Has your quiet time grown routine, perhaps boring? Do you rush into prayer with excitement, or has it become repetitive?
Prayer should be like picking up the phone and calling a dear friend, someone who knows you better than you know yourself. The most important conversation you have today will be prayer.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV).
A quiet time invites us to commune one-on-one with the living Word. The Bible teaches, encourages, and corrects us.
The Bible is a double-edged sword (Heb. 4:12). It serves as our only weapon against the devil.
David hid the Word in his heart to avoid sin (Ps. 19:7). Paul admonished us to let the Word dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). Jesus told us to remain in Him (John 15:4).
Dwell and remain don’t describe a short visit. They connote hanging out with Jesus.
Your quiet time can look different from mine, and the way you organize your quiet time in this season might not work for a different season. We can do it in various ways and still achieve the same goal.
What is your goal?
The purpose of prayer begins with God inviting us into His presence. The author of Hebrews says:
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16 NIV).
Do we enter into prayer with confidence? Other versions of the Bible use “boldness” in place of “confidence,” such as the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and the New King James Version (NKJV). Do you pray bold prayers?
God wants to talk with us. He wants us to share our hearts with Him. He knows our needs before we pray, but He wants to enjoy a conversation about them.
Another purpose for quiet time includes spiritual growth. It’s when our faith blossoms and we move from milk to solid food (Heb. 5:13-14).
Since you know the importance of this time with God, how can you give it a fresh look? Let’s add some ways you can make changes to make quiet time quality time with Jesus.
Move outside.
Having a set time and place for your time with the Lord establishes a good routine, but winter has passed. I love sitting in my backyard, listening to the birds sing, and enjoying God’s creation as I pray and read. I feel closer to God when I’m outside, so give it a try.
Change your study material.
As a devotional author, I always tell people that devotions don’t replace the Bible, but they can be a great addition. Many online resources exist, including apps and online Bible studies. Check out the Bible study books wherever you buy Christian books. When my current study resource comes to an end, I get excited about moving on to the next new thing.
Change your time.
If it works, don’t fix it. Is there a better time of day when your house is quieter, and you can avoid distractions? Make sure to turn off your phone during this time, but if you use your phone for your resources, turn on do not disturb or switch it to mute.
Put quality before quantity.
Don’t feel guilty because you don’t read three chapters a day like your friend. Don’t mistake the person who reads through the entire Bible twice in one year as a super Christian. Read until you get something out of it. I prefer digging into one verse’s treasures over reading several chapters without gleaming anything from it.
Meditate.
God instructs us to meditate on His Word. Think of a cow chewing its cud. He continues bringing it back up as he chews, getting all he can out of his meal. Meditation gives us a reason to choose quality over quantity. Think about what you read as you drive to work, clean the house, or wash dishes. The Psalmist said, “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:6 NIV)
As you pray, ask God questions.
What should I do in this situation? When should I make that purchase? Then sit in silence as you listen for His answer. Apply this same technique as you read the Bible. What does this mean for my life, God? How can I apply this?
Dissect your verse.
Take the verse and break it down into smaller segments. Dig deep. What is the Bible saying here? Who is mentioned? Where is this location? When did this happen? Is this a warning, a command, a promise, or an example to follow?
Do a word study.
Use a concordance to find all the places in Scripture where a word or topic appears. Then look up each verse as you read through the list. You could choose words such as love, sin, prayer, or meditation. Some topical ideas include: how to handle fear, God’s promises, and money.
Study a specific book of the Bible.
Choose from the gospels, Paul’s epistles, the prophets, the psalms, the Old Testament, or the New Testament. I love doing this with a study Bible or commentary because I learn much more.
Journal.
Journal your way through whatever plan of Bible reading you choose. I’m more of a note taker, but it will be interesting to see how God moved in your life as you read and prayed. Keep track of prayer requests and answers.
This list isn’t exhaustive, but prayerfully consider what appeals to you. Perhaps you will begin by reading a particular book, and once you finish that, you may buy a Bible study by your favorite author. Later, you may do a study on a word or topic. I’m glad God gave us so many choices. Choose what works for you. Getting in the Word and lingering with God in prayer are foundational for living a victorious Christian life. They provide food for the soul, and we cannot mature apart from them.
Choose something enjoyable. I recall studying the books of Leviticus and Numbers once. I dreaded reading those books, so I just didn’t read them. I studied them in depth with several study Bibles and commentaries. Surprisingly, the study became interesting because the commentaries gave insight I would have missed on my own. If we don’t enjoy our time in the Word, we will dread it, putting it off, until one day, we don’t do it at all.
Don’t just read for information. Read for transformation. As a living book, the Bible changes us, and information will only fill our heads with nice facts, but when we seek change, we will take what we read each day and apply it to our lives.
My prayer for you is that you will embark on a new and exciting journey this spring through reading the Bible, and that your prayer life will undergo a makeover, drawing you ever closer to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ.
Photo Credit: ©SWN
Carolyn Dale Newell is a best-selling author and certified speaker. She knows the bitter taste of suffering from blindness to chronic pain. Her passion is to encourage women to keep their eyes on Jesus and not their circumstances in her devotional, Embers of Endurance: Rising Above Chronic Pain and Illness. You can connect with Carolyn on her website and her women’s ministry group on Facebook.
