What Does a Daily Quiet Time Look Like?
BY RICK WARREN — OCTOBER 9, 2014
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5 ESV)
Having a quiet time is like many other activities you might do in life — in at least one respect. To be successful, it helps to have a plan. The Bible says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty”(Proverbs 21:5 ESV).
If you’ve never had a quiet time before, you may not have a good, simple plan for doing one. Simplicity is important with any plan you develop. If you make it complicated, you’re more likely to get off track. All you really need for an effective quiet time is a Bible, notebook, and maybe a hymnal or songbook.
So what does a daily quiet time look like?
First, be quiet before the Lord. The Bible calls it waiting on God. You start by simply sitting down and shutting up.
Second, pray briefly. Start off with a short opening prayer. Ask God to open your mind and guide you. Ask him to cleanse your mind.
Read a portion of Scripture slowly. This is where your conversation with God begins. He starts speaking to you through his Word, and then you speak back to him through prayer. Read the Bible slowly. Don’t try to read too quickly or too much. The more slowly you read Scripture, the more you’re forced to think about what you’re reading.
Meditate on the Word. Spend some time chewing on what God is saying. Chew on the Word like cows chew on cud. Ponder and wrestle with it in your mind. There are lots of great methods for meditating on the Word. You can find specific ideas on how to meditate on the Bible in my book, “Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods.”
Write down what you discover. When God speaks to you through his Word, care enough about what he is saying to write it down. Writing enables us to remember what God has said to us and record our discoveries.
Pray again. Be quiet. Ask God to show you his Word. Talk to God about what he has said to you. Tell him what you’re thinking about what he is saying. Talk to him about anything else that’s on your mind.
There’s not just one way to have a quiet time, but following a plan similar to this can get you started on a rewarding devotional journey.
Talk It Over
- Have you ever thought about your quiet time as an intimate conversation with God? Why or why not?
- What distractions do you need to eliminate in order to “be quiet”?
- Why is it sometimes hard for you to read the Bible slowly and meditate on what it says?
| He Restores Your Soul |
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| TODAY’S SCRIPTURE |
| “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul...” |
| (Psalm 23:1–3, NKJV) |
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| TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria |
God wants to restore your soul. What does that mean? Your soul is your mind, will and emotions. You are a three-part being: you have a spirit — that’s the part of you that lives for eternity, you have a soul, and you live in a body while you’re here on earth.
Your soul is where the enemy tries to attack you and hold you back. Your soul is where you may have brokenness from the past or hurts and disappointments, but when God restores your soul, He brings His healing power to those broken places. He makes you whole again. And when God restores you, He makes you better off than you were before!
Notice that He leads us beside quiet waters. He makes us lie down in green pastures. This is a picture of rest. When we are resting in Him, He is able to do a work in our lives. He is able to bring that restoration. Don’t let the busyness of life keep you going so fast that you don’t stop and rest. Take time to be still before the Lord and meditate on His Word. Let Him restore and heal your soul so that you can embrace all the good things He has in store for you!
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| A PRAYER FOR TODAY |
| Father, thank You for another day to praise You. Thank You for being my good Shepherd and for leading me into the place of rest. Restore my soul. Renew my joy. Heal my heart as I surrender every area of my life to You in Jesus’ name. Amen. |
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