Finding the right place, the right time, and the right way to enjoy uninterrupted time with God.
I get it. Life gets crazy. If you're parent then you know that it can be like fighting tooth and nail to get to the feet of Jesus every day. If you're single and live with your parents or with roommates, you may also find it challenging to just spend time with God.
As Christians, our Spiritual health can be traced to how much time we are spending with God praying, worshiping and studying His word.
I don't know about you, but when I haven't spent time before God I am not the most gracious person. When we start off our day with Jesus, we become more like Him. We love more like Him. We look more like Him.
Getting in your Word, in prayer, and worship, are essential and crucial to knowing God's will and growing in your faith. But it can be hard to know exactly where to start. Make that time with God a priority even if you have to develop a balanced and realistic plan, and schedule out what you will do the night before if you have to.
Here are a few tips that will show you how to make and keep quiet time with the Lord every day.
Where - It is so important that you find a nice and quiet place. Find a place where you can focus. Jesus said enter into your closet and pray (Matthew 6:6). Hey, whatever works, right? Even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom. Get to that place! In the Bible when Jesus went to go before His Father, He always left to a quiet place to be alone with God. So should we.
When - We know from the Bible that Jesus went before God in the early hours of the morning. I believe that the success of Jesus' ministry was partly due to that uninterrupted quiet time spent in prayer and worship with His Father (and the other part being He was God, of course). If you are serious about this, start with setting your alarm to wake you up at 3:00 or 4:00 AM. Everyone is sleeping and you have the place to yourself. If that's not an option try waking up an hour before your alarm goes off regularly. Find the right time for you. Your quiet time should last at least thirty minutes. But some time is better than no time at all, so if you can't do thirty minutes, start with fifteen. And make it your best time. Don't give Abba Father your leftovers. Don't try to fit Him into your schedule. Your schedule should fit around Him.
What - You don't go to war without your ammo, right? In order for you to have an effective quiet time you need to bring the right tools and supplies.
- You will need a good, study Bible. Perhaps one with large margins for jotting down notes.
- Get a pretty journal. Don't just get any plain notebook. This is God's time. invest in a beautiful journal that you will enjoy to share your heart in, and look back on years from now. You can use it to write down prayer requests, and other study notes..
- Highlighters and pens. Get into the habit of color-coding. You can create your own color-coding system to help you reference back later.
- Instrumental worship music. I love listening to Kari Jobe, Elevation Worship, and Jesus Culture to usher me into that zone of reckless abandon. But I noticed about a year ago that it began to distract me, because I would begin singing or humming and forgot where I was reading, so I started to listen to instrumental worship music. You can find some on Pandora and Spotify.
I recommend you place your Bible, journal, highlighters and pens in your quiet place you have chosen the night before, so that you have no delays or waste time.
How - Get to your place. Get still and get quiet before God. Go before Him ready to receive His goodness through prayer and His Word. I personally do not pray until after I am done studying. God already knows my needs, but it is more important that I get to know Him more by spending time in His word. Follow an organized plan to read your Bible. You can find great Bible Reading Plans on YouVersion.You can read through a book, read with a devotional, study a character of the Bible, or study on a topic. Have you been worried lately or discouraged? Having a hard time forgiving? Use that to study God's Word. Be sure to listen to God as He speaks to you through His Word and write it down in your journal. Use your highlighters to color-code topical scriptures pertaining to forgiveness, grace, salvation, love, sin, etc.
Now you're ready to pray. Use what God spoke to your heart and ask God to show you how to apply it to your life. Thank Him for meeting you today in your quiet place. Bring before Him any prayer requests that you have been given.
It isn't always easy to get into a routine, and sometimes life will throw a wrench into your day and your entire schedule may fall apart. But persistence births consistence. Expect the wrenches. Ask your family to respect your quiet time and to help you by removing any distractions during that time. Satan tries to limit your prayer and worship time, because He knows that your prayer and worship time limits him!
Fight for this time. Fight for this place. Strive to just spend time with God, rather than focus on how much time to spend with Him. It's not about how much you are in your word, but how much word is in you. Those around you should be able to see that you have been in the presence of the Lord, by the fruit that you bear from.
This will require some sacrifice on your part, but Jesus is so worth it.
What tips do you have? Share with us how you do your quiet time.
Also read: "5 Ways to Study Your Bible"
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