Feast Your Soul > Daily Quiet Times

So often, we are guilty of shunning God our Father in favour of our idols — the Internet, TV, books, laying about, hanging out with friends or the boyfriend/girlfriend, even doing work ‘for God’.  How foolish we are!  We would rather go and enjoy the good gifts of God instead of spending time with God himself.

The more we realise how unbelievably awesome God is, the more readily we desire to spend time reading the Bible and talking with him in prayer.  And the more we get to know him through the Bible and prayer, the more we realise how awesome he is!  So let’s repent of all those times we malign him in favour of other things, and ask that he would cause us to delight in him and in every word he has said.

Routine
Holidays are times when routine goes out of the window a bit.  That usually means lots of great things: time to rest and relax, do new things, see people we don’t normally see, go to new places and enjoy the sunshine.  But loads of us find it makes quiet time really difficult.  

So make a point of making a routine.  If you’re having random lie-ins and getting up at different times, get into the habit of getting up, having a shower, and having a quiet time as the first thing you do every day.  If you know when you’ve got to get up, set your alarm 45 minutes earlier to allow yourself time to be reading the Bible.  If you’ve got a new routine, like working a job or helping at a camp, build quiet times into that.

While you’re at it, loads of people find that having a place where you go just to do your quiet times is really helpful, ideally somewhere quiet with no distractions (like the computer) in view.  Maybe that nook by the radiator in your bedroom.  Or if you’re in a new place, make it a priority on the day you arrive to hunt down a good place for quiet times.  You might want to make the most of the early morning light over the summer to do quiet time outside.

Read the Bible
If you’re already working through a Bible-reading plan or notes, stick with them.  If not, find some way to help you make sure you’re reading the Bible for all its worth, rather than just cherry-picking the ‘good bits’.   Some of these Bible-reading plans might help you, or invest in some Bible-reading notes.

Pray
Pray before you read, pray as you read, pray after you read.  Pray about what you’re reading.  Pray about what you’re doing that day.  Pray for people you love.  Pray for people you struggle to love.  Pray for church leaders.  Pray for Christians across the world.  Pray through Operation World.

Are you sure you know what prayer is?  Wrap your mind around this…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPAvfRpUAjI]
(check out the whole sermon this clip is from … it’s really helpful) 

Memorise the Bible
Most of us aren’t very good at this.  In fact, memorising the Bible might be a totally new concept to you.  But think of the benefits:

1. you can chew over truth in your head during the day and be joyfully astounded by God’s greatness all day!  
2. your prayer life will be strengthened as you bring to mind God’s great promises and examples of great things to pray from people like Jesus and Paul
3. you can speak more effectively and truthfully to non-Christians as they ask you questions about Jesus — answer using (or at least thinking of) the words he’s chosen to be revealed with … i.e., the Bible’s words
4. you can encourage Christian friends with truth

And those are just a few.  If you want to get started, why not subscribe to the Fighterverses emails, or arrange to memorise Bible with a friend, or just try memorising something you’ve read in your quiet time.  Here’s a really helpful guide of how to do it, practically.