The truth is that everyone claims to be busy in life, yet we find time to do what we love. The average time many people spend on social media runs into hours, hence they hardly find time to be quiet before God.
The hustling and bustling of city life would affect your walk with God if you are not determined to maintain your communion with God. Many rises early to go to work and return very late at night just to put food on their table forgetting that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
How can you hear God speak when you’re too busy externally and within or you don’t even have a daily quiet time to meet with God?
What is Quiet Time?
Due to modernism in the church, the culture of quiet time is fast fading out. Many see the practice of quiet time as an old school thing while new school Christians only jump out of the bed, say a few minutes prayer, do their confession, and dash out of the house.
1. It is a time you spend alone with God before you rise to face the business of the day. It’s a time you say bye-bye to your bed to seek the face of God for your life and the day.
It requires discipline and sacrifice to have a quiet time. If you’re not ready to sacrifice sleep and comfort to seek God, you can’t know Him intimately but you can only be religious.
You don’t seek God when you want, you seek Him when you can find Him (Prov. 8:17).
2. Quiet time is one of the ways to dwell in the secret place of the Most High (Ps. 91:1). Any Christian that doesn’t have a regular quiet time with God will be a victim of the end time.
3. It is the time to hear God by devoting a special time with Him, to guide and you develop your spiritual life.
It is a time to fellowship with God through prayer, a meditation on the scripture, and to engage in other spiritual activities that would help you grow spiritually. You speak to God when you pray and you wait to hear Him but meditation is where you engage your spirit and soul to commune with God and the Holy Spirit teaches you all things.
4. The quiet time is a period where you take charge of your day. You can command the morning to what you want before events unfold.
Every new day is like a blank cheque. God has issued it to you but if you don’t walk circumspectly, the devil will fill in your cheque with what he wants.
WHAT to do during your Quiet Time?
- Worship God through songs and hymns
- Meditate on His word
- Pray over what you read
- Speak over your day through scriptural confession and prayer
Materials to use during your quiet time
1. A Hymnbook: Believers of old don’t joke with hymn singing because it helps them worship God and pray as well through songs. It’s not old-fashioned to sing hymns, it’s scriptural (Col. 3:16).
2. Your Bible: This is the medium through which God speaks to you as you quietly reflect on the letters of the scripture. When the Holy Spirit breathes upon the letters of the word, it becomes life to you.
Pray before you study/meditate on the scriptures because the letter kills and it’s the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6).
3. A Notebook: You use this to record what the Lord brings to light concerning what you study or meditate. It’s wisdom to pen down whatever He says to you because the pen is mightier than the sharpest memory.
WHEN to have your quiet time
There are several schools of thought as to having quiet time. Some say they’re at their best at night while some say they’re at their very best in the morning.
If Jesus rises a great while to seek His father’s face, why should you seek God when you want? If you were told to come to pick cash of $1,000, won’t you get out of bed very early?
Why seek Him at night when the day is over? In fact, several thoughts will be running through your mind than it would be if you seek Him early. There’s no time you can’t seek Him but those who love Him seek Him early (Prov. 8:17, Ps. 63:1) – in life, on a daily basis and before they make any decision in life.
Depending on your environment, you may wake up by 4 am, 5 am or 6 am; just make sure you are not disturbed by external voices.
It’s indiscipline and lack of seriousness to check social media during your quiet time.
Your quiet time is not a time to pray out loud and disturb others, enter into your closet, and speak to your Father.
The quiet time is not the time to read devotionals. It’s a time to receive a word from God personally before you hear from men through the devotionals. Don’t let the use of devotionals replace your quiet time. I’m not against the use of devotionals but I don’t think it’s right to study devotionals when you haven’t fed your spirit man through meditation.
How do I know WHERE to read during my quiet time?
This is a great challenge for every in the body of Christ, especially young believers. Your quiet time should be a time where you feed your spirit with the bread it needs for the day.
For a start, study the Bible but as you progress in your walk with God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, He will guide you into all truths you need to know, even concerning your needs which you may not know.
What are your spiritual needs at present? If you cannot hear God, it’s unwise to study on prosperity, If anger is your problem, studying the Bible on faith isn’t right. Study according to your needs, not where you want.
It’s also not appropriate to be studying the Bible from Genesis to Revelation when you are spiritually malnourished. Study the Bible to meet your spiritual needs.
Going to church every day doesn’t make you grow if you don’t personally develop your spirit man during your quiet time. Reading Christian books or listening to sermons alone has little help to do to your spirit man if you don’t cultivate your relationship with God.
As you feed your physical body every day, don’t forget to feed your spirit man during your daily quiet time.
