QUIET TIME

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You may already have knowledge about Quiet Time, but this is an instructive piece by a young pastor of mine from his book. Here are extracts from the book.

Keeping a successful quiet time
  • Quiet time is a time consciously developed to be with God.
  • It is a time you deliberately develop to tune out all distractions so as to abide in the presence of God. While praying, you talk to God and in reading through the scriptures, you hear Him.
  • Quiet time helps you to develop the most important relationship in life. It is not a time to rush in or rush out of the presence of God. It helps you to develop the habit of spending regular time with God.
  • Quiet time is a time to READ the most important book in the world.
  • Quiet time is your personal school of the Holy Spirit. During quiet time, you increase in the knowledge of scripture and you experience the presence of God. It provides an unshakable platform for spiritual growth.
  • To experience growth in faith, we must continually fellowship with God. This is what leads to intimacy knowing God as He would want us to know Him.
Quiet time as Devotion
  • Quiet time is often referred to as devotion. Devotion means giving out oneself to a particular cause.
  • You must keep up with the principle of putting God first in everything. Keep up a daily appointment with God.
  • To be consistent at anything, discipline is required. Discipline is the art of controlling yourself to do the things you should do.
  • It is easier to be lazy than to be hard-working. A few lazy days can wear off a previous commitment to keeping quiet time.
Waiting on the Lord
  • The first thing that comes to mind when waiting on the Lord is mentioned, is fasting, but it is much more than that.
  • Isaiah 40:31(AMP): But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift up their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up close to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall run and not faint or become tired.
  • Fasting could be a part of waiting on the Lord, but it is not the only way. Waiting involves other fundamentals of Christian living such as worship, prayer and meditation.
  • Waiting on the Lord above anything else is keeping yourself out of perceived distractions to stay with God.
  • When you wait on the Lord [intently] to see His face, you will definitely see Him; when you wait to hear from Him, you'll definitely hear Him.
  • Habakkuk 2: 1(MSG): I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says, how He'll hear my complaint. And then God answered: "Write this, write what you see. Write it in big block letters so that it can be read on the run."
Some benefits of waiting
  • Renewed strength and empowerment.
  • Becoming sensitive to things of the Spirit. You become a person with vision on a mission.
  • You acquire boldness and confidence.
  • You receive practical solutions to life's challenges.
  • You receive miracles and supernatural blessings.
  • Big changes you want in your life start and keep happening as you keep the habit of abiding in God's presence.
What to do at your Quiet Time
  • Spend quality time in worship.
  • Spend quality time in word study and meditation.
  • Spend quality time in prayer.
  • Spend quality time in listening. All we often do is to speak, forgetting that God speaks too.
Strategies for successful Quiet Time
  • Set a practicable, unchangeable and regular time for it. Remember, God will not punish if you break the routine especially if you quickly adjust to your current schedule (see Jesus' example in Mark 1:35 and Luke 21:37).
  • Observe your Quiet Time at a place where you are alone. Withdraw from the presence of other people or noise.
  • Eliminate other communications and distractions like phones and television. Focus solely on God.
  • Create an atmosphere conducive for fellowship with your Creator. You could play a good message or worship music at the background.

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