OK, we’ve covered what, why and how to have a quiet time.  I also offered an example of how I typically pray for myself.  Let me give a few more examples of how you might enjoy being with God.

• Try just going for a walk with your Bible.  Perhaps you could read a Psalm before you go so that something fresh is in your mind.  Just take some time to clear your head and to enjoy some “quality time” with God.
• Sometimes God’s quiet voice can be better heard when you get away from your normal surroundings and go on retreat.  That might be an organized Men’s or Women’s retreat, a weekend away with a few close friends, or maybe just a day away by yourself.
• If you have written down your thoughts and prayers over the weeks or months, spend some time going back over them.  It will likely be a refreshing time with God and it may just remind you of all He has done recently.  A friend of mine does this once a month at Highbanks Park, and absolutely loves it.
• Write down everything you have to be thankful for.  Start with the obvious and you may soon have a huge list you weren’t expecting.  Spend some time thanking God for each thing on your list. If you are married, do this with your spouse.  If you have kids, do it with them!
• If you are a musical person, find a worship song that really speaks to you about God and listen to it intently about five times.  Maybe write down the words as they are sung.  Turn the song into a prayer back to God.
• For me, just walking through the woods by myself is a sure fire way to meet with God.  As I walk through His creation my mind can relax and my spirit can too.  It is one of the things I love about going to Camp Otyokwah.
• Being on the water has the same effect on me as being the woods.  I go to Canada once a year and try to get out on a canoe by myself a few times just to relax and enjoy His creation.  It is often easier for me to find Him there than it is in Ohio!

How about you?  Do you have any other ways you are able to draw relationally closer to God that you’d be willing to share with some others?

I have one more post to go…a few warnings about quiet times.

Prior posts in this topic have included what a quiet time is, why you should have one, and how to have one.  This short post will include some examples of how to pray for yourself.  There are rich Biblical examples of people praying for themselves so that they might have lives that were pleasing to and effective for God.

Please keep in mind that the examples here are how I pray for myself, yours will likely be different.  The verses that are important to me have come from quiet times and reflecting on the Word.  They speak to me and my particular relationship with God.  Again, yours may be different.

Here are the topics I pray about and the verses I pray out loud:

• That I would truly be a child of God: Psalm 73:28, Psalm 86:11, Proverbs 23:26, John 14:15.
• That I would be a godly husband: Ephesians 5:25.
• That I would be a godly dad: Ephesians 6:4, John 4:42.
• That I would be an effective pastor for the right reasons: 1 Peter 5:1-4.
• That I would have courage: Exodus 14:14, 1 Chronicles 28:20.
• That I would be diligent to study, live and teach the Word: Ezra 7:10, 1 Timothy 4:15.
• That I would be pure in thought and deed: Proverbs 4:25-26.
• That I would be reasonable in eating, exercising, and resting: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Consider making your own list and regularly praying for yourself.  Want to really go out on a limb?  Ask someone else to regularly pray for you in a specific way.

How about you?  How do you pray on your behalf?  Do you pray on your behalf?

So maybe you buy into what a quiet time is and why you should have one.  But how in the world do you have one?  That is the subject of the latest in this multi-part post.  This post is longer than I wish it was…it makes the task seem complicated or cumbersome.  Be assured, the length of the post reflects my desire to be specific, not the complexity of the task!

How can you have an effective quiet time?

In general, I would suggest that you should:

1. Figure out a consistent time and place to meet with God.  Inconsistency is a huge killer in any relationship!  For me, if I don’t get up early to start my day with Him it generally doesn’t happen at all.
2. Use a Bible with as little commentary as possible so that you aren’t distracted by what someone else thinks about a verse.  Note that this generally requires staying in parts of the Bible that are “easy” for you to understand.
3. Have a plan in mind…don’t just read randomly.  If you aren’t sure where to start, consider one of these ideas:
   • Try the verses in the 5x5x5 reading plan.  This plan includes passages to read as well as suggestions for how to reflect on them.
   • Read the book of John to get a clearer picture of who Jesus is, why He came, and what His plans are for you.
   • Read the book of Philippians, Ephesians or James.
   • Read a chapter of Proverbs each day.  There are 31 chapters to pick from…one for every day of the month.
   • There are 150 Psalms to pick from, and every one is a song written by someone longing to know God better.
4. Have a piece of paper handy to write down any random “oh, I can’t forget to do this today” thoughts that will distract you during your quiet time.  Write them down and forget them.

OK, so you’ve got all that, what does the time actually look like?  First, let me way that there are as answers to this question as their are Christians in the world.  What I’m going to do in this and the next few posts is give some examples from my own time with God as well as some other peoples.  It is my hope that one or more of those examples may help you in your race for the prize.

