Unlocked is a daily teen devotional, centered on God’s Word. Each day’s devotion—whether fiction, poetry, or essay—asks the question: How does Jesus and what He did affect today’s topic? With daily devotions read by our hosts, Natalie and Dylan, and questions designed to encourage discussion and a deeper walk with Christ, Unlocked invites teens to both engage with the Bible and to write and submit their own devotional pieces.
READ: ISAIAH 30:15-18; MATTHEW 12:15-21; ROMANS 10:9-13
I was struggling and needed advice. I thought my camp counselor from summer youth group camp might be the person to ask. So I wrote to the c…
READ: ACTS 12:1-17
Weeping believers gathered at the house of Mary, Mark’s mother. Only a few days ago, their beloved pastor had been martyred. And now, another of their pastors, Peter, had been a…
READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 14:25-31
I don’t want to doubt, But sometimes the questions, They’re stronger than I want them to be. I don’t want to ignore, The many works, the many ways, You’ve proven y…
READ: PSALM 63; 1 CORINTHIANS 2:10-12; 1 PETER 2
Do you long to deepen your relationship with God? Does your soul hunger and thirst for Him as David described in Psalm 63? I don’t know about you, …
READ: PSALM 10:14; JOHN 1:12; ROMANS 8:14-23; HEBREWS 4:14-16; JAMES 1:5
What do marshmallows and missing dads have to do with each other? In one study in the 1970s, researchers asked a group of p…
READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; JOHN 16:33; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7
Fall is a season of change. You may notice the leaves changing from crisp green to brilliant red to crunchy brown. You might observe café menu…
READ: LUKE 23:32-34; EPHESIANS 4:26; PHILIPPIANS 1:6
Anger flowed through me as I pinned my friend against a tree, her feet dangling two inches above the ground. My older brother, a football playe…
READ: ECCLESIASTES 7:10; JOHN 10:10; ROMANS 8:28-39; EPHESIANS 2:7-10
It was my junior year of high school, and I was miserable. The I-don’t-want-to-be-here leave-me-alone kind of miserable. I was…
READ: GENESIS 1:26-27; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:7; 5:17
My first day in Psychology 101, the instructor said, “There is no such thing as normal.” That really took me by surprise, but …
READ: GENESIS 1:26-27; 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:20; 1 PETER 2:9
As I brushed my teeth, I examined the reflection of my nametag in the bathroom mirror. By now, the words were so familiar…
READ: PROVERBS 3:5-6; MATTHEW 6:25-33; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-20
Have you ever been so busy that you felt like you didn’t have time for God? I know I have. From school to work to extracurriculars, not to…
READ: ROMANS 5:6-11; 8:1, 38-39; 1 JOHN 4:15
Recently I started taking voice lessons. When I first met my voice teacher, we talked for a long time, and she told me about how she studied contempora…
READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 18:21-35; COLOSSIANS 3:12-14
"How many times should I forgive?” I asked. “My friend has hurt me far too many times. Would seven times forgiving be enough, so pain would dis…
READ: PSALM 145:18-19; EPHESIANS 5:18; 1 JOHN 5:14
5/30/25
God, please help my family. I don’t like it when my stepmom, Anna, drinks. I want to love her, but it’s hard when she’s drinking. She …
READ: ROMANS 2:11; 5:8; JAMES 3:13-18
At age eight, I collected bottle caps with no idea of what I’d do with them. I kept those colorful items in our backyard where my brother, who I’ll call “Rand…
READ: PSALMS 84:3; 139:1-18; MATTHEW 10:29-31; LUKE 12:6-7
I love bird watching. Birds are amazing creatures, and their design showcases God’s ingenuity and creative power. In my yard I see mostly…
READ: 1 KINGS 19:1-18; MATTHEW 17:1-8; JOHN 10:27-28
Listen. It calls in the treetops. Be still. It roars on the waves. Shh. It croons in the meadow. Listen. It whispers in the wind.
For as lon…
READ: GENESIS 50:15-21; ROMANS 8:18-39
My teenage desire was to belong to an encouraging community where I could bless others with my gifts. But I struggled to cling to that dream when my high sch…
READ: GENESIS 1:27; PSALM 139:13-18; ROMANS 5:8; 8:38-39
Self-worth is something we all struggle with. Photoshopped and filtered images are plastered on every magazine, in every store, and all ove…
READ: PSALM 139:1-12; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 PETER 5:7
Have you ever thought about God going to school? He has attended school for as long as it’s been going on—He watches all that happens in the worl…