Spending time with God every day is a discipline. It’s not always easy to do. It takes a conscious effort, but it’s a habit that is always worthy to cultivate.
On today’s post, I’ll share with you some tips and ideas to help you improve your daily quiet time with God. You may call it personal devotion, daily meeting but the important thing is to spend time with God daily.
First of all, what is daily quiet time?
Daily Quiet Time is time set aside for God to have a daily personal fellowship with Him through His Word and prayer.
Is daily quiet time and Bible study the same thing?
For me, it depends on your objective.
My objective for doing a daily quiet time is to meet Jesus, talk to Him, listen to what He has to say, thank Him for what He has done in my life, ask forgiveness and reflect on His message to me that day.
I sometimes use a simple and quick Bible study method like the PRAISE method which I shared from my last post to extract His message for me that day. Or I simply do my Scripture Writing and daily pages with Jesus.
Whereas, my objective for Bible Study is to really dig deeper into the Word and know more about God and other truths, I allot a longer time for this which is usually during my Sabbath day. This is a more labor intensive study that requires longer time and research.
But why do we really need to have a daily quiet time with God?
If you love a person, don’t you want to spend time with that person?
If you love God you got to be willing to invest time and energy to know Him more and grow a deeper relationship with Him.
By doing so, you’ll better understand His will for your life. You’ll gain wisdom and understanding on how to go through life. You’ll learn how to recognize His Words. You’ll have a sense of hope and direction. Most importantly, you will know His truth and not easily get deceived by others.
Now that we have that in place, let’s start first with the ESSENTIALS OF A DAILY QUIET TIME:
1. You Can’t Always Find the Time If You Don’t Make Time
Find a consistent time with Jesus.
Establish a time for your daily quiet time and make it a regular appointment. Avoid rushing because your mind will find it hard to focus when you try to cram it in a small amount of time.
It doesn’t need to be that long but the key is uninterrupted time so you can get in your zone and easily understand what you are reading.
To help you be more consistent, meet Jesus at the same place every day. Make it non-negotiable. Gather your materials in advance and put them on that spot so you won’t have to waste time looking for them.
By consistently doing that, you are creating a trigger that associates that spot for your daily quiet time with God. You may experiment the time of the day and spot that works for you.
Some people do it when they find extra time in their day. But for me, just like tithes, if you set it aside already for that then it is a lot easier to keep up.
2. Give God the Chance to Speak
Allow God the opportunity to speak to you through His Words.
You want Scripture to play a big part in your quiet time. Remember that one of the goals is to know Jesus more. In order to do that, we have to allot time reading the Bible.
According to Matthew 4:4:
“But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
For beginners, it is a lot easier to read first than an in-depth study. You may want to invest in a study Bible because it has a few notes and explanations but will not overwhelm you.
Choose simple Bible reading plans you can follow or reputable devotionals. By having a plan in place, it is easier to be consistent because you don’t have to think what to read.
3. Have an Active Interaction Through Prayer and Reflection
Since daily quiet time is a fellowship with Jesus, you want to be able to talk to Him and hear from Him.
You do this by beginning it with a prayer for Him to give you wisdom. Give yourself also the opportunity to reflect on your chosen passage for that certain day.
It cannot just be an intake of the Word. You gotta be able to figure out how you can apply it later on.
Those are the essentials of having a daily quiet time with God. Now I will share with you some TIPS that you can incorporate with these three to inspire you to spend more time with Jesus. You can mix and match to see which one works for you.
1. Invite God’s Presence Through Worship
There are times when we find it difficult to do our daily quiet time. Create a music playlist to help inspire you and invite the presence of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes having the right music sets up the mood and it moves our spirit to talk to Jesus.
You can sing or simply recite phrases that worship God.
I like the instrumental version of some hymns and worship songs. I have a playlist installed in my old MP3 so I won’t get distracted playing it on my phone.
2. Fill the Atmosphere with Holy Spirit-Inspired Affirmations
Affirmations are great ways to remind ourselves of who Jesus is and who we are in Him. They can remind us of the many truths and promises of God.
You can create your biblical affirmations or download something online.
