The Purpose
The purpose of a Quiet Time (also called Daily Devotional, etc.) is to enjoy fellowship with God and get to know Him better, to follow Jesus' example, to please God, to listen to God and receive His direction for our life, and to remain connected to the ultimate source of all righteousness & wisdom. 

The Challenge
If you don't have a regular "quiet time", start one even if it is only for 5 to 10 minutes each day. If you do have a "quiet time", evaluate it and upgrade it, if needed.  Do you have a balanced, God-centered prayer time?  Are you following a systematic Bible reading plan?  Are you meditating on scripture, asking God how these passages apply to you. And are you responding to what God is telling you?

Essential Elements of a Quiet Time
>Balanced Prayer
>Meditate on Scripture
>Respond to God

Balanced Prayer

The Lord's Prayer and the acronym P.R.A.Y. both help you to keep your prayer life balanced.

Jesus gave us this model for balanced prayer in what is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer:

"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, .as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

Notice how the first part of this model prayer is "God-centered" as Jesus teaches you that your prayers should include praising God for His holiness, and praying that His kingdom to flourish on earth and that His will be done.  Also notice that this model prayer not only includes a need for your physical needs, "daily bread", but also your spiritual health, protecting you from the "evil one".

Are your prayers God-centered and do they include prayers for your spiritual health as well as your physical needs?

The acronym P.R.A.Y. provides us with a pattern for balanced prayer.

Praise is to adore and praise God. Your prayers should acknowledge who God is, and should include a time of personally praising and worshiping Him. (Consider meditating upon a praise scripture at the beginning of your prayer time, or singing a praise chorus or song.)

Repentance is the acknowledgement of sinfulness, which is necessary for divine forgiveness, and our willingness to turn from our sin and submit our decisions and will to Christ.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8,9 NIV

Ask the Spirit to reveal any unconfessed sins in your life. Confess any known sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.

Ask—humbly and earnestly.  These "asking" prayers are perhaps the most common types of prayers.  It is appropriate to pray for your personal needs, the needs of other people, and to seek God's kingdom by praying for various ministries, our pastors and missionaries, the unsaved, and world issues, etc.

Yield as you end your prayer time confessing your dependence on God and your need for Him. Commit to follow the things God has pointed out to you in your time with Him. Other words that can describe yield in your prayer is submission, obedience, follow.

Meditate on Scripture

Can you imagine developing a relationship with someone by talking to him/her everyday, but NOT listening to him/her or giving him/her a chance to respond to you? Although God can speak to you through your fellow Christians, your thoughts, and circumstances, God mainly speaks to you through His Word, the Bible.  Therefore, Scripture reading is an essential part of your "quiet times" with God.  But, reading Scripture needs to involve more than just learning some general Biblical principles.  You need to read Scripture with a focus on "listening" to what God is saying.  You need to meditate (think about) what God is telling you today.

Respond to God

Finally you need to respond to what God is telling you. Some people do this by journaling.  An example of a simple form of journaling involves recording the scripture reference which you read today, and then recording what God said to me and what I said to God in response to what He told you in that scripture reading.  Sometimes your response to God requires action.  Maybe you need to visit someone in the hospital, reconcile your differences with someone, or fight an addiction.  As James has stated:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV

Practical Suggestions for doing a Quiet Time

Having a quality time of prayer requires a personal relationship with Jesus.
Have you ever tried having a meaningful discussion with a stranger? If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, then begin your personal relationship with Jesus yoday. Pray to Jesus, ask Him to forgive your sins, and accept Him as your personal Savior. Then the Holy Spirit can help you hear from God during your quiet times. 

Having a regular quiet time with God requires will and desire.
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 NIV

God desires to meet with you, but He will not force you to meet with Him.  So if you want to meet with your Creator, you need to have the will and desire to do so.

Having a quality quiet time requires discipline.
Satan does not want you to have a quality quiet time with God. He may provide you with excuses not to keep your appointment with God.  He may also provide external hindrances to your quiet time such as noise and interruptions, as well as internal distractions such as a mind that wanders to thoughts of things to add to your grocery list or worries about a problem at work, etc. It requires discipline to overcome these obstacles-discipline to regularly show up for your appointments with God and discipline to remain focused upon praying to and listening to God during this time. Pray for discipline and that the Lord will protect you from the "evil one". Then have your lists and tools available to help keep you focused. Have your daily Bible reading plan available, and consider reading your passage aloud. Have a notepad available to write down those things which come to your mind that need be added to your "to do" list or grocery list, so that you can then get back to focusing on your quiet time with God. Have your prayer lists available. Having a prayer devotional with scriptures to pray may help you to focus on adoration and thanksgiving of God at the beginning of your prayer time.

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Why have a regular Quiet Time?

>>To enjoy fellowship with God and get to know Him better
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Philippians 3:8-10 NIV

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   This is the first and greatest  commandment. Matthew. 22:37-38 NIV

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  Luke 5:16 NIV

>>To please God
The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.  Proverbs 15:8 NIV

>>To remain connected to the ultimate source of all righteousness & wisdom
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;  apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 NIV

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