| Written By Administrator Monday, 10 August 2009 |
Does this sound familiar? You day has been full of activities. From school to work to church activities to hanging out with family and friends. Finally you hit your bed and you decide to read the Bible and pray. You flip the Bible open and start reading a random passage and before you get halfway down the chapter you are asleep. You wake up a few minutes later and decide just to pray that day.
As you start to pray your mind starts to wander and you think about what happened today, what needs to be done tomorrow, etc. After a few more attempts at prayer you give up and tell yourself to try again tomorrow. The sad fact is that tomorrow never comes and we go along in our Christian journey without spending consistent quality quiet time with the Lord.I recently took an informal survey of our youth group and the majority of our young people are spending less than 5 minutes per day in Quiet Time before the Lord. This pattern is one of the biggest obstacles to our spiritual growth. Would be eat only once a week or study for a class once a semester? If you did , that would seriously impact your physical and mental growth. Why would we expect any different results in our spiritual life?
The reason is we fall into a couple of traps set by the devil. First he convinces us that personal quiet time is not that important. All we need for spiritual growth is attending church, youth meetings, Sunday School, etc.. While doing all those other activities are good they are not a substitute for our own personal quiet time. It is in that quiet time that we worship God, here from Him, learn about Him and strengthen our faith.
The second thing the devil does is convince us that we cannot change. He deceptively reminds us of our past failures and says we don’t have what it takes to change. By the way this strategy is also used in other areas of our life where we need to change as well. We get discouraged and lose the will to change.
We don’t have to fall for those traps. We can make a decision today to improve. Chuck Swindoll gives some very practical ways to improve our Quiet Time. He suggests the following. Spend 30 minutes of quiet time each day but split it up into 10 minute increments.
1. Read God’s Word. Work through a specific book, a specific character or use a daily devotional like Daily Bread.
2. Pray. Use a prayer list to keep you focused. Start with honoring God before praying for specific needs. Always pray for other’s needs first. Use the A.C.T.S. model recommended by Pastor Sam.
3. Quiet Contemplation. Spend time in silence before the Lord. Sing a Praise song. Let Him speak to you. Record your thoughts in a journal. Meditate on the Bible passage that you read.
The 10 minute increments don’t have to all be together. You can split them up to whatever fits your schedule. The only rule to follow is that the time spent be uninterrupted quality time. Maybe read the Bible when you 1st wake up. Meditate during your lunch break or in between classes. Pray in the evening. When Jesus was here on earth, He made spending quiet time with His Father a top priority. Let’s do the same and we will experience wonderful growth in our spiritual lives.
Mathew Ninan
