QUIET TIME Every Day *Adapted from Lord of the Universe, Lord of My Life (InterVarsity Press, 1973) A daily time is a private meeting each day between a disciple and the Lord Christ Jesus. It SHOULD Not be Impromptu! Precise time set aside for communing with God through Christ. -Why is it Important- 1) It please the Lord!- consequently, this would be Sufficient Reason for it. -ONE Indicator of the Depth of our Relationship with the Lord is our Willingness to spend time ALONE with Him NOT Primarily for what we get out of it BUT for what it means to Him as well.- 2) We receive benefits. Ps. 42:1-2 (ESV): [1] As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. [2] My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God. When shall I come and appear before God? We benefit from a Quiet Time in several ways: •INFORMATION: We learn about Christ and His Word before we can Obey Him - we need to know what He Commands; before we can understand what life is all about we need to know if what He has taught. •ENCOURAGEMENT: At times we get discouraged. There is NO BETTER Source for Inspiration than the Lord Jesus Christ. •POWER: Even when we know what we should be AND do those kinds of works. Christ is the Source of Power, and meeting with Him is Essential to our receiving it. 3) Jesus had a Quiet Time. Mark 1:35 (ESV): And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a Desolate Place, and there He prayed. If our Lord found it Necessary to meet Privately with His Father, SURELY His Example give us a good reason to do likewise. -How to Begin- Once you Desire to begin a Daily Quiet Time, what can you do to start? -First, set aside time in Advance for you to do your Daily Quiet Time...the best time is early in the morning. Putting prayer off at the end of the day is like going to work without getting dress for the day. Whether it be in the morning, in the day, or in the evening then do it. Preferable most of the time, it is in the morning since it begins before the rush of thoughts and activities of the day. REMEMBER, an Orchestra doesnt tune its instruments After the concert. -Second, plan ahead. Go to bed a lil bit early so you can wake up refreshed in the morning. -Third, pray that the Holy Spirit is able to control your Investment of time & to guide your Praising, Confessing, Scripture Reading, Interceding, Supplication, Meditation, and Singing Songs about our God! -Fourthly, keep your Notebook handy all them time when you are in time with God and outside the time with Him. His answers, your questions, and ideas. -Fifthly, have an accountability parter or several. -When Problems Arise- Here are some of the problems most people come in contact with... 1) I know I ought to have a Daily Quiet Time, but I dont want to. Solution: Ask the Holy Spirit to plant within you a Desire to have time and a place with the Lord. You CANNOT generate the Desire, and nobody else can do this for you EXCEPT the Holy Spirit. 2) I just dont feel like having a Quiet Time TODAY. Solution: have your Quiet Time anyways, and honestly Admit to Christ that you dont feel like meeting with Him. You can says whatever you want, but I am under obligation to tell you that - Who care. You can say, You are being a legalist. I dont care with anybody says - ask the Holy Spirit not to improve your feeling but ask what or why you have these feeling of not wanting and needing to be with Him every second of every day?!.. 3) My mind wanders. Solution: Ask the Holy Spirit to Discipline your self to help you get through this. Also, I like to use a notebook called the Mind Sweeper to get whatever is coming in your mind out if it doesnt bring you call to the Lord. You can do anything: take notes on your study and apply it to your everyday life, prayer requests, or things that I didnt think about that I should do today (the Holy Spirit is trying to get me off of my bottom and DO). 4) I miss too many Quiet Times. Solution: The Lord says through me, Who cares. If you fall down what do you do?..you get back up and keep on trying. Confess that you failed to keep your appointment with Him, and ask for His forgiveness and renew your relationship. Thats it. Who said you should lie down just for one minute until you fall asleep - satan is telling you, Did God really say!?.. The devil is trying so desperately hard to get you off the Straight Narrow Path that Lead to your Present Salvation or Sanctification. 5) My daily Quiet Time is so boring. Solution: Ps. 51:12 (ESV): Restore to me the Joy of Your Salvation, and Uphold me with a Willing spirit. Put some variety into your approach like switch it up a bit, Worship then Thanksgiving then Scripture Reading and etc. There are hundred of reasons why you and I dont do a Daily Quiet Time. The Bible nails it down to two reasons: (1) The influence of the flesh. Gal. 5:16-17 (ESV): [16] But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable your New Nature to OVERCOME your old nature in this Battle. (2) The latter is satan. The devil opposes our every effort to please Christ. His strategy is to rob you of your precious joyous time with the Lord, to complicate things your scheduled time in the morning by making you stay up late the night before, making your mind wonder by whispering about nothing to otherwise to disrupt your meeting with Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to Restrain the devil (Dan. 10:10-14). -APPLICATION- Start out your day with at least 15 minutes thru 2 hours of Quiet Time or Devotional yet every beginning Christians or Disciple Makers should make it a priority. Write out to the side, Mind Sweeper (pop into your head) - it may be Satan or God trying to get you to do something. 1) Praise & Thanksgiving ____ minutes A. Praise: You thanks God for His attributes: e.g. Mercy, Grace, Gods Law, etc. B. Thanksgiving: Gratitude directed towards God (i.e. thank God for the ability to wake up, to read the Word, and Etc... 2) Confession & Repentance _____ minute(s) (minimum of 1 or 2 min.) 3) Scripture Reading ____ minutes A. Paragraph or a Chapter: Write down a reflection on what you have read. i. Meditate on your reading. B. Write out the verse(s) if you want to or memorize them. If it take you week or a month - do it! 4) Prayer ____ minutes A. My family, Church family, Church leadership (elders, shepherd-teachers [i.e. pastors], etc.), community, city, state, & one country every week (U.S.A., Iraq, China, and etc.). i. Intercession (someone elses needs NOT wants) ii. Supplication (something that you need to further the cause of Christ) •[Thanksgiving (something He has done for someone else and/or you)] 5) Meditation ____ minutes 6) Worship ____ minutes A. Listen to music, sing Hymns, or Christian musics to close your quiet time. **Journal Everyday**
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:47:26 +0000
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