Well, it's what I do.
I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. Hear your ideas. I want to be 'nebby'!
What does your quiet time look like?
Do you sit with your Bible opened, pen in hand, ready to journal whatever He speaks to you?
Do you follow a reading plan, study, or devotional? Or do you just sit and open up to a different book everyday?
Why am I asking these questions, you may ask? Because I am seeking help in igniting my quiet times and drawing closer to my Heavenly Father and truly eating His word.
I want to read it-understand it-and apply it. I want a deeper, closer relationship and I want to truly know the Bible. I want to memorize and quote more scripture.
I am hungry and am needing to be fed!
But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.' " ~ Matthew 4:4
I haven't been spending as much time as I should in my word lately and I honestly have no good reason why. My son has been sleeping in later and because of this I should be, and need to be, getting up early again, before the kids, and spend time soaking in His presence. As silly as this may sound, I just don't know where to start reading. I have been praying for more direction and understanding, but I also felt led to ask for some help as well.
So friends, would you mind sharing?
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Good morning, my friend!!
ReplyDeleteI get up at 6am. I start my day with prayer before I even get out of bed. Then I go downstairs and pull out my devotional/journal and send time soaking in the Word. Somedays I spend 30-45 minutes, other days I spend 15 minutes. But, I feel so focused when I have my quiet time - and the rest of my day goes much smoother too.
If Sophie gets up during my quiet time, she gets to play quietly in her room so I can finish my time, before jumping into my day.
Please post on what you decide to do!!
I usually get up at 6. (This week has been a fail, been helping a friend through some stuff and getting to bed way too late)I pray, and read my Bible (90Day challenge currently) with my journal open. This takes an hour. I also try to add a few things to my gratitude journal. At some point my hubby has fed me my oatmeal ;) I then do my workout.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
You have some great suggestions from commenters above! I am currently reading through the Bible VERY slowly (as in, it will take a couple of years). I enjoy doing this to get a historical and chronological perspective on events.
ReplyDeleteI do have a journal in which I record verses or thoughts that I want to remember. I also use it as a prayer journal to record requests along with the date and, later, the answers to those prayers.
I get up at 5:30am, but between getting ready to take my girls to school, making breakfast, packing lunches, etc., I only end up with 15-20 minutes of quiet time. I try to catch up on more Bible reading later in the day, but I honestly probably need to get up even earlier so that I have more time for prayer and Bible study first thing in the morning.
Add liturgical prayer to your quiet time. It's a great way to stay connected to the church at large in the world since everybody is praying, reading and celebrating the same mysteries of faith at the same time based on the church liturgical calendar. I'm Roman Catholic, but the Episcopal and Anglican Churches have similar practices. I sometimes start the day with morning prayer from the liturgy of the hours and if I have time read the office of readings which covers large portions of the bible. This type of prayer is usually based on praying through the psalms on 4 week cycle
ReplyDeletehere is a great link:
http://divineoffice.org/
This link is to an Episcopal prayer service that is also based on the office, just click on today's prayer service:
http://www.missionstclare.com/english/
Besides these links you can buy a book that has the offices in it like "Christian Prayer" - Catholic or "The book of Common Prayer" or "Common Worship:Daily Prayer" Anglican /Episcopal
I also read the daily mass readings and sometimes catch the homily from the daily mass on ewtn that is based on these readings. Combine these scriptural readings with the ones from the office of readings from the liturgy of the hours will pretty much cover the whole bible in 2 years, but the joy of these readings is the connectedness in theme, theology and the church liturgical calendar. Doing this has brought me closer to the Lord and his church and drawn me deeper into the mysteries of His word.
Blessings.
I admit I've been struggling a bit with this of late. With the beginning of Lent I have started using 2 new books and prayer strands to help me gain focus. The first book is called, "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals" which is an updated variation on the Book of Common Prayer. I am also doing the Lenten prayers in "Praying with Beads: Daily Prayers for the Christian Year'. I like the hands on approach with the beads and the repetition helps me gain focus which has been problematic of late.
ReplyDeleteI am also participating in a Precepts study of Colossians. I have done this study before, and I'm not spending enough time in it this time around, but the discussions have been very good.
Thanks for asking the question. I love to see what other people are doing as it helps me when I'm struggling.
http://musingsandmeanderings-mlp.blogspot.com/
Daily, I am convicted how little time I spend in the Word. If i spent as little time with my friends as i have been spending in God's word, they probably wouldn't keep me as a friend. Thank God HE is faithful. So I picked up a bible study by Jen Hatmaker and will try that. Since it reads more like a book, I am hoping it will encourage me to get into a better routine.
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed your blog and appreciate the encouragement you have been to me. About six months ago, I began to have the same desire. I purchased a John MacArthur study Bible and have been going through different books of the Bible verse by verse. I keep my journal with the Bible, and I have been paraphrasing each verse, and then at the end write out my prayer to God focusing on the things that I have learned in the verses I studied. This study Bible is amazing. It really is almost like a small commentary with comments on just about every verse in the Bible. I have learned so much and grown so much since using this method. During the summer, I also set my alarm clock for every three hours. I would stop what I was doing and pray, work on Scripture memory, or read a little more of the Bible for 5 or 10 minutes. That way I was focusing on God throughout the entire day...not just the beginning or end. I will pray your find something that works for you and fills your hungering heart!
ReplyDeleteHi! I found your blog through another, it's lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteI recently read somewhere a great idea of leaving the Word open on somewhere you pass all day ie, your kitchen benchtop, and just stealing a minute or two each day to read (as well as a morning quiet time in prayer maybe). I would start with maybe a chapter of Psalms, and then start reading through the Gospels too! xx