The Slow Pour: Cultivating a Daily Devotional Life

From Temple Coffee, I shared a simple picture that can shape how we end this year and start the next: your daily brew and His daily bread. Yesterday’s coffee doesn’t satisfy, and yesterday’s devotional won’t sustain a living, growing walk with God. Lamentations reminds us His mercies are new every morning, so we look through the windshield, not just the rearview. Jesus modeled this by withdrawing to be with the Father. If that was necessary for Him, it must be essential for us.

I talked about the “slow pour” of a pour-over—how time, temperature, and a steady hand draw out deeper flavor. In the same way, unhurried, intentional time with God draws out what a rushed life keeps hidden. Start a rhythm, not a resolution. Find a regular place, use simple tools like the Pray First app, and open your Bible every day. Our team will offer monthly reading plans that track with our series. We’re also launching 21 days of prayer and fasting next Sunday; the building will be open for prayer, and a short teaching on fasting is available on our platforms. Take time now to prepare your heart.

Even folks who don’t drink coffee often love the smell. When you sit with God, His aroma rests on you. Paul says we spread the fragrance of Christ everywhere. Miss a day and God notices. Miss two and you notice. Miss three and others start to notice. But as you stay close, people will sense joy, patience, and peace that isn’t manufactured—it’s overflow.

As we step into 2026, I’m asking the Lord to bless you—your marriages, families, work, and witness. I’m not naming and claiming, but I am asking in faith because Scripture invites us to. And I’m calling us to seek His face more than His hand. We’ll launch a new series, Letters to the American Church, and our Devoted Conference with a full week of prayer, worship, and strong voices to serve our house. Let’s tithe our time to Jesus to start the year—21 days of prayer and fasting and four nights of gathering together.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Fresh mercy needs fresh attention God’s compassion shows up daily, but it’s received, not assumed. Yesterday’s insight won’t carry today’s weight. Open the Word each morning and ask the Spirit for a living word for a living day. Your soul knows the difference between reheated faith and fresh bread.
• 2. Practice the slow pour with God Unhurried time with God extracts what hurry hides. Give Him focused minutes—linger, listen, and let your heart bloom under the heat of His presence. Depth grows where attention rests. Freedom often arrives slowly, and that’s not failure—it’s formation.
• 3. Carry the aroma of Christ Presence precedes influence. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more His fragrance travels with you into rooms, meetings, and conflicts. People may not name it, but they’ll feel it—peace that disarms, joy that steadies, patience that surprises. Influence flows from abiding, not striving.
• 4. Ask boldly, seek His face Scripture invites confident requests, yet keeps us anchored in relationship. Ask for blessing over your home and work, while wanting Him more than what He gives. Bold prayer without intimacy breeds presumption; intimacy without asking leaves gifts unopened. Hold both, and watch expectancy turn into testimony.

Bible reading (read aloud together before discussion)
- Lamentations 3:22–23 (ESV)
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
- Matthew 14:23 (NLT)
“After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”
- 2 Corinthians 2:14–15 (ESV)
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved…”

Observation questions (3–4)

1. In Lamentations 3:22–23, what two characteristics of God are named, and what exactly is described as “new every morning”? How would you explain that phrase in a single sentence?
2. In Matthew 14:23 the preacher notes Jesus “withdrew” to pray. What details in the verse (and sermon) show this was intentional rather than incidental?
3. In 2 Corinthians 2:14–15 Paul uses the image of “fragrance” and “triumphal procession.” What two images is Paul putting together, and what do they suggest about how believers represent Christ?
4. The sermon used the pour-over “slow pour” steps (bloom, slow steady pour, time). What specific parts of the pour-over process were mentioned and what spiritual practice did the preacher tie to each part?

Interpretation questions (3–4)

1. The preacher said God’s mercies are “received, not assumed.” What does it look like in daily life to receive mercy rather than assume it? Give a concrete example.
2. Jesus regularly withdrew to be with the Father. How should that model shape frequency, length, and posture of a believer’s devotional rhythm? What practical barriers usually stop people from following that pattern?
3. Paul’s “aroma of Christ” is presented as influence that others sense before they hear words. How does this influence grow out of time with God rather than effort to perform? How would a person tell the difference in themselves?
4. The preacher said, “seek His face more than His hand.” What is the difference between those two priorities in prayer life, and what problems arise if someone only seeks God for what He gives?

Application questions (5–7)

1. Appointments with God: Pick a concrete daily time and place you will commit to for the next 21 days (start date, time, length, location). What will stop you from skipping it, and how will you remove that obstacle this week?
2. Practice the slow pour: Choose one specific exercise this week to slow down in devotion (example: read one chapter, then sit 3 minutes in silence before praying; or set a 4-minute timer to listen after reading). Describe exactly what you will do and when.
3. 21 days of prayer & fasting: Will you participate in the church’s 21 days? If yes, what will you fast (food, screen time, social media)? If no, what alternative discipline will you commit to during that period?
4. Asking boldly but seeking intimacy: Write down three specific requests you will bring to God this week (family, work, personal growth). Then list one single practice you will do to “seek His face” alongside those requests (e.g., 10 minutes of listening prayer, journaling what God says).
5. Bearing fragrance: Name one person in your life (home, work, neighborhood) you want to smell “the aroma of Christ” from you. What one behavior will you intentionally practice this week to reflect joy, patience, or peace toward them?
6. Accountability and measurement: Who in this group will you ask to check on your commitment next week? Pick one measurable sign of spiritual progress you will report (days you kept your appointment, minutes of silence, number of fast days, specific changes in attitude).
7. Tithing time: The preacher invited us to “tithe our time” at the start of the year. What would a “tithe of your time” look like this week (hours total)? Where will you deliberately give that time—to prayer, worship, serving, or the conference—and when will you schedule it?

Closing suggestion
End your time by having one person pray for the group’s commitments and ask God for fresh mercy and the grace to slow down and abide this week.