Your Daily Quiet Time

This is probably one of the most practical posts I’ve written – not that I’ve written that many posts. We’re still in a long look at discipleship, and one of those “disciplines” that we need in our lives in order to grow as “disciples” is a daily quiet time with God. 

We’ve also defined a daily quiet time as “time alone with God, usually spent praying and reading the Bible.”

So how do we have a daily quiet time? Here are some things I’ve learned over the years that have helped me. Let me say right here at the first, none of these ideas are original with me. I learned all of this at various places along the way. I don’t know where I heard most of this, but it would have been from multiple authors and teachers. I simply took their ideas and put them to work in my life, and found which ones helped me the most. So here you go…

How to Have a Daily Quiet Time:

1.  Select A Specific Time

Choose your time and put it on your calendar just like any other appointment until it becomes a habit. Also, choose how long you’ll spend in your quiet time. My suggestion is to start with 10-15 minutes and let the time grow from there. But at least give God 10-15 minutes each day.

2.  Choose A Special Place

Find one place where you’ll meet with God every day. Make it a place where you can avoid as many interruptions and distractions as possible (but not such a comfortable place that you’ll fall asleep!). This will be your place where you have your time alone with God. 

3.  Gather Your Tools

a, A Bible in a readable translation (NIV, NLT, whatever works for you)

b. A notebook (or a spiritual journal) and pen

c. A teachable spirit – “If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you have turned your back on knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27, NLT)

4.  Follow Your Plan (this one is for a 15 minute quiet time)

1. Prayer (1 minute) – Get rid of all other thoughts; thank God for the opportunity to spend time with him. Ask him to show you anything he wants as you read his word. In fact, we should always be in the habit of praying before reading the Bible – “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18, ESV) 
2. Read the Bible (4 minutes) – Go into your time with a plan for reading. You can read through a book one chapter at a time, but be ready to read until God stops you. That may be after one verse or several chapters. Start with a book like John, James, or Proverbs. Whatever you do, make sure you have a reading plan before you start your quiet time.
3. Reflect on what you’ve read (4 minutes) – Does anything stick out to you? Are there any promptings from the Holy Spirit? (See SPACEPETS below for extra help here). 
4. Write down any insights (2 minutes) – write down anything you feel God has said to you in this passage, what you said to God in response, and what specifically you will do as a result.
5. Pray (4 minutes) – Any relationship is only as strong as its communication. Confess your sins, praise God for who he is, thank God for what he’s done, pray for your prayer requests, and pray what you wrote down to say to God.

When you’re reflecting on the Scripture you’re reading, you can use SPACEPETS to help you (If anyone knows who came up with this, please let me know so I can give them credit!):

Is there a…Sin for me to confess?

Is there a…Promise to accept?

Is there an…Attitude to change?

Is there a…Command to obey?

Is there an…Example to follow?

Is there a…Prayer to pray?

Is there an…Error to avoid?

Is there a…Truth to believe?

Is there…Something to be thankful for?

There, you’ve had your first quiet time! 

Here are a couple of more thoughts:

Overcoming distractions – one thing that always happens to me during a quiet time is that our enemy keeps bringing to my mind things that I need to get done that day, things that I need to remember, anything to distract me. I keep a separate notepad around just so that every time I get distracted by something like, “Don’t forget you have to change the oil in your car” I just write that thought down and press on, knowing I don’t have to think about that again because I’ve written down the reminder.

Probably my biggest distraction is the struggle to stay consistent. We have an enemy who doesn’t want us to spend time with God, so he creates every reason in the world for us to skip it. That’s why we need to schedule it, block that time out, and recognize that Satan will attack you in this way! One person suggested long ago that, if you have your quiet time in the mornings, go ahead the night before and open your Bible to where you’ll be reading the next morning.

Finally, never judge your quiet time by how you feel about it, before or after. You won’t always receive profound insight or have an incredibly emotional time. That isn’t the point. Remember, God doesn’t always want to say anything to you, he may just want to spend time with you. It isn’t always about learning more or experiencing more, it’s also about resting in God’s presence.

So there you have it – almost everything I’ve learned along the way about having a daily quiet time. It has been the one thing that has made the biggest difference in my walk with God. If you’re not already having a daily quiet time, try it. Give it 6 weeks. I pray that it makes the same impact on you that it has on me.

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