Gospel And Good News

How To Enhance Your Quiet Time
by: Sam Renauro

You can't serve a God you don't know! A Christian friend of mine once
said, "Unless you spend time in the Word of God and prayer, you are
defeated already."

Set aside a time each day to spend with the Lord.

Some of you may feel like you don't want to read the Bible and pray at
all. Maybe you feel like you can't. It's okay. Start where you are.
Ask Our Lord for His help. He knows where you are in your walk with
Him and cares about your struggles.

Just spend a few moments in the morning and a few moments in the
evening with Him. Begin with just 5 minutes with Him and build from
there. Set the amount of time that works for you and build up more
time from there.

It doesn't take long to read and ponder a few verses. Try to see what
the verse is saying. Then pray about your day. Just talk to God. Be
very earnest. Tell Him how you truly feel and what your desires and
needs are. Ask Him to reveal Himself.

Many dedicated, Spirit-filled Christians get up one to two hours prior
to starting their day and have a quiet time with Him. Two hours may be
too long for you and that's okay. Whatever time you decide on, try to
keep it daily.

Personally I find the morning works best for me. After my day begins,
there are too many distractions for me to concentrate. I find it
harder to think and ponder the things of the Lord later in the day.
What is the best time for you? If evening or mid-day is better for
you, make that your main time with the Lord.

 Study the Bible. Always see what He is saying to you in every verse.
Start a life journal and spiritual notebook; write down what the Lord
says to you and what you learn and feel. I encourage you to underline
verses that really are important to you and add notes in your Bible.

Pray and ask God to open your mind to the scriptures. Then he opened
their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45)

●If you don't know where to begin; start reading the book of John in
the New Testament.

●When you come across a verse that is speaking to you, write it down
on a 3x5 index card and meditate on it throughout your day. See the
section the One Minute Christian for more on this.

●After you have finished reading and studying, go back and ponder the
verses you have underlined or written down for that day.

●Listen for Him to speak to you. Be open to His voice. Keep your
journal ready to enter things that He tells you in the Spiritual Notes
section. As He speaks, write it down.

●As you have your time with the Lord, something may come to mind that
you have to do today or something you don't want to forget. Write it
down, so you remember and then get back to your time with Him.
Remember, there will be distractions, but God will reward your quiet
time you spend with Him.

 Reading the Bible will renew your mind: Be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. (Rm. 12:1)

Spend a consistent time with Our Lord each day reading His Word.

You will see that the more you read, the clearer it becomes. All the
precious promises will be real; lessons will be learned.

Reading God's Word and listening to Him will be a very important part
of your time with Him.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight. (Phil. 1:9)

We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with
the knowledge of His will…growing in the knowledge of Him. (Col. 1:9)

Put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the
image of its Creator. (Col. 3:10)

The Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Ps. 119:105)

 Pray. God is near us whenever we pray to Him! (Deut. 4 7) Prayer is
just talking with God.

On the pages that follow on prayer and the Prayer Journal there is a
place to record prayer requests in many different categories.

Pray them every day.

Record the answers to prayers also. Then, every few weeks go over your
past requests and see how the Lord has worked and answered. It is a
great time to praise Him for all He has done in your life!

Communication gives you a chance to speak to God, and a chance for him
to speak to you. Remember, prayer is just talking to and with the
Lord. God spoke to Moses as a friend. The Lord would speak to Moses
face to face, as a man speaks to a friend. (Ex. 33:11) If you spend
time each day reading His Word and praying to the King of Kings, He
will speak to you and you will hear Him.

The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I
know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27)

●Just be still, very still and just listen for God to speak to you…and
He will. "Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

●Try to have a time during the day when you just read the Word. Just
absorb by reading. See the section in this book on "Reading Your Bible
Through." Some days one or two verses will really "speak to your
heart." Other days, you may want to read a chapter or more. Do what
works for you.

●When you can, read a complete book of the Bible in one sitting. This
will help you understand the context and continuity of the writing.

●If your main quiet time is in the morning, just before bed, pick any
verse that has meaning to you and meditate on it. Ponder it. Go to
sleep with it on your mind.

●Carry a New Testament with you. Carry this book with you also, it has
the complete book of Ephesians toward the back. You never know when
you will free time and can read a few verses or study one of the
chapters in this book. When the Lord tells your something write it in
the journal at the end of this book.

●Mark your Bible, underline and write in the margins. Put the date and
your comments next to verses. A fine line ballpoint pen or a Bible
highlighter works well.

●Use a concordance, word-study books, commentaries, a Bible dictionary
and online Biblical helps. (Many are listed in this manual.)

…And most importantly, apply what you learn.

Eighty-six year old Dr. Billy Graham was asked, "If you had your life
to live all over again, would you do anything differently?"

He immediately responded with (and I quote): "Yes, I would study more
and read the Bible more and pray more.

About The Author

Sam Renauro is an author in Vineland, NJ Writer of Forty Days to
Freedom and Empowering Your Tomorrow, Today! Visit
http://www.byhisside.com for more information.