Beyond the Study: Cultivating a Personal Devotional Life

In this episode of Pastor On Point, Ben sits down with Dr. Darrell Allen, pastor of Meade Station First Church of God in Ashland, Kentucky, to discuss one of the most important disciplines in a pastor's life—cultivating a personal walk with God.

Together, they explore the difference between studying Scripture to prepare a sermon and spending time in God's Word to nourish your own soul. They discuss the importance of intentional devotional time, practical habits that have sustained them through years of ministry, and why pastors who neglect their own spiritual health eventually have little left to give others.

Whether it's journaling, prayer, Bible reading plans, or simply learning to slow down and listen, this conversation offers practical encouragement to help pastors guard the most important relationship in their ministry.

Link for Ignite Ministries: https://igniteministries.ooo/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Pastor on Point podcast. I'm your host, Ben Liston. Pastor on Point is a ministry of Pastors Fellowship and Truth Matters, and this is where real pastors talk about real ministry. And I am on location today in the Meet Station First Church of God in Ashland, Kentucky. And I am joined with Dr. Daryl Allen, the pastor here. Daryl, welcome to Pastor on Point.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Well, thank you, Ben. It's a pleasure to be able to be with you today and be able to share.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Yes. I hope you've been following along with us and listening to each episode, watching each episode. And if you would, it would be very helpful as the audience if you would give us a like, a share, uh, tell somebody about this podcast, another pastor, um, because I believe this can really be a help to them and encourage them along their path of ministry. Speaking of path of ministry, uh, Daryl, take some time and tell us a little bit about yourself, um, kind of where you're at in your journey and uh where you've been.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Okay. Well, uh, you know, I grew up in the church of God. Uh, I'm the third generation in my family to be an ordained credentialed minister in the church of God. Um, and so I started preaching, felt called to ministry when I was 14 years old, and started preaching some, then went straight out of high school to Gulf Coast Bible College, now Mid-America Christian University, and and uh got my uh degree in pastoral ministry and Bible and theology and what have you. Came out and started pastoring and uh first Sunday of January 1983, and that's been in ministry ever since.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Um, my wife, Susan and I just celebrated 45 years of marriage. Uh we have two daughters. Uh, have an older daughter, Marissa, in Oklahoma City area. Uh she's a cosmetologist, and then uh our younger daughter, Megan uh Kloniger, uh and her husband Devin. Uh they are uh pastoring the uh first Church of God in Dunbar, West Virginia. And of course, we've got uh five grandkids. We've got four grandsons and one granddaughter.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

And uh, but uh you know, I've been blessed uh to serve the Church of God in a lot of different capacities as a pastor. I've been a regional pastor here in Kentucky and then served at Mid-America Christian University uh on staff as an advancement director, and then also served the National Church of God uh as an advancement director, too. So, you know, I've been blessed to have uh a wonderful opportunity to connect with a lot of people across the Church of God, and of course been part of Pastor's Fellowship for 30 something years and uh sitting on the steering committee and what have you. So been one of the greatest blessings of my life.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Wonderful, wonderful. Well, on this season of the podcast, we've been talking about uh remaining faithful, staying faithful to the call, and a major piece to that is um remaining faithful in our relationship with the Lord. And the temptation is as a pastor, is that you are only studying sermons or you're only reading scripture to prepare a sermon, um, and you're not always just reading scripture just to abide with Jesus, just to sit in the presence of Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

And um but boy, is that a vital piece. Such a vital not I mean, obviously to the Christian life, but it is a vital piece to remaining faithful in the ministry. And uh I know just from personal conversations we've had and and different times I've been with you in meetings, uh, you've mentioned uh kind of your process for your devotional life. And so I thought it would be appropriate that today you could uh talk to the audience about uh that process, what it looks like, uh what God's done in your heart and life through it, and uh how it has sustained your ministry over the years. So maybe just kind of simply start with what is your kind of daily routine as far as um being in the presence of Jesus?

