Training Up Children in the Way They Should Go

So the school where I work recently expelled a student for some rather inappropriate behavior. They'd been working with him for months, but he was belligerent, and so he had to go. I'm pretty sad about it-- he was one of the more respectful kids in his grade.

When announcing the occurrence to the student body, the Headmaster took the opportunity to encourage the students to have a devotional time with God every day. He made it a matter of pride, saying that people who do not spend time with God on a daily basis are essentially saying that God matters to them only some of the time, that they only need God occasionally.

My generation seems to be abnormally hyperactive and absent-minded. In fact, I don't think I know anybody in my age group who can say that they actually do a “devotional” time every single day of the week.

And the thing is, most of us were never taught how to do that. We were always told that we had to do it, but never shown HOW. Which makes things difficult. We hear people talking about how God tells them things, how they grow closer to God through that time, how He reveals things in the Bible...

...but that doesn't always happen to us. Some of us go away from reading and praying feeling drier than ever. Like we just spent half an hour talking to a wall.

But now I'm wondering: can you teach your kids how to do a devotional time? Can you train them in it like you train them to clean their room or use the bathroom?

Can you say, “You can go outside after you've made your bed and read your Bible”?

Can you make it a chore? Should you?

At what age should kids start having their own devo time apart from the family time? Should parents help them out, or make sure they're “doing it right” as if it were multiplication tables?

I've never heard of anyone doing this with their kids. Are some people just more attuned to the spiritual disciplines than others? Are some of us doomed never to experience God on that level?

And then, what do we teach our kids?

How do we guide them in the right way? Should we have our individual devo time in their presence? Teach them that this time is sacred?

And HOW do we do this? How can we be good, godly parents?

There really should be a manual on this...