I actually made an I Am Affirmations printable that you can check out. Recite your affirmations aloud every time you do your quiet time.
Affirmations can strengthen our spirit as we declare out loud the promises and truths of God. If you keep doing it, you’ll be able to memorize it in no time. By doing Biblical affirmations, you are also able to memorize several scriptures at the same time.
3. Document Your Prayer Growth Through Journal or Prayer Wall
If you find it hard to pray, you can write down your prayers in a simple notebook or journal or create a prayer wall. By doing this, you are giving yourself the chance to talk to God and reflect as you write.
I have many personal experiences where I improved my prayer life by writing my prayers down.
You can use a regular notebook or some guided journals.
Prayer wall just like in the movie war room is also a good visual to write down your prayers. You can use sticky notes or small notepads and write your prayers there.
4. Start Your Day with a Grateful Heart
This is not just a cute or feel good quote. Starting your day by giving thanks to God helps you put things in the right perspective. It reminds you of the many blessings you have and helps you steer away from the negativity.
You can allot a specific journal for it or just include it in your prayer journal. I usually have my daily quiet time with God in the morning and I always thank Him through prayer.
But during night time, I write in a Gratitude Journal like this one to help me end the night better. It is also a great way to see all the blessings I have in one spot.
5. Go Back to Old School by Writing Scriptures
Scripture Writing is basically copying a Bible verse word for word and writing it by hand. It helps you to slow down and reflect as you write it down.
I already have a post that talks in-depth about it, so please feel free to check it out.
6. Pour Your Heart Out to Jesus Through Daily Pages
This is one thing that I do consistently every day. Sometimes it incorporates everything – from Scripture Writing, Prayer, Gratitude and Reflection.
The idea is like writing a letter or diary but you are addressing it to Jesus. I usually do it after my Bible reading because that gives me the time to reflect on the Scripture I’ve read.
But at times, when I am undergoing through something and overwhelmed, I write as much as I can and just pour out everything that is in my brain and heart. It always helps me set up the right mood because I feel that there’s always someone who listens to me.
My journals are great testaments of my ups and downs and reminds me of the amazing memories I’ve had with God.
7. Challenge Your Memory by Memorizing a Verse
2 Timothy 3: 16-17 says that:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
To make the most out of our daily quiet time, it is always wise to memorize a Bible verse. Make a goal to memorize a Bible verse and commit to it until you fully remember it.
I would say that I cannot do it every time. But when I try to memorize something, I write it down repeatedly and post it somewhere it is visible. I then keep on repeating it each time.
8. Refresh Yourself Outside and Walk With Jesus
Have you ever felt so unmotivated and don’t feel like getting up from your bed or couch? This is a great opportunity to go outside and walk with Jesus.
When you move your body, it alerts your senses and helps you heighten up your awareness. The fresh air outside is also very helpful to help set the mood.
You can listen to audio Bible or a reputable devotion or sermon while walking. You can also try memorizing a Bible verse or simply just talk to Him.
I like doing this especially during spring or summer time because there is something so inspiring when you go outside and see things blooming.
9. Be Willing to Open Your Ears to the Needed Message
There will be days when it will be difficult for us to open our Bible. There will be times when the lies of the enemy are so powerful that we find them really overwhelming.
God uses messengers who are gifted with spiritual knowledge and wisdom to deliver His message to us. Sometimes God uses a pastor or speaker to meet you in that daily quiet time to help you in what you are going through.
I also have times when I don’t want to touch my Bible. There are times that I just want to lie down the whole day especially when there are things that hurt me.
But when I hear a sermon, it feels like I am being counseled by wise men of God or gives me a loving rebuke when I am becoming so full of myself.
I find that after listening and being humbled, I later have the enthusiasm again to do my daily quiet time.
Take It One Day at A Time
Those are my tips for you to inspire or help you improve your daily quiet time with God. It may seem like a lot but you can always choose one or two and mix and match.
If you start your day with Jesus, you’ll gain more clarity on your days. The more you spend time with Him, the more you’ll enjoy spending time with Him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Hi! I’m Kaye, a journal enthusiast. My blog is dedicated to sharing practical tips to help you gain clarity and purpose as you get closer to Jesus. Read along!
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