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Okay, thank you. I uh yeah, several years ago, um actually when I was on staff at Mid-America Christian University, uh, I really began to become more intentional uh with my devotional life. Um and so every morning, uh that's the first thing that I do. Um I have a uh home office, and so I usually get up and I sit down in my home office, and uh first thing I do is is open up the scriptures, and I I follow a uh Bible reading plan uh for you know that it helps me read through the Bible in the you know throughout a year. Every year I uh read a different translation of the scripture. Um and then I also have some additional uh material, a book or something like that, that I may read some in as well. Um back several years ago, um our family used to go to Pigeon Forge uh at least a couple of times a year, but I know between Christmas and New Year's, and they had a huge bookstore there. And um I would go in and I thought, okay, I've got enough books as it is. I don't want to just come in here and buy, you know, a hundred dollars or more worth of books, and then, you know, but uh I started saying, okay, Lord, direct me to the books that you would have me to read. And so I usually the Lord would point to me towards uh three or four or five books, and I would pick those out. And so for the next year, that would become a part of my daily devotional routine as well. And then also uh I've been a journaler. Uh I journal my prayers, and um uh where I got started with that was several years ago when I pastored in Ansonia, Ohio. Uh Susan, I went to a prayer conference one day uh there in uh Greenville, Ohio. Um, and the speaker was uh Becky Terabasi. Uh she had uh grown up, had been a bad alcoholic, had given her life to Christ and gotten saved. And uh she shared her story that day, and she was talking about how that, you know, she would get up over morning and she would try to try to spend time with God and pray. And so she said, I would fall asleep. And so she said, she said, I I I did all kinds of things. She said I would I would uh walk around and pray, I would do different things and pray. But she said it was just agonizing. And so she talked about how she got, she began to journal her prayers. And she said, Wow, she said, once I started journaling my prayers, she said, Man, prayer became so much easier and I was able to focus uh so much better. And I thought, okay, so at that point in time, I really began to uh journal my prayers and what have you. And uh that's true, you know. Before that, I mean, you know, typically you get down to pray and you tell God everything that you can tell him in about five or ten minutes, and then you're done, you know. But um when I started journaling, you know, then uh man, there's times I get lost. I mean, I'll look up and I've been praying for an hour, and I'll look back and I've I've you know written four or five pages. And but but journaling helps me slow down and it helps me really think and process and what have you. And also it gives me the chance to to uh ask the Lord some questions. You know, that's okay that you do that.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Right, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

In fact, I've just uh I'm in the middle of reading uh first chronicles right now in my Bible reading plan in the Old Testament part, and uh and you know, been in 1st and 2 Samuel, first, 2 Kings, and you know, several places in there uh David talks about uh asking the Lord. Yeah, you know, I asked the Lord whether I need to do this or do that, and and the Lord would give him an answer. You know, that was Saul's problem. Saul wouldn't ask the Lord, he kind of just did what he wanted to do, and that's what got him in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Uh so and there's other places in scripture where we see, you know, that uh we ask the Lord. So um it's not some crazy, far-fetched thing, you know, to spend some time talking with the Lord and then, you know, asking the Lord um, you know, some questions. And, you know, he answers. Uh it's not like he comes down and sends me a text message or an email or something like that. But oftentimes as he speaks into my heart and my mind, um, he may speak through scripture, uh, he may speak through uh a song, uh, he may speak through a book you know that I've read or something like that, or he may speak through other means, but he he typically speaks and and uh sometimes it but not right away, it may take a while.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Right.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

