Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: 2 CHRONICLES 20:1-30; PSALM 149

Sweat stung my eyes as I practiced the intricate steps of my deadly dance. For the final step, I had always had trouble remembering not to hold my breath, so …

READ: PSALMS 3:5; 4:8; 127:2; ISAIAH 26:3-9

The darkness of night is a reminder to be still and quiet. When I am in bed, there is nothing I can do to change my life or situation. When worries come…

READ: EXODUS 35:30–36:3; ROMANS 12:4-8; EPHESIANS 2:10

Do you ever feel unimportant, maybe a little invisible? Like you can’t make a difference? These feelings come from our enemy, Satan. If we fe…

READ: ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10; 1 JOHN 3:16; 4:19

For my birthday one year, I expressed a desire for a chia pet. I’m not sure what appealed to me about these plant “pets.” They …

READ: PSALM 139:13-18; JEREMIAH 31:3; LUKE 15:3-7

The sun is setting, and as the long grass sways back and forth in motion with the wind, a young woman is walking down a dirt road after having lef…

READ: RUTH 1:1-5, 15-22; 4:1-15

When I’m anxious or overwhelmed or I feel like everything is going from bad to worse, I tend to look for the nearest exit door. I want out, and I want it now. Maybe…

READ: JOSHUA 9; JAMES 1:5

In Joshua 9, a group of deceptive people come to the Israelites. They bring moldy bread and wear old clothes, saying that they have traveled far and that the bread was fr…

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; HEBREWS 4:9-10

Too tired to think,

Too tired to pray.

Where is life leading?

Too tired to say…

Perhaps at times you’re weary,

And your strength is near its end.

Remember t…

READ: LUKE 12:22-31; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-13

Anxiety seeped into my brain. What would happen? Would my dad be okay? My dad had been suffering from mysterious symptoms for the past year. Doctors told hi…

READ: PSALM 139; JOHN 3:16-18; 10:10; COLOSSIANS 2:6-7

Isabel, at age eleven, is an amazing dancer. She has already performed with a major ballet company in several productions. Elijah, age thirte…

READ: PROVERBS 29:25; ISAIAH 48:17; MATTHEW 16:21-28

Have you ever done something because you were afraid that if you didn’t, someone would be angry or dislike you? I have, more than I want to adm…

READ: 1 TIMOTHY 4:6-10; 1 PETER 3:8-18

Have you ever faced a situation like this? One time, a man from church came over for dinner, and for the duration of supper and dessert, he talked about craz…

READ: LUKE 23:32-43; ROMANS 10:9-10; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-17

The first time I met Freddy, we were locked in a small concrete room with no windows, no chairs, and sticky floors.

He started plainly…

READ: PSALM 103:2-5, ROMANS 8:14-17, EPHESIANS 2:19

In the murky pre-dawn light, Linota led her dappled mare along the ocean’s shore. Her cloak was torn, and her bare feet blistered. A golden crow…

READ: GENESIS 18:10-14; JEREMIAH 32:26-27, 36-41; LUKE 1:26-38

Sometimes, I need to hear things more than once before it “clicks.” Whether it’s a process at work or the day’s schedule or a recipe …

READ: GENESIS 1:11-31; 2:15-22; ROMANS 8:18-30; REVELATION 21:1-7

We often think that God made animals for us. It’s true, right? Because Adam named them, and God says that we have dominion over th…

READ: PSALMS 32; 51; ISAIAH 1:16-18; 1 PETER 2:23-25

I don’t know about you, but I love wearing freshly washed clothes. Especially when it’s cold outside and the clothes are still warm right after…

READ: PSALMS 9:9-10; 27:8-14; MATTHEW 11:28-30; JOHN 10:10

Come to me.

Come out of darkness.

Don’t look at the shifting shadows.

Don’t listen

to the slithering snake.

Look at the dawn,

light breaki…

READ: PHILIPPIANS 3:17; TITUS 2:1-8; HEBREWS 10:24-25

I’m so thankful for the people God has placed in my life. He has this incredible way of working everything out to give us just what we need. H…

READ: JOB 19:5-27; 38:1-15; LUKE 13:34; ROMANS 8:18-29, 38-39

Wow, I am so small. The thought was involuntary. And irrefutable. It wasn’t good or bad. It was just true. I was walking through a tro…