM 78:1-16

I was in middle school when I first took an interest in the Civil War, particularly the role that my third great grandfather, Michael Sallander, played in it. He was only a teen and a recent immigrant when war broke out, yet he still enlisted in his home state of Wisconsin, lying about his age to do so. All four of his brothers enlisted as well. One died—the younger brother who enlisted with him and fought beside him. Two or three of the Sallander brothers were prisoners of war, including my grandfather, and another one was so debilitated by disease that he never returned to the farm.

Despite the horrors of war and its long-lasting impact on his family, Michael served alongside a number of Methodist ministers who profoundly impacted his life—to such an extent that he was ever after described as a happy man of faith in my great-grandmother’s stories.

Every Memorial Day, a holiday initially created to remember Civil War veterans, I think of Michael and thank God for his life, his faith, and his sacrifice. There is a blessing in remembering the faithful who have gone before us, and I believe we have a responsibility to remember the ways our ancestors and spiritual role models lived and died in faith. After all, God can use their examples to inspire us and the generations after us—to reassure us of prayers that did not die with the faithful, but continue to surround us now (Hebrews 11:13-16; 11:39–12:3; Revelation 5:8).

This Memorial Day, consider taking a moment to remember the people strong in the faith who came before you. You might ask Christian family members or church members in your life for stories about their faith, about the ways they have seen God move in their lives, and about the people who inspired them to know God better. Perhaps Memorial Day can become a holiday of grateful remembrance for us all. • Abigail Aswegen

• Jesus loves us, and His death and resurrection made the way for us to be united with Him and other believers through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have become part of His family, the church—which includes all believers around the world and throughout history. Our faith has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. How can it be helpful to hear the stories of those who walked with Jesus before us? What stories of His faithfulness in your life do you want to pass on to the next generation?

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” Isaiah 46:9 (NIV)

READ: GENESIS 11:1-9; ACTS 2

Diversity in language is an important part of God’s creation! In fact, language is one of the many ways God shows how creative He is—and how He is redeeming all that He has made.

The creation of different languages happened at Babel. The people were guilty of being prideful and wanting to make a lasting name for themselves because of their own work. Their sin was deserving of judgment, and it was keeping them from fulfilling God’s very first calling to humanity: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it” (Genesis 1:28). God could have struck down the people of Babel, but instead He showed them mercy and scattered them, suddenly causing them to speak different languages from each other. This separation interrupted their wickedness and allowed them to explore and live in different parts of God’s creation instead of simply remaining in one place.

Fast forward to Pentecost, when God gives us a glimpse of the new creation. After Jesus died for our sins on the cross, rose from the grave, and ascended into heaven, the day of Pentecost came. The Holy Spirit was poured out, and each listener was able to hear the Apostle Peter preach in their own language. Because of this miraculous event, many people heard the gospel (or good news) and put their trust in Jesus. So, at Pentecost, God used the power of language to unite His people. Instead of the judgment, confusion, and division of Babel, God used the diversity of language to bring unity around salvation in Jesus.

In other words, our salvation in Jesus Christ and our belief in Him is what unites us. In God’s kingdom, people from all different lands, cultures, and languages will unite in praise to Him. The stories of Babel and Pentecost demonstrate how God takes all things and works them for good and for His renewed kingdom (Romans 8:28-30). • Naomi Zylstra

• Have you ever experienced a communication barrier due to language? What was that like? Have you ever imagined what it will be like when Jesus returns, and all God’s people will be able to understand each other effortlessly?

• God delights in the great variety of languages and cultures in His creation—it’s a beautiful thing! What are some practical ways we can honor and enjoy our differences, especially within the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb...shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)

READ: LUKE 8:22-56

Who doesn’t love a good superhero movie? It’s fun to imagine someone “somewhere out there” who’s not bound by the laws of nature like we are—someone who comes to the rescue when weak earthlings find themselves in trouble they can’t escape. While many of us daydream of being a superhero, I think many of us also have a craving to be rescued by a superhero.