Um and then also about six or seven years ago, uh I began um uh became a part of uh a group called Ignite Ministries out of Florida. Uh Dr. Ken Love is uh over over that. And God began to talk to Ken about uh working with other pastors and about this issue of the great importance of the pastor spending time each day sitting with the Lord and seeking God's direction and what have you. So uh I'm in a a group of guys, uh Herb Schaefer out of Pennsylvania, Kim Lemmon out of Oklahoma, Ken Love out of Florida, and and uh David Bowen out of Colorado. And we meet about every six weeks or so online, and uh we typically spend some time talking and sharing with each other what what uh is going on in our lives and then about our prayer time. Uh we will talk about, you know, okay, uh this is what God's been saying to me or or whatever. And in that group, then, you know, uh we're able sometimes to see uh into this into what's going on with each other, and we may say, hmm, and give some insight, maybe that you know, I might not have, but they can give it some insight. And then also to offer up, say, you know, uh lots of times they'll say, Well, Daryl, um, here here's another question or two you may want to ask the Lord and sit and explore him. So uh that's been especially meaningful to me as well. So um that's that's pretty much, I mean, my day, you know, starts with that. I sit with the Lord and and in his presence. Sometimes it's just a quiet thing, you know. Um but there's all time reading the scripture, you know, sometimes some other materials as well as but then the prayer time and and what have you.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

So I want to go back to what you said, ignite ministries. Um, I'll tell you what we'll do for the audience. Um, I will put information about that in the show notes. Uh so if you're listening uh through a podcast uh platform, I'll put that in the show notes. If you're watching on YouTube, I will put that in the description. So they at least have that information if they want to pursue that. Um but uh what a what a I mean I've heard of journal and I journal myself, but uh until I um got to know you a little bit better a few years ago, I I never heard of journaling a prayer. And and I've I have done that and uh since since finding out about that. Um it's kind of I guess uh just an extra step of journaling, you know. So and I think too, what a what a way to be able to go back, you know, maybe if you save them for a long time, maybe years later, and you know, just praise God for answering that journal prayer. You know, I've got I'm sure you've done that.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

I've got journals that I've you know, especially in the moves I made and stuff like that, and I start packing up my office, and yeah, I find journals from way back. And you know, some of them I look at and I read through, and you know, it's amazing what God's done. Some of them I think, boy, I probably need to burn this, you know. Me and God had some real honest conversations here, so it I might it might not not be need to be for other eyes, you know, but uh but anyway. But yeah, you know, um Ben several years ago, um you know, of course I've been a pastor for a long time. Um I was at Mid-America for six and a half years as director of church relations. And um as I came to Cedar Creek Church of God in Greenville to pastor the church there, um I really continued this and developing this devotional time with God. And one of the things that I discovered was that when I spend my time with God uh each day, I never lack for anything to preach.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

Um because um as as I spend some time with the Lord, you know, devotional reading is different from reading and preparing for a sermon.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

Right in devotional reading, you're you're reading to feed your soul. And read you know, reading to prepare for a sermon, you're you're preparing to feed the congregation.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Um I remember Dwayne Repass, who was the um chief development officer of the Church of God many years ago, and he and his wife were my dorm parents, my freshman here at Gulf Coast, and Dwayne and I were good friends. And Dwayne would often sign off on a text or an email, feed your soul, feed your soul. And that that's so vitally important. And I and I found that that as I spend my time with God, I I I do not lack for anything to preach. Um God just really gives me, you know, as I'm feeding my own heart and my own soul, right? Then God in turn then gives me what I need to to feed the congregation.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Yeah, and I think uh sometimes you um people have, you know, maybe a pastor has asked, well, what's the difference between the two? Between studying for a sermon or just feeding your soul. And and uh it's not that it's not that um what you prepare for a sermon can't speak to you or help you. But I I think it's the the difference of intent. The intention of feeding the soul is I need God to speak to me, not for someone else, but just speak to me. Now, that doesn't mean God won't use, like you've just said, it doesn't mean he won't use what he has said to you uh in those times with him for others, but uh in the moment that's not the intent. Right. And uh a few uh back before Easter, well before Easter, I just felt the Lord just really leading me to go back and just study the crucifixion, not from the physical standpoint, but the spiritual standpoint and all of the spiritual symbolism that is wrapped up in the crucifixion. And um it was just me and God. And and I mean I'm talking this is before even the new year, and then uh I just put it away. I mean, I studied through all that, and it was just for me. And then um I was reading through it again, and the Lord said, You need to share this. So I guess it again it goes with the intent. What's the intent?

