Something I've been pondering lately as my wife and I go through our devotional time.

The LSB is not meant to exclusively be a hymnal used in Church services. It is also meant for use in the home and in the school. Here are a few ways how the LSB can enrich devotional life.

1. Sing from it! If you have a piano at home, as well as the blessing of someone who can play it, put it on the piano and sing; this is a great family activity! Take some time each week to gather the family and sing. Let your children pick out their favorite hymns!

Gather together and work on learning new hymns. Singing together as a family is such a rich way to pass on the faith to your children.

2. Make use of the Daily Prayer Orders! These are found on pages 294-298. Single? These can certainly be used to shape your private devotion.

Family? It’s a great resource for daily devotions together. There are even specific orders for different times of the day!: Morning, Noon, early Evening, and Night. You can also find two Responsive Prayer Orders from pages 282-287, and the Litany on 288-289.

3. Preparing for the Lord’s Supper. The LSB is a great resource for carefully preparing for the Supper. There are many Eucharistic hymns (617-643). Review the Small Catechism’s questions regarding the Sacrament (326-327). Use the Christian Questions with Their Answers (329-330).

Pray either the pre-communion prayer on the inside cover or the prayer for right reception of the Eucharist on page 308.

4. Preparing for Private Absolution. What a blessing private absolution is; we must work to bring it back! There are plenty of hymns for confession (606-616).

Pray Psalm 51. Review the Small Catechism’s teaching on the Office of Keys and Confession (326). Read through the Ten Commandments and their explanations and note how you have broken them (321-332). Pray the prayer before Confession on the inside cover.

5. Enrich your Prayer Life. There is a great wealth of prayers for an immense spectrum of occasions in the LSB (305-318). If you ever find yourself at a loss or stumped for how to pray for a specific situation, check out the LSB and see if there is a prayer that meets the need!

Overall, the Church’s Hymnbook is meant to be a prayerbook of Her people too.