Quiet Time is not just the absence of noise and movement but much more. Someone who is alone all day and lonely may have quiet in which to live but it is not a life giving tool to them. Quiet Time, as the subject we are looking at here, is one of the very important tools that every Christian needs to get to grips with in order to grow and strengthen their walk with God.

Over the course of three articles we will be looking at the theme under the separate titles of Ready, Steady and Slow. In this first article we will try to get some understanding of what a Quiet Time is for. What is the purpose of sitting down and focusing on God?

In the next article we will look at some of the practicalities of how to go about having an effective Quiet Time.

Lastly, of the three, we will look at what you might want to say and do as you slow down to spend some good time with God.

Relating to God

What Christians call Quiet Time is a portion of the day when they especially spend time thinking about God, praying and reading a part of Scripture. The Christian faith is about having a relationship with God. We cannot relate well to some one we have nothing to do with. Over the centuries since Christ lived on earth the people of His church have recognised the necessary effort needed to keep that relationship going. God will never grow distant from us but we can grow distant from Him, so we need to set out to spend time focused on that relationship. A Quiet Time is part of this. We can talk to God all day long but focused quality time is needed as well.

Let us pray together.

Heavenly Father, Your well of love for me never runs dry, but I become distracted and forget to love you in return. I invite You now to come and build in me the desire to turn to You. You have said, “Be still and know that I am God,” (Psalm ch46 v10). Give me a longing to sit in Your presence and to receive from You regularly and often. Amen.

There is an enemy trying to break up the relationship between God and you. Wishful thinking is not enough to keep ourselves close to God. We need to equip ourselves with tools to make our good intentions a working reality. A Quiet Time is one of those tools. Within our Quiet Time we pray, listen to God, read the Bible to learn about Him and through which He can speak to us. We open ourselves to be filled with God’s Spirit and wait upon God as we worship Him. We will look at these in more detail in the third part of this series as well as prayer, Bible study and meditation being looked at as separate subjects on this web site.

Let us pray together

Loving God, give me a greater understanding of the purpose of a Quiet Time. A Psalmist offers his “inmost being” in praise of You (Psalm ch103 v1). I pray that too. Help me to know You deeply in my Quiet Time so that I am better equipped to know you in all areas of my life. Amen.

Acquiring God’s agenda

Through praying to God and hearing from Him we become confident of His call on our lives and become aware of His wonderful plans for us. Through our Quiet Time we are looking for that agenda and bringing our time and actions before Him.

Say this prayer for yourself echoing what I have already prayer for you.

Lord God, “You have searched my and you know me,” (Psalm ch139 v1). You have good things in sight for me. As I set out to spend more time with You and in reading Your Word, speak to me. Show me you way for my life. Amen.

When we sit for our Quiet Time we are preparing ourselves for the spiritual battle written about in Ephesians ch6. It is important to pray over our confidence in our salvation and righteousness, Gods truth and peace, our receiving and exercising faith and God’s word in our lives. We need to give thanks to God for giving us these things out of “His glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians ch4 19) This is the confidence and thankfulness that we need to face the coming day.

Let us offer this prayer to God now.

Heavenly Father, You have not left us vulnerable in the world but have given us wonderful gifts to enrich and protect our lives. More than that, You are “at my right hand [and] I shall not be shaken,” (Psalm 16 v8). I choose to dress myself each day in your spiritual clothing and offer myself, with thankfulness, to your purposes. Amen.

Yielding to the Spirit

A Quiet Time gives us the opportunity to renew our commitment to God on a frequent and regular basis. We humbly put ourselves aside and make way for God to lead us and teach us. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to come and fill us again and flow out from us each and every day.

A prayer for God’s Spirit

Holy God, The Bible tells us that every believer receives Your Spirit (2 Corinthians ch 1 v22) but it also tells us that we should not grieve your Spirit by the way we live (Ephesians ch4 v30). Today I set aside my ways and choose the ways Your Spirit leads me. Amen.