A few weeks ago, I attended my church’s annual holy convocation (a wonderful time in which all churches under our church body come together to pull away from the world, regain vision as a corporate body, and strengthen ourselves in the world and mission God had set before us for the year).
During this year’s conference, I was given the wonderful opportunity to teach a session to church’s youth ministry on how to have an effective quiet time with God.
The concept of learning to having an ‘effective’ (notice I didn’t say perfect) quiet time is a journey I’ve been walking throughout my whole relationship with God.
While my journey has not been perfect, as I reflected on the things I’ve learned in my personal quest to achieve an effective quiet time, I want to share with you 7 questions I realized we can ask ourselves any time we may feel stuck or uncertain on how to cultivate an effective time with God that is practical to our current season of life.
7 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF FOR AN EFFECTIVE QUIET TIME WITH GOD
1)When can you do it?
One thing I can confidently say is that when it comes to preparing to have an effective quiet time, if you do not plan for it , it will not happen. Proverbs says in 1 Peter 3:2, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.”
At first glance, this text may appear to just apply to financial poverty. However, the Bible states that the word of God is our spiritual food (1 Peter 3:2). That means we can face spiritual poverty just like financial poverty.
Therefore, a practical way to answer this question is to look over your schedule. See where you have gaps during the day. Could you meet with God before you get dressed? During lunch? Maybe before going to bed?
Contrary to popular belief you do not have to have your quiet time in the morning. If you have more time after work, do it then. The key is finding a time that is realistic and relevant to your personal schedule.
2)How long can you do it?
The next thing to consider is how long you can have it. This question is not meant to guilt trip you. As my Pastor always reminds us your quiet time is not about quantity but quality. Therefore don’t be ashamed to start off small. 5-10 min. (Share my own personal story with the Bible app) As you grow in the habit, you’ll see that time naturally grows longer.
3)What’s your goal?
Without a goal for your quiet time, you’ll be left confused about what to focus on. So now consider your goals for meeting with God. What do you want to learn? What are you currently struggling with? What is your ministry currently studying?
Here’s a general list of goals you can consider:
- Read and meditate on a new book of the Bible
- Relisten to (and OR meditate) on past sermon notes from church
- Follow a devotional from a bible app
- Prayer Journal
- Follow a bible study
- Google scriptures over an area I’m struggling with and meditate over them
4)What resource(s) will you use?
I don’t know about you… but most of the time I need some form of commentary or study Bible on hand to make sure I’m making sense of what I’m reading.
While, yes, you can technically pick up your bible and read from there, it would be more helpful and definitely less confusing to use resources the church body has provided us to help lessen that load of confusion.
Right off the back some free and or affordable tools I would recommend to aid in your study:
- GotQuestions.com
- EnduringWord Commentary
- A Study Bible
- Bible Study Tools.com
- Your local church leaders
5)What is most likely going to distract?
It would be nice to assume that when you seek to grow in your relationship with God you won’t face any opposition. But the truth is we have an enemy, who is set on keeping us away from God because he knows that it’s in our time with Him where we gain the victory. Therefore we must be alert, stay sober, and know in advance the ways the devil or our own selves will try to sabotage our time with Him.
As you ponder this question, think back to past previous devotional times with God. What grabbed your attention? Was it your phone? A friend? Did you miss where you placed your bible (guilty)? Was an activity looming over your mind? Write these down. They will help lead you into the next question.
6)How can you prepare to combat it?
Now that you’ve written your distractions down, consider ways you can actively fight them in advance!
Some common areas to consider:
- If you know you struggle with your phone, start grabbing your PHYSICAL Bible and notebook to use again. Replace an app with a physical devotional. Put it in another room.
- If you fight sleepiness, don’t do your devotional time in your bed. Set your bible notebook and other tools in a studious area where you know you’ll be alert.
- If random thoughts start popping up – cast them down or write in a notebook for later.
This area is ever learning. Don’t expect perfection but each day as you engage in your quiet time, take note of what tries to distract you so you can be aware and adjust for next time.
7)Who can you ask to hold you accountable?
This last question may be easy to blow off. After all, we are living in a culture that preaches self-sufficiency. However, the Bible gives us the truth: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
If you know that this devotional time is a real area you want to grow in and you have found yourself struggling over and over again, consider asking one or two people to help hold you accountable to your goals.
This doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as asking a friend to check on you at the end of the day to make sure you’ve met with God or you choosing a devotional or book of bible to read together.
God gifted us with community so we would not be alone. In fact, the model of the early church shows that our devotional time with God is not something we do in isolation but in community (Acts 2:46) We are growing in our relationship with God and one another together. As you learn more of Him, it’s helpful to have at least one or two people who you can bounce ideas off of.
As tempting as it is to skip these questions, think about one or two people who you could ask to hold you accountable to follow through on this action plan you’re putting together. Don’t leave this post before you reach out. You’ll be so glad you did.
There you have it! 7 questions to help you be diligent and intentional in crafting a time you can meet with God. I hope these questions help you to strategize, reflect, and plan a practical yet EFFECTIVE devotional time that is RELEVANT to your season!!
As you reflect on your answers, always remember: there is no ideal quiet time. Just only one that is practical and useful for your life.
Therefore, do the necessary work. Reflect,plan,strategize, learn, readjust. Don’t feel bad if you try one way and it doesn’t work. This is a relationship with God. You can’t fail. All you can do is learn.
While all this planning may seem like a lot more work on the front end, as the scripture says “11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 (nkjv)
Therefore trust the process. Do the front work. Reap the harvest. I’m cheering you on and can’t wait to hear how you grow deeper in your time with God.
Love, your sister in Christ,
Trinity
Let Me Hear From You!! Share your experiences after you complete the questions and test out your personal plan. How did it work out for? Did you spot distractions in advance that popped up? Were there even more questions you wanted to consider? Share your experiences so we can all learn from each other!!
