HAVING AN EFFECTIVE QUIET TIME

Seasoned Christ-Followers know that spending time with the Lord, really focused upon Him and His Word is essential to a growing and productive Christian life.  To assist you in establishing the practice of a regular quiet time, we are providing devotionals  and recommended materials that you may access via the website, the Vineyard, or in a local Christian Book Store – like Lifeway or Mardels.  Occasionally, the ministerial staff will list books or articles that have proven helpful in their quiet times.  Please feel free to utilize any of the suggestions and even to email your own suggestions of helpful resources.

REQUIREMENTS FOR AN EFFECTIVE QUIET TIME
Years ago, well actually decades ago, I established the habit of a daily/regular quiet time with the Lord,  and I found there were certain issues that had to be considered if the quiet time was really going to be effective

  1. Schedule a regular time for your quiet time.  Different times of day work for different people, but I have found that if I don’t make time for the Lord in the morning, I may not make time for Him at all.  So my recommendation is that you find a time in the morning for your quiet time.  Maybe it’s before the family is awake or after the kids are at school.  Your time with the Lord needs to be just you & Him, so find a time that you can be alone.

  2. Set your quiet time for a regular place.  Usually a room or place that leaves you free from noise, distractions, or other people is a good choice.  The familiar place will begin, after a while, to encourage your sense of the Lord’s Presence within you.  Turn off the radio or tv, and put your other social media outlets away.  It’s also a good idea to get in the habit of leaving your Bible in your special place – so you won’t have to go searching for the Word every day.

  3. Next, seek to follow a similar procedure every day.  The pattern will help you to keep your mind and heart focused on the Lord.  For example, you might begin with a short time of prayer where you simply say ‘Hello’ to the Lord and perhaps praise Him for whatever comes to your mind.  Then open His Word and read it, having breathed a prayer for understanding and insight.  Lastly, hit your knees (or use whatever posture you find most helpful), and pray.  Normally, for me, this is the longer prayer time for me.


RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER TIME

  1. Choose the Bible (and translation) your will use for your Quiet Time.  You may even want to have more than one translation available.  Many people these days even use the Bible apps on their phones or ipads.

  2. Have the devotional material you’re using, if any, handy.  Sometimes you might want to mix it up.  Reading the Word first, then the devotional, or the devotional first, then the Word.

  3. Plan what you will pray.  That necessitates having some kind of prayer list that you keep in your place of prayer.  Create your own or use the Church’s Wednesday night Prayer list as your starting point.

  4. Pray.  You might find it helpful to pray according to the acrostic A.C.T.S. that listed below, or you might have another prayer plan that you choose to follow.  The main thing is have a prayer plan and you will pray more and more effectively.
  • Adore the Lord.  Praise Him for Who He is and What He has done.
  • Confess your sin to Him.  Often when reflecting upon the Lord’s greatness or goodness, He will bring sin that needs to be confessed to our minds.
  • Thanks.  List the things to the Lord for which you are thankful.  People, blessings, events.
  • Supplication.  That’s a good old Bible word for petitions.  Interceding for others needs and them bringing your own needs to Him.

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Recommended Devotions


Heart Journey
Debbie Milburn Eoff

I am a mother of two beautiful daughters (who both have wonderful husbands), the grandmother of two wonderful grandsons, and a wife to my husband Garry. I taught English and speech for 20 years, and for the last 10 have been a Language Arts Writing consultant and part-time instructor of English at Howard Payne University.I have taught Sunday School and Bible studies most of my adult life. I love God's Word and get very excited when He reveals Truth to me through my studies!