And those dreams of a rescuer are not that far off. If you’re familiar with the true stories found in the Bible, you know that unpredictable, unexplainable, unimaginable rescue stories appear quite frequently in both the Old and New Testaments. Think about it: a boy defeating a giant with one stone, a man kept alive in a pit of hungry lions, a raging storm stilled in an instant, thousands upon thousands of people crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, a man healed from lifelong blindness, a twelve-year-old girl brought back from the dead…and the God of the universe becoming human to defeat the devil in the most unexpected way—by dying and rising again. The angel Gabriel was right: “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

The beautiful thing is that the God who performed all these wonders is the same God who loves us today. He is always doing wonderful things, we just have to open our eyes to see. A friend once told me, “God does His best work in the impossible.” In fact, the cross is how we know that nothing is impossible for God. On the cross, Jesus accomplished the impossible—and He did it for you.

What impossible things are you facing in your life? Give them to the Lord. Be like Jairus, a man who came to Jesus in his darkest hour. Jesus told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe…” (Luke 8:50). Then Jesus raised his daughter from the dead. In the same way, we can go to Jesus with any need, trusting Him to work in every situation for our good and to right every wrong in His perfect timing. Life in God’s kingdom is better than any story Hollywood can create—because we can always count on the God who calls Himself our Rescuer. • Emily Rudolph

• Why do you think there are so many movies about superheroes? Which is your favorite?

• Read Ephesians 3:14-21. What does this passage reveal about God’s power?

• What impossible but wonderful things does God promise His people, either now or when Jesus returns? (If you want to dig deeper, read Matthew 28:20; John 5:17; 14:15-31; Romans 8:18-39; Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Peter 3:8-13; 1 John 5:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5)

“For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 (CSB)

READ: 1 SAMUEL 1:1-10; 2:1, 21

Recently, I had the opportunity to share with some friends about a woman from the Bible. As I started reading about Hannah in preparation to share her story, a few things stuck out to me. Hannah was seeking the Lord consistently as she prayed for a child. First Samuel 1:10 describes this prayer as marked by deep anguish and bitter crying. This was very relatable for me.

Even now, I have something deeply personal that I am asking of the Lord in prayer. Often, my prayers are covered in tears. Sometimes I find myself thinking, When will the Lord answer? I wonder if Hannah thought that too. You see, Scripture says that Hannah’s prayers for a child went on year after year. She kept seeking the Lord. Yet, she was also honest about the sadness she felt during this time.

Miraculously, the Lord gave Hannah a child—Samuel! Not only that, but Hannah went on to have three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21). I can only imagine how excited Hannah must have been! And after Samuel was born, she continued to pray, praising the Lord for His faithfulness. Hannah found her strength and joy in the Lord (1 Samuel 2:1).

Hannah’s story taught me that it’s okay to pour out our hearts to the Lord with honesty and emotion. You and I are not meant to carry what we’re going through alone. The Lord is with us, and He wants us to invite Him into every part of our lives. Especially the painful, messy parts. I think the Lord wants to create something new in you and me today—maybe a desire to seek Him, peace in His presence, trust in His character, or joy in glorifying Him. Whatever the Lord has in mind, you and I can trust in His plans, purposes, and promises, just like Hannah did. • Daevis McMurphy

• Have you ever prayed for something for a long time without seeing any hope? Sometimes we might feel like we just can’t keep praying. But Jesus is with us, and He feels our sorrow as His own. We don’t need to be embarrassed of our tears, because our Savior weeps with us, and He longs to comfort us in His loving arms. Because He died and rose again for us, there is always hope. (Isaiah 40:11; Matthew 26:36-46; John 11:35; Hebrews 4:14-16; Revelation 21:1-5)

• Can you think of any ways you’ve seen God’s faithfulness, or even an answer to prayer? Consider taking some time to rejoice in the Lord and praise Him today, whether it be through singing, dancing, writing praises to Him, or something else!

Then Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD! The LORD has made me strong...I rejoice because you rescued me.” 1 Samuel 2:1 (NLT)