In all of our lives, there are foundational practices that need to be part of the regular rhythm of life.  As I journey with people, often when I ask about people’s quiet time, their head drops or they look away.  They know they need to develop this area but have not.  A few along the journey honestly have never really developed a quiet time in their life.

What is a Quiet time?

 

A quiet time is the intentional regular rhythm of pausing to pray and sit with Jesus.  Often it involves scripture reading but does not always have to.

 

My 3 purposes of a Quite time.

 

a. To provide reflection space in my life to gain a better perspective of myself, circumstances, and Jesus.

 

b. To hear from and listen to the Holy Spirit.

 

c. To align my life with Christ’s

 

There are more, but these are my top three.

 

Developing and practising our quiet time is like going on a hike.  In that journey, there are some useful tools to have in our backpack.

 

Here are four tools I carry in my life that help me in the journey, or rhythm, of a quiet time.

1. Calendar – Set time aside to meet with Jesus.  We do it with everyone else.  You can still have that spur of the moment time.  For example, unplanned times where you find yourself praying or worshiping in music, etc.  You need those, but you also need scheduled times of hitting the pause button in your life.  So find a time that works and do it.

 

2. A Framework – Many people, when starting out, need the assistance of a framework to help them know what to do in this time.  The framework  is just a tool to help you hear from Jesus.  There are many good ones out there. For example Lectio Divina.  Here is an outline you can read to help and you can read a little more about it here.

 

3. A Bible and a journal –  Many people use this time to reflect upon scripture and read scripture.  I suggest having a bible reading plan can be a great help. A journal as well can help you process your thoughts.

 

4. Understand yourself –  It is important to know how you best connect with Jesus.  It is important to know your personality and character and who God calls you to be. There are a number of great tools that can serve as jumping off points to help in this.

 

In my journey of practising a quiet time these are a few of my tools that have proved to be helpful.    It is important as well to also be aware of the space you are in and what your distractions will be.

 

Finally, give yourself some grace.  Just because you missed that one time does not mean the world is going to end or you lose God’s favour.  You already have God’s favour, that is why we want to spend time with him.

 

What tools are in your backpack?

 

What is one step you can do today to develop the rhythm of quiet?

 

What is one tool you need to use to develop the rhythm of your quiet time?