Currently, my quiet time looks like this:

1. I say a quick prayer asking God to clear my mind, settle my spirit, and focus my attention on His Word.
2. I read a bit from Scripture.  Sometimes it is only a verse, sometimes it is a whole chapter.  I’m currently reading through the book of Luke, stopping whenever something in the Word hits me.  What do I mean by “hits me”?  When I’m having my quiet time, I read the Word like it was written to me and for me.  What does the passage I just read mean?  What is it’s point?  How does it speak to my current situation, heart or attitude?  This morning read Luke chapter 15, which is a pretty long passage for me to consider in one morning.  It gives three examples of people desperately searching for something they have lost, and describes the joy they have when they find it.  That hit me.  Am I desperate to find and affect lost people around me and am I overwhelmed with joy when they choose Christ?  That is a convicting question for me!
3. I write down one verse that hit me from the morning.  This morning it was Luke 15:7.  Then I write a few sentences about how that verse affected me, as well as any prayer I have as a result of it.  Why do I write it down?  Three reasons: it helps me focus my thoughts, it helps me discover ongoing themes that God is trying to teach me, and it is pretty amazing to look back at weeks, months or years later to see what God has done!
4. I spend some time praying.  For me, every morning includes praying for the following things.  I included some verse references here for some Scriptural examples of topics.
   • Conviction and confession of sin (Hebrews 4:12-13, 1 John 1:9, John 13:8)
   • Filling, leading of the Holy Spirit for me to have courage (1 Chronicles 28:20, clear direction and focus for the day (Psalm 32:8-9), and to be an effective witness (Colossians 4:2-6) and example (Philippians 2:14-15) to those around me.
   • My family, including any special stuff that might be going on with them.
   • The protection and challenge of our church family (John 17:11-21).
   • Members of our church family specifically, whether it be health, job or family related.
5. Then, each day I pray about a different slice of life.  Mondays I pray for specific lost people to find a saving faith in Christ.  Tuesdays are extended prayers for Michele, the boys and anyone else in my immediate or extended family that needs it.  Wednesdays include specific people that I have a D-Group relationship with, including one-on-one relationships with friends and our Band of Brothers group.  Thursdays are reserved for the Band of Brothers.  Fridays I pray for the Life Group that I’m in.  Saturdays I pray for myself specifically (more on that in another post).  Sunday’s prayers are focused around our church.

The next post will be some thoughts on how to pray for yourself, and then I’ll talk about some dangers you’ll face as you try to have a consistent quiet time.

Our recent Thursday morning Band of Brother’s gatherings have centered around a battle that most every man has, is, or will struggle with: sexual temptation.  While it takes many forms, its effects are universal and inevitable…unless we band together to help.

I’ve uploaded some thoughts the guys have come up with in the hope that they may be of help to someone else as well.  You can find them on the resources page entitled "Overcoming Sexual Temptation".

From scienceclarified.com:

The Earth’s crust, the surface layer of the planet, is not solid and unbroken. The forces that rage inside the planet have fractured this brittle layer. Some of these fractures, called faults, lie beneath the surface of the crust. Other faults, however, have ruptured the surface, cracking the crust into various-sized blocks of rock. These blocks dip and rise along faults in response to pressure underground.

Movement of crustal blocks along faults may be regular and slow or sporadic and sudden. When two blocks are forced to move against each other but are locked into position, stress builds up. When that stress becomes greater than the forces holding the blocks together, the blocks are forced to move suddenly and violently. The ground vibrations accompanying that release of energy are better known as an earthquake.

From God’s Word:

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. – Proverbs 17:9.

With Proverbs 17:9 in mind, allow me to rewrite the article from scienceclarified.com:

Human beings are not solid and unbroken. The forces that rage inside people have fractured their brittle layers. Some of these fractures, called faults, lie beneath the surface of people. Other faults, however, have ruptured the surface, cracking people into various-sized blocks of pain. These blocks dip and rise along faults in response to pressure underground.

Movement of blocks along faults may be regular and slow or sporadic and sudden. When two blocks are forced to move against each other but are locked into position, stress builds up. When that stress becomes greater than the forces holding the blocks together, the blocks are forced to move suddenly and violently. The disasters accompanying that release of energy are better known as relational earthquakes.

Who among us is without a fault or two?  Which of us have not had some of our pain rupture the surface?  Has any one of us not caused a relational earthquake?

Whose fault are you dwelling on?  Which person’s pain has in turn inflicted pain on you?  Who do you need to forgive?  Why are you waiting?

Who have you caused an earthquake with?  Who have you inflicted pain upon?  Who do you need to ask forgiveness from?  Why are you waiting?

Call them, write them or have lunch with them.  Allow love to prosper instead of pain.

Please watch this video.  This young man served his basketball team as the manager for years.  Then one day the coach made decision to put him in the game…

Quiet time.  It is NOT a very manly term, but it is one that we use quite often in Christian circles.  To me, it is one of the obvious, non-negotiable, heavy-hitting ways for us to become more mature Christians.  

But what is it?  Why do we do it?  Maybe most importantly, how do we do it?  A lot of people ask me these questions, so I thought I’d take some time to answer them on the blog.  This will be a multi-part post, starting with this question:

What is a quiet time?

First, let me say what it isn’t.  A quiet time is not a time to sit cross-legged, tilt your hands over and mumble “huummmmm” in some low, weird voice.  It isn’t studying the Bible, though it often includes reading the Bible.  It isn’t praying a list of prayer requests, though prayer is a part of it.  It doesn’t have to last for hours, though sometimes it might.  It isn’t some sort of religious requirement, though many Christians require it of themselves.

So what is a quiet time?

A quiet time is time you set aside to spend with God. 

It is a time to hear from God and a time to talk to Him.  It is a time to reflect back and a time to look forward.  It is a time to read His Word and to pray.  It is a time to let the Holy Spirit convict you and comfort you.  It is a time to laugh with God and cry with God.  It is a time for you to be with the Creator of the Universe and the lover of your soul.

A quiet time is time you set aside to spend with God.

That’s it.  It is very simple.  Stay tuned for some thoughts on why and how to have a quiet time.