SPEAKER_03 14:52

And well, I I've also too I've got uh like a notebook or in in the back of my journal. Um, lots of times as I'm reading or as I'm praying or as I'm you know and listening for the Lord or whatever, um, God gives me what I call sermon seeds.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

And so I've got a list of those, you know, it's like out of out of this time with me and God, and then sermon seeds will pop up. And then, you know, then I go back then and and a you know, pick up one of those sermon seeds and then start developing it into a sermon. You know, I I want to laugh. I know uh how was it? Um, you know, sometimes, you know, when you preach a message to uh a congregation or to if you're you know at a revival meeting or a camp meeting or whatever, you know, you're preaching to the crowd, you know, uh most of the time whatever you preach, you God has dealt with you uh on that before you share that with them. And uh I think one time um how was I? I preached a message and I I ended up going to the altar myself. Right, you know, I got convicted myself and somebody was laughing. They said he preached a sermon and got his own self under conviction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So but anyway, but yeah, yeah. So but but I again I I tell you, since I and again, uh you have there has to be an intentionality in this.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

You know, um, if you uh because the enemy will do everything he can to busy your life to keep you from doing it.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Especially as a pastor.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Yeah, especially as a pastor.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

And they're good things. Oh, yeah. They're not bad things, right? But boy, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

And so uh and one of the things if if anybody pursues uh the ignite culture and the Ignite ministry, um, Ken uh draws these three circles and and very simple. Uh, but he talks about in the pastor, he said the first circle is the pastor you know, feeding himself and investing in himself. The second circle is the pastor pouring into somebody else and discipling somebody else. And then the third circle is the you know all the stuff of of pastoral ministry. It's all the youth ministry, children's ministry, the women's ministry, music ministry, all those kinds of things. And he said, most of the time, though, most pastors end up spending most of the time on circle three and very little time on circle one. Whereas you need to be spending the majority of your time and energy in circle one, and and then as as you do that, then the others will come about.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Right. Because the reality is um it if you're not if you're not guarding uh your time personally with the Lord, and then also guarding your time when it comes to preparing to preach the word to the people of God, um yeah, you'll you'll end up being consumed with all that other stuff. And and I would strongly encourage you as a pastor to take the initiative, uh have the boldness to graciously explain to your leadership that um if you're just so consumed with the day-to-day, the minutiae of of ministry, you know, go to your leadership and say, I have to have time personally with the Lord, and then time with the Lord when it comes to preparing to preach. Um, and I I pray they would understand that. Uh, because you you've got to be intentional about it, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Yeah, and there's some churches, man, they they uh uh I've I've heard a story too where you know uh even somebody from the outside, like a regional pastor in the state or or whatever, has had to come into some congregations and you know sit down with leadership and explain to them, you know, if you want your pastor one to be here long term, if you want your pastor to be feeding you well and and leading you well, then you know, he or she needs to be spending this time with God because if they don't, you know, then they're gonna burn out quickly and and you know they're not gonna be able to do what needs to be done for you. Absolutely. So this is as vitally important as anything that they do in ministry.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Absolutely. Absolutely. Um so we have the the um journaling, journaling your prayer model. Um I think just general journaling is is also a good thing. Um I mean you all know there there are a multitude of resources out there. Um I personally use Oswald Chambers, my utmost for his highest. Um I've been through it several times, but it's you know, it's every day of the year. Uh so uh I'll start it over again in the new year, and every time I do, the Lord, you know, puts his finger on something different. Um and what I've started to do is in the margin of each day, um the one book I have, I've been through it four times now. So I've got four years worth of notes in the margin, and what's interesting is each year they're different. And uh so you you know you've got the traditional devotional route. And I uh in our last episode, Jeremy Dunn, Pastor Jeremy Dunn out in um Virginia, um mentioned just simply just reading scripture or listening to scripture being read. You know. Point being, there are just a multitude of ways. Find what works for you. Uh if if you're not a journaler, just because Daryl is doesn't mean you have to be. But find what works for you.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Yeah, you have to find, you have to find your your method, your way. Yeah. Uh because not everybody is can. In fact, some people have tried to do journaling and and they've said to me, you know, I just that's just not me. I said, well, that's fine. You know, um, you know, I've um the um uh one of my predecessors here at Mead Station, Rob Jordan, Rob likes to walk and pray. He'll get out and take a walk, and he said, Man, I just pray, he said, I talk, he said, I talk out loud, you know.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

