QUIET TIME WITH THE LORD

Church is very important for people to have interactions with each other, but I believe that your quiet time with the Lord is the most important.

Why? you may ask.  Because in your quiet time with the Lord, you grow nearer to God and build a relationship with Him.  The church is not your paved way to heaven, but your relationship with God is.

WHAT ITEMS MUST YOU HAVE FOR YOUR QUIET TIME WITH GOD?

• Bible
• Pen
• Notebook
• Journal book
• Christian music

Here are a few simple steps to help you with your special time with God:

SPEND TIME WITH GOD EACH DAY

It is very important that you establish a specific time to spend time with God.  It can be in the morning or the evening.  This depends totally on your preference.  I prefer to have my quiet time early in the mornings, because my whole family is asleep and I have all the time in the world to talk to God and learn from Him.

WHAT DO I DO IN THIS TIME WITH GOD?

This is your time to pray and study the Bible - and get quiet before the Lord so that He can talk to you!!

LISTEN TO CHRISTIAN MUSIC

You can start your quiet time with beautiful Christian music, just to align your spirit for prayer.   You can go to this URL on you tube to find 7 hours of Christian music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XUKNSqS3C8&t=212s

This is just to get you in the mood for prayer and your quiet time with God.  If you want to, you can play this music softly in the background whilst praying or just stop it if it is a distraction.

READ THE BIBLE

Pray before you start to read the Bible and ask God to teach You from His Word.  Start to read the Bible from the New Testament. (I think it is just a little more practical!  It will give you the do's and don’ts and is a little bit more practical advice on daily matters.)  When you have finished to read the New Testament, start to read the Old Testament. Take only one chapter or a few verses every day, but read them with intense focus.  Be quiet before God to hear if He is speaking to you from this specific part of the Bible. You will be surprised sometimes, because certain verses will speak to your situation directly.

PRAY

For some reason people think that they don’t know the perfect words and the perfect phrases to pray.  They think they have to use mighty and powerful words to pray.  They believe a prayer has to sound like a poem, and they just cannot do that.

This is not what prayer is all about.  Prayer is just talking to God, like He is your best Friend.  If you are going to talk to your best friend, will you say something like?
Oh dearest, most wonderful, more precious than words Paula?
No, you would not say that.  You’ll probably say something like:  Morning Paula.  It is so great to see you?

But… we are now talking to God, the Creator of heaven, earth and the cosmos. So, you could most probably start with something like:

Dear Father
Or… like I do:
Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

There is no right or wrong way!!  But… you have to have respect for God, so the way you start your prayer is important.

EXAMPLE:

Let’s say you are praying about your finances.  If it was me, this would probably be an example of the prayer I would be praying (just in short)

Dearest Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit

Thank You for a wonderful morning and that You have protected me through the night.  I love you very much.

Lord, I want to pray for my finances today.  You know how hectic my finances are, that I do not know where my money is going to.  Please help me to sort my finances out!  Please help me to make a budget and to spend my money wisely. You know that we do not have a lot of groceries left.  Please Lord stretch our groceries and our money till the end of the month!  I place this money problem in Your hand my King, because only You are able to sort it out for me.  I ask everything in the Name of Jesus!  Amen

So?  Was that difficult?  No, not at all!  You just talked to God and poured your heart out! Prayer is not difficult.  Prayer is just talking to your best, and only TRUE FRIEND in the universe!  In prayer, you must become childlike.  If a child prays and want a bicycle they would probably say something like this:

Jesus, can I please have that red bicycle I saw in the window for my birthday?  It is the coolest bike ever! I promise I will drive very carefully with it!

A child’s prayer is honest, open and without pretention.  This is how God want us to pray!!

If you look at Matthew 6, where Jesus taught about prayer, you would also see that the prayer was plain and simple:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
” Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” ……

It was a plain and simple prayer.  There were no big and poetic words, just normal words that you will speak in daily life.  So… here is the good news:  if you can talk to a friend, you can pray!

May this simple explanation help you to feel more comfortable in your prayer life and to be childlike and honest before God!!  God is pleased with an open and honest prayer!!!

BE STILL

It is very important to become still before God.  We pray so much that we do not give God a chance to speak to us.
You will see that I included a list of things you will need in your quiet time. One of them is a notebook.  The devil tries to steal from us when we spend time with God.  Once you become quiet, a lot of things will cross your mind – things you still have to do.  Quickly write them in the notebook and continue to be quiet before the Lord.  When you become quite a verse will most probably pop into Your head.  Open your Bible and read that verse. (You can jot this down in your journal book to refer to it – if you want to.)  It is astonishing what God can teach you from the Bible.
Sometimes you might hear a thought in your mind.  This can be God or not.  The devil would try to stop you in your tracts, because he doesn’t want you to have a relationship with God.  He will come to you with whole lies, half-truths, etc.  Do not let him get you off your path.
Remember:  God will never tell you to do bad things to people.  God and His Word is always uplifting and good!
(Example:  God will never tell you to have an affair with your neighbour’s wife.  But God may tell you to go and pray for your employer or neighbour.)
If you cannot find Scripture for the thought you have, rather discard the thought.  It will take time and commitment for you to become real still before God and hear His voice.  But it is also the most wonderful and uplifting time you will have with God!
May Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit take your hand and teach you about your quiet time with Him!  May He bless your time with Him and help you to grow!!

Blessings to you and your family!

Babs