Podcast
What a Fruitful Devotional Feels Like
Ask Pastor John
Speaker: John Piper
December 22, 2025 · 15 min
Summary
Pastor John shares his personal Bible reading practice, describing how preparation through devotional reading and prayer positions the heart to encounter God's glory in Scripture. He illustrates with his morning experience in Romans 9, where God's sovereignty and freedom met him with unusual power after his heart had been prepared through John Owen's writings.
Highlights
The longings are themselves a sweet taste of the bread of heaven. The yearnings are themselves a sweet detection of the aroma of paradise.
When he does show up, it is worth a year's reading for. If he showed up once a year, it would be worth reading every day, wouldn't it?
Our hearts are so unprepared and out of sync with spiritual reality when we come to Scripture.