Daily Quiet Time with God

Four Reasons for a Daily Time with God—

1. This hour is vital to spiritual growth (1 Pet 2:2-3; Heb 5:14).
2. This hour is vital to spiritual cleansing (Ps 119:9; Jn 15:3; Jn 17:17).
3. This hour is vital to spiritual counsel (2 Tim 4:16; Ps 73:24).
4. This hour is vital to spiritual conflict (Eph 6:17-18).

Five Specific Requirements for Quiet Time—

A definite place and time.

Look at Jesus (Mk 1:35). He sought a quiet place in the morning. Begin each morning with God (Ps 5:3; Ps 59:16; Ps 88:13; Ps 143:8-10).

A good Bible and a reading schedule.

A prayer list.

This list would allow you to stress a different request, person, nation, mission work, etc., each day. You might want to have an almanac which lists specific nations and their leaders so that you could remember these in prayer.

A notebook.

This notebook allows you to write down the thoughts of your study and meditation, even if it is in brief sentence form. Some write notes int eh margins of their Bibles. You might also write down your prayers which will later serve as a “diary” of your time with God. This will be helpful to measure spiritual growth from year to year, and this will also show you how God actually answered your prayers.

A spirit of expectancy.

This spirit is not tangible, but it is important in two ways:

1. Physical. Expect to be alert (Mk 6:31). Go to bed at an early hour so you can be fresh for your appointment with God.
2. Moral. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps 66:18). If you have something in your heart between you and God, your fellowship with him will be marred. If you have something in your heart against another person, leave and be reconciled first with your brother. Expect to be morally pure (Matt 5:23-24).

Five Rules for an Effective Quiet Time with God—

Wait.

Don’t hurry! Take your time off the clock because hurrying is the death of worship. If you are crowded for time, arise earlier like the Lord who arose while it was yet dark. Hush yourself and “be still” (Ps 46:10). Seek to be conscious of the presence of God (Js 4:8).

Read the Word.

You cannot pray right until you have allowed God to speak to you through his Word. Only in this way can we pray “in faith” (Rom 10:17; Js 1:5; Lk 11:12). Follow a plan in reading, not a hit or miss plan.

Meditate.

Any Command? Any promise for me? Any new thought? Any sin to avoid? (Ps 1:2; Col 3:16a)

Write in your notebook a brief sketch of what God has said to your soul.

Pray.

Pray back to God what you have read so his will can become your will. Adore him, praise him, thank him as a child would his father. And finally, pray not only in behalf of yourself but also for others.