And uh so, you know, that as far as prayer and so, you know, and me is I I don't necessarily use a devotional uh book. I've used I've used some of those along the way. But um years ago, one of the first books that God pointed me towards when I picked up a book in Pigeon Forge was uh Experiencing God by Henry Blackabay. Now that had been around for a long time at that point. Now, why I hadn't read it, why I hadn't seen it, or whatever. But anyway, uh I picked that up and wow. Now I've been through that book several times. I've I've taught it in small groups several times, but that book really uh ministered to me and in on a lot of levels. I was like, man, where was this thing when I first started in ministry? Of course, yeah, as I've reflected on that, I'm like, well, when I first started in ministry, I wouldn't have had what I needed experiential wise to be able to. What he's saying in this book. You know, I I've been uh right now I'm reading uh a Barry Cowan book, um, and uh which very rich. I can't tell you the name of it right now, but anyway, I'm reading I'm reading one of his books. Um but uh I I just you know I've gotten into to that's a just a part of of the Lord feeding my soul and and uh you know the so I think I I think the scripture thing um again uh this year um uh when we were out in Oklahoma last fall uh around Thanksgiving when my son-in-law got killed for his funeral, and we were there at Thanksgiving. We went to church with my daughter, uh, where she goes there in Oklahoma City, and I noticed this uh reading Bible reading plan booklet. So I I uh I got one. And so I had uh my assistant here to create a uh one of those, and we had those printed and we gave those out to everybody here at the church uh, you know, first of the year. Uh and I've had a lot of people say, Pastor, I'm keeping up with it. I'm you know, I said, Well, you know, this week you will be, as we start hit July 1st, you'll be halfway through the Bible. And uh so, but I, you know, those reading plans like that are are very helpful to me uh sometimes, and I just read straight through the scriptures. Um and again, the different translations. I know one year I did the message, which is not a translation, it's a paraphrase, but I still found it found it amazingly refreshing, you know, reading um, you know, some of the different uh you know thoughts and and approaches to some of that. So uh, but you know, it's it's uh everybody has to find their own way and what works for them. Um but I do know this uh you better find something and you better do something because if you don't, you will years ago, I think back to um my first little church I pastored down the mountains of eastern Tennessee, a little community called Del Rio. And uh I couldn't tell you how many times, man, I would be going all week and Saturday night would be here and I'm trying to figure out something to preach. Um and down through the years, I mean, it's a lot a lot of that was. I mean, I'd be trying to hunt a sermon. Um, but these days I don't have to hunt a sermon. Uh like I said, as I spend my time with God feeding my heart, then I rarely ever have to come up or think about or hunt for a sermon. God's always got something fresh on my heart, fresh on the plate to put out there.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I think this conversation today has been a great help, great benefit. I think uh our audience will uh be encouraged and will be able to take a lot from this. Uh but I think the the most important thing is just being intentional. Be intentional about doing it and then be disciplined to do it. And uh if you start there, I think you'll you'll have success with it. And uh, well, Darrell, I want to thank you for joining me today. Thank you. And I've enjoyed the conversation, and um, we're glad you as the audience joined us, and uh, we we hope and pray this has been a blessing to you. And if it has, uh reach out to us and let us know. Uh, you can comment, uh, you can uh reach out to us, reach out to Pastors Fellowship, Truth Matters. Uh, we'd love to hear from you, and uh, we hope these uh episodes are being a blessing to you. Uh so thank you for joining us. This is Pastor on Point, where real pastors talk about real ministry.