2. A new Christian asks you,

3. A new Christian asks you,
“Why should I have a quiet time
each day, and if I have one, what
should I do in it?”

4. A new Christian asks you,
“Why should I have a quiet time
each day, and if I have one, what
should I do in it?”
How would you answer?

5. Having a Quiet Time

6. In The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges first
describes a good day. “You get up promptly when
your alarm goes off and have a refreshing and
profitable quiet time as you read your Bible and pray.
Your plans for the day generally fall into place, and
you somehow sense that presence of God with you.
To top it off, you unexpectedly have an opportunity
to share the gospel with someone who is truly
searching. As you talk with the person, you silently
pray for the Holy Spirit to help you and to also work
in your friend’s heart.”

7. The second goes like this: “You don’t arise at the first
ring of your alarm. Instead, you shut it off and go back
to sleep. When you awaken, it’s too late to have a
quiet time. You hurriedly gulp down some breakfast
and rush off to the day’s activities. You feel guilty
about oversleeping and missing your quiet time, and
things just generally go wrong all day. You become
more and more irritable as the day wears on, and you
certainly don’t sense God’s presence in your life. That
evening, however, you unexpectedly have an
opportunity to share the gospel with someone who
is really interested in receiving Christ as Savior.”

9. Would you enter into those two
witnessing opportunities with a
different degree of confidence?

10. Would you enter into those two
witnessing opportunities with a
different degree of confidence?
If you’re like most Christians, I suspect you would
feel less confident about witnessing on a bad day
then on a good day. You would feel less confidence
that God would speak in and through you and that
you would be able to share your faith forcefully and
with conviction.

11. According to Bridges, we’ve come to believe that
God’s blessing on our lives is somehow conditional
upon our spiritual performance. ..We may not
consciously articulate this, but we prove that we
believe it when we have a bad day and are certain
that on this day we are absolutely unworthy of God’s
blessings. This attitude “reveals an all-too-common
misconception of the Christian life: the thinking that,
although we are saved by grace, we earn or forfeit
God’s blessings in our daily lives by
our performance.”

12. Too often we think that is we perform well for God,
we enter our day filled with confidence that God will
bless us, and that He will have to bless us. We feel
that our performance has earned us the right to have
a day filled with His presence, filled with blessings,
and filled with confidence. And, of course, when we
turn in a poor performance, we feel that God is in
heaven booing us.

13. Bridges provides a pearl of wisdom. “Your worst
days are never so bad that you are
beyond the reach of God’s grace. And
your best days are never so good that
you are beyond the need of God’s
grace.”
Whether we are having a good day or a bad day, the
basis of our relationship with God is not our
performance, we are saved by grace and live by grace.

14. Kevin DeYoung
Usually I wake up between 6:30-6:45, a
little later if it is my day off (Monday), or
if I had a late meeting the night before.
On average I spend about an hour in
morning devotions.
I start by reading 5-10 pages of some
classic Christian book (The Rare
Jewel of Christian Contentment at
present).

15. Then I sing a Psalm.
Then I read 3-4 chapters from the Bible. I’ve
used lots of different reading plans. Right now I’m
using a plan that gets me through the whole Bible
once a year and Psalms/Proverbs twice.
After reading, I work on some Scripture
memory, the second half of Romans 12 at the
moment.
Finally I spend about 25 minutes in prayer, often on
a walk if it is not too cold outside.

16. Why a Quiet Time?
Regular fellowship or communion with God
is necessary if we really want to get to
know God and have a living relationship
with Him.
A regular quiet time is an expression of our
love for and our commitment to God and
His ways.

17. During a quiet time we can receive
direction and guidance from God especially
for that day.
We can be equipped for the day during our
quiet times as we receive from God that
which we need in order to do His will.

18. Our spirits will be encouraged, renewed
and strengthened by a regular quiet time
and this will enable us to live as God
wants, especially in the face of trials and
temptations.
An effective, fruitful quiet time will help us
to grow in spiritual maturity because we
will be receiving spiritual food or
nourishment from God.

19. Quiet times need two major
elements:
Prayer - We speak to Him and we must
allow time for Him to speak to us.
God speaks to us through our Bible
reading (Psalm 119:105).

20. Making a Quiet Time work
Choose a place that is quiet
Choose a definite time
Find the time of day best suited to you
God deserves our best time
Remember that the quality of our time
with God is more important than the
quantity.

21. Bible Reading
Research in the USA, by Barna:
18% of born again people read the Bible every day
23% of “Christians” never read the Bible.
A survey for Christianity Today magazine concluded
that the most important influence in shaping a
persons moral and social behaviour was regular
Bible reading

22. 1 Tim. 4:7, Matt. 4:4, 2 Tim. 3:16, Heb. 4:12
15 minutes per day = reading the Bible in
1 year
Examples of Bible study: Ezra (7:10),
Bereans (Acts 17:11, Paul (2 Tim 4:13)

23. “We fail to study God’s word not so much
because it is difficult to understand, not so
much because it is dull and boring, but
because it is work. Our problem is not a lack
of intelligence or passion. Our problem is that
we are lazy.”
RC Sproul

24. Bible Reading Hints
Ask the Holy Spirit
to be your teacher
Accept what God
is saying to you
Speak Scriptures
out loud to God,
self and Satan

25. Meditate
Respond in prayer and put it into practice
Write down what God has impressed on
you
Memorise scripture
Get a good Bible reading plan

26. Memorisation
Whitney in Spiritual
Disciplines for the Christian
Life suggests a number of
reasons for memorising
Scripture.
1. It provides spiritual
power
Ps 119:11, Col 3:2 - the Holy
Spirit uses these verses Eph 6:17

27. 2. Strengthens your Faith
Proverbs 22:17-19
3. For use in Witnessing and
Counselling
Peter used the OT extensively in his
preaching on the day of Pentecost
4. As a Means of God’s Guidance
Ps 119:24, Eph 4:29

28. 5. As a
Stimulus to
Meditation
Scripture is the
fuel for meditation
Ps 119:97

29. Prayer
Jesus expects us to pray:
Matt 6:5, 6, 7, 9; Luke 11:9, 18:1
The Bible teaches us to pray:
Col. 4:2, 1 Thess 5:17

30. Prayer Hints
Start with thanksgiving and praise.
Confess any sin.
Ask for the things you need personally
Pray and intercede (stand in the gap) for others
Remember to thank God for answered prayer.
Leave time for God to speak to you personally.

31. Remember
Have a balanced quiet time
Be alert for opportunities during the day to
apply and share what you have learned from
God
Stay in prayerful contact with God during
the whole day (Luke 18:1).
Make time during the week to allow deeper
study of the Word and more intensive
prayer.