Perfect Your Quiet Time

It’s Super Bowl Sunday!

My team didn’t make it to the big game, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t watching the Super Bowl. The fridge is stocked, beverages are chilling, friends have been invited, the bathrooms are clean and the rest of the house is … tidy.

We are ready!

Even if you don’t succumb to football frenzy, you can probably relate to my excitement. You know the anticipation and preparation surrounding the organizing of a party, or redecorating a room in your house or planning a vacation.

A good outcome is the result of a thousand decisions that culminate an exceptional experience. 

Quiet Time -What’s that?

The decision to spend moments with God creates significant experiences for eternity. The choice you make to create and keep your Quiet Time with God is sacred. (A Quiet Time can be reading Scripture, journaling, praying, reading a devotional or sitting quietly in anticipation of experiencing God.)

True confession, there have been seasons when I set God on the back burner. My Bible collected dust and my prayers were boring. Let me suggest a couple ways to ignite fresh passion for God’s word so that your Quiet Time is a Get-to and not a Have-To.

When the Bible seems stale.

To make the Bible more interesting and enjoyable, switch up the version you’re reading. It’s okay, really! You won’t explode into flames. Use the New Living Translation or The Message or get a Chronological Bible.

Remember, the reason we read the Bible is to know God better, not to pass a test on a genealogy of Jesus or the historical validity of the Wise men or even the number of times an angel appears in the book. It’s to discover who God is and who we are to Him!

Making it fun to read.

I have read the whole Bible in 80 days, but all I got out of that was bragging rights. Set your own pace.

I read a chapter a day. Ok – one chapter most days. I start in Genesis and work my way through the whole book. It takes me about 3 years to complete, but it sticks.

Or, read the same book of the Bible over and over. For example, read one Proverb a day or one of the gospels over and over.

Dave spent a year just reading the Red Letters (and some surrounding text for context). The red letters are the words of Jesus in the New Testament.

Read stories in the Bible. Genesis is packed with them: Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Joseph! Good stuff. Read the book of Jonah or Esther or Ruth. Read about Samson or David and Goliath or Paul.

God will make himself known to you in the pages of His word. He will show you how much He loves and accepts you and longs to be with you.

What’s next?

I want you to look forward to your Quiet Time like you anticipate a party or vacation because if you create and keep your Quiet Time, God will make it sacred.

The more holy moments you collect with Him, the deeper your capacity for love and wider your understanding of who God is and who you are to Him will be.

So, how will you jumpstart your Quiet Time? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Scripture for today. 

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion

who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. – Ps. 103:1-5

Prayer: Lord of heaven and earth. How soon I forget all your benefits to me. Remind me to read your Word. Woo me to spend time with you. I want to feel your love. Fill me. Lead me. Love me. In Jesus Name amen.