Quality Quiet Time

On Tuesday night I went to my first women's ministry event at Grace Chruch, called a Ttus Two Tuesday. The topic for the evening was a Quality Quiet Time. It was a great evening--although I can't say I learned anything particularly new or earth shattering. It did provide a great opportunity to review and re-evaluate my own practices.

At the Titus Two the teacher shared several verses. The one that stood out to me was Psalm 63:1: O God, Thou art my God, I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (For more on this Psalm, see 8/2 post) If I approach my quiet time with this intensity and sincerity of heart, my quiet time will definitely be a quality quiet time.

The speaker shared seven suggestions to include in a quiet time:
1)Make it regular--consistency is key
2)Have a special time--she gets up early every morning
3)Have a special place (although another woman shared an idea to make a quiet time basket with everything you'd need in it that you can take wherever you want to have a quiet time)
4)Include prayer. She recommended ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). She shared how she has her prayer notebook arranged.
5)Read God's Word. She recommended a reading schedule. (I later was able to share how I have been reading the same section of Scripture every day for a month and then meeting once a month with other women who were reading the same passage and share what God had taught us. I will greatly miss those breakfasts!) We were also encouraged to keep God's Word continually before us. Have verses in key places around the house, keep one in your car to review, etc.
6)Keep a journal. Meditate on God's Word and then write out a response to it.
7)Sing.

Since Tuesday I have been pondering my own practice and have made some changes. Yesterday I began to review Psalm 119, probably my favorite chapter in the Bible. I plan to incorporate some of the prayers of the psalmist to pray for myself and others in regard to my quiet time, heart, and spritual life. For example, v. 18: Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law. I also reorganized my prayer notebook, and I think that will better facilitate my prayer time.

So I am motivated and organized, but to have a quality quiet time I need to approach my time with God each and every day with humilty and devotion. A quality quiet time is achievable. God promises that as I draw near to Him, He will draw near to me (James 4:8). What matters to God is not my technique or method, but my heart. That is what I need to remember.