Tag Archives: Quiet Time

How to Have a Meaningful Quiet Time with God

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How to Have a Meaningful Quiet Time with God

By Adrian Rogers

“Oh how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

Christianity is not a legal relationship, it is a love relationship. Ten thousand “don’ts” will never make you one iota more like the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Himself Who makes you like Him. But you need to spend time with Him. I want to give you five factors for spending some quiet time with Him each day.

The Proper Period

You must find the right time. Your quiet time should last at least half an hour. But some time is better than no time, so if you can’t start at thirty minutes, begin with ten. It should be your very best time. Don’t give the Lord your leftovers. And don’t try to find time – make time, and make it a priority. Also find time early in the day. Psalm 5:3 says, “… in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.” You don’t take the trip and then read the map, do you? Spend time alone with God to begin your day.

The Proper Preparation

A quiet time is fellowship with a holy God. There are a few things you can do to be prepared for this time. First, be physically alert. Find a time when the cobwebs are out of your mind and you can think clearly. Second, be mentally aware. Be focused, and know He’s there. Emotion doesn’t really have all that much to do with it. And third, be morally pure and clean. Some people don’t have a quiet time because they feel uncomfortable looking God in the face with sin in their lives.

The Proper Place

Find a place where you can focus. Jesus said enter into your closet and pray (see Matthew 6:6). That simply means find a place of isolation where you can shut the door on the world and open the windows to heaven. Jesus sought out places where He could be alone, and so should you.

The Proper Provisions

In order to have an effective quiet time, you need the right tools. Here are some tools I use:

• a readable Bible – Invest in one with plenty of room to jot notes in the margins.

• a prayer journal – Expect God to give you something and write it down. Also use it to record things you’re praying about.

• a notepad – Write down your daily assignments.

The Proper Procedure

Finally, may I recommend some procedures to follow in your quiet time?

Get still and quiet. The Bible says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Focus your mind on Him. Calm down, relax, and recognize His presence. Take a deep breath and focus your thoughts on the Lord.

Get into the Word of God. It’s better to start by reading the Bible than it is to start in prayer. It is more important for you to hear from God, even than for God to hear from you. God already knows all about you, but you need to know a lot more about Him.

Read the Bible for quality and not quantity. It’s good to have a goal to read the Bible through in a year, or a similar goal; but that’s not the purpose of your quiet time. Also, devotional books are wonderful. But again, this is not the place for them. This is the time when you simply read the Bible with an open mind.

Meditate. As you focus on the Word of God and meditate, let it permeate you. Ask:

• Is there a command to obey?

• Is there a promise to claim?

• Is there a sin to avoid?

• Is there a lesson to learn?

• Is there a new truth to carry with me?

Record what God has given you. Write down what God says to you and what He tells you to do. It doesn’t have to be flowery. You’re not writing it for publication or to impress other people.

Now you’re ready to pray. When you pray, pour out your soul. Be natural and honest with God. Tell Him how you feel. Pray out loud. It keeps your mind on track and enables you to stay focused.

Begin to share out of your quiet time. God did not make us to be reservoirs; He made us to be conduits. Tell others what is God is showing you.

Finally, obey what God tells you. Your spiritual train is running on two rails. One is revelation and the other is obedience. And if either rail stops, your train stops. Learn to obey the Word of God.

I pray these simple suggestions will help you have a daily quiet time in the presence of our loving, almighty, powerful God.

May GOD bless Nigeria, America and Israel and take care of us; May GOD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the LORD lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

May the grace the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Make Appointments with God

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Make Appointments with God

By Whitney Hopler

Imagine that you’ve been invited to meet with the President of the United States in the Oval Office. You’d likely look forward to your appointment with great excitement. Now imagine that someone much more exciting – the God of the universe – wants to meet with you personally. This scenario is true; God really does want to meet with you, and He wants to do so every single day through a private quiet time together.

Those appointments with God should be a source of great joy for you. But unfortunately, quiet times can sometimes seem too intimidating to schedule or maintain regularly. Here are some ways you can enjoy your appointments with God:

• Think about how much God loves you, and expect to be blessed as a result of spending time with Him. View your quiet times as cherished meetings with someone that loves you.

• Realize that the more time you spend with God, the greater the intimacy you’ll develop with Him. Although the idea of a daily quiet time might seem awkward at first because you might not know what to say or how to recognize God’s voice, after a while, you’ll look forward to the appointment because it will be like meeting with your best friend.

• Set aside a consistent time every day to meet with God. Choose a time at which you’re most alert and can block out distractions. Although many people choose first thing in the morning after waking up, the afternoon or evening can also work. Try starting out with a half-hour quiet time, and after you’ve developed greater intimacy with God, increase that time to an hour. It usually takes about five to ten minutes during the start of your quiet time to clear your mind enough to focus fully on God, so don’t rush your quiet time. But don’t schedule so much time that you become overwhelmed and lose your motivation to continue.

• Designate a special place in which you can meet privately with God. The place can be either indoors or outdoors, such as a home office or a garden.

• Relax! Don’t feel pressured to perform certain rituals during your quiet time; there is no one “right” way to conduct a quiet time. Think about what activities best draw you into God’s presence, then go with those.

• Seek God Himself rather than anything He might give you. Know that God will meet you where you are and reveal much about Himself to you if you’re sincerely seeking Him.

• Consider following a Bible reading plan during your quiet times. Then ask God to help you apply the verses you read to your everyday life. Meditate on Scripture and memorize it so it will renew your mind.

• Worship God in some way during your quiet times. Thank Him for His work in your life and praise Him for who He is. If you like, sing a worship chorus or hymn as part of your devotions.

• Ask God to reveal hidden areas of sin in your life, and make a habit of confessing your sins to God during your quiet time. Then receive His forgiveness and grace to do better. Invite God to use your quiet times to powerfully transform you.

• Pray for your own needs and desires, and intercede for others. Don’t give up; God will answer you in the best way at the best time.

• Pray against evil in your life and the lives of other people.

• Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you during your quiet time to give you fresh strength and grace each day.

• Consider fasting occasionally to help you focus more on God.

• Consider writing down your thoughts, feelings, and prayers in a journal during your quiet time to more clearly express them. Read through our ongoing journal to see how God has been working in your life.

Adapted from An Appointment with the King: Ideas for Jump-Starting Your Devotional Life, copyright 2002 by Joel Comiskey. Published by Chosen Books, a division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., http://www.bakerbooks.com, 1-800-877-2665.

Joel Comiskey, Ph.D., has served as a full-time missionary to Ecuador. He and his wife, Celyce, have three daughters.

Do you schedule a daily quiet time with God? If so, how does it help you draw closer to Him? If not, what challenges do you face that discourage you from scheduling or consistently maintaining a daily quiet time?

May GOD bless Nigeria, America and Israel and take care of us; May GOD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the LORD lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

May the grace the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen

 

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