Devotion is an expression of qualities such as faith and belief coming together. Faith and belief are not abstract qualities but represent some basic realizations that you may have had about yourself and about God. We can say belief is personal reflection and faith is universal reflection. You have faith in God, something and somebody whom you have never seen and may not see in this lifetime, but faith continues.

There is faith in some transcendental form of existence and there is belief in yourself.
Every aspect of creation is guided by its inherent nature.The nature of a fruit free is to bear fruit eventually.

The nature of a human being is to experience peace, truth and bliss. If the seed of a fruit tree is left above ground in the middle of a desert, it will not germinate, much less become a tree and fulfil its nature by bringing forth fruit. You have to plant the seed, care for it and create the right environment for it to fulfil its destiny.

It is the same with human beings. The nature of a human being is to experience satyam – truth, shivam – positivity, auspiciousness, and sundaram – beauty. But to have this experience you have to create the right environment. You can’t just say, “I am going to fulfil my destiny.”
The right environment begins with belief in one’s own potential and ability; and faith in God, Ishwara pranidhana, knowing one is being guided and directed, and that the essence in oneself is the same as the essence of God. This is the philosophy of Adwaita Vedanta.

Whether water is contained in an ocean, a river, a lake or a cloud, the essence is the same – H2O. Similarly, the essence of God and the reflection of that essence in us is the same. We call the essence of water H2O and the essence of divinity God. Recognizing and realizing that essence is the development of faith and belief.

So one component of bhakti is dropping the masks and experiencing the reality at a personal level, a social level and a global level. If the aim of bhakti is to experience the truth, then the first sadhana of bhakti is to realize the truth of who you are and what you are.
Once faith and belief are alive and active, the emotions are channeled – and this is bhakti. Emotion is e-motion – energy in motion. When it is directed outwards into the world, we experience pleasure, pain, change, likes, dislikes, fulfilment, satisfaction, as well as a vacuum and emptiness. But when the same energies are directed inwards with the help of faith and belief, it becomes bhakti. Bhakti is channeling the emotions towards transcendental realization.
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, December 2001 Satsang at Ganga Darshan