HOW TO HAVE A DAILY QUIET TIME

 

Delight thyself in the Lord

Psalm 37:4

HOW TO HAVE A DAILY QUIET TIME

 

 by

Betty J. Nunes

 

 for the Body of Christ at

First Baptist Church

Nashville, Georgia 

 

 Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you

the desires of your heart.

     Psalm 37:4  

 

                          

        

                  Name:_______________________________

                  Address:_____________________________

                                _____________________________   

Beginning Date: __________

 

 "I delight greatly in the Lord;

 my soul rejoices in my God."

Isaiah 61:10

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

                                                        teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

Introduction

 

As your teacher, I desire greatly to help us see who we are in Christ Jesus and realize the marvelous relationship we have with Him.

 

“HOW GREAT is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!” (I John 3:l)

 

Our relationship with God is permanent.  It is a love relationship and NOTHING can separate us...”Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:

     ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

 

John declares to us in I John 2:5b-6:  “This is how we know we are in Him:  Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” Jesus is our Example of how to maintain our fellowship with The Father.

 

NOTE:  Our relationship can never be broken, BUT our fellowship can.  Fellowship is broken when we don’t seek His leadership; when we try to walk by our own strength; when we make our own choices.  See Jesus’ example (Luke 5:l5-l6; Matthew 26:36-44; Luke.6:12)

 

Jesus spent time with his Heavenly Father, seeking fellowship, strength and guidance.  If God’s Son needed to spend time with Him, how much more do we need to spend time with Him?  Having a quiet time will help us become more like Christ as we follow His example and as we receive His power through prayer and His Word.

 

Think on these things!

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

                                                  Law (teachings) of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

Today begins a delightful experience - IF you want it to be.  You see,

our Father desires us to desire Him.  But, He never forces the issue –

He waits for us to come of our own desire.

>>> If it is not a delight to pray and read the Bible,  you need

to examine your relationship with God and be sure you have one.

Have you, at some time, realized you are a sinner?

Do you know that Jesus is God in flesh that became a human

to pay for your sin?

Have you asked Him to forgive you for your sin?

Have you asked Him to make you new born?

(If you answered "YES" to all of the above,

you are a child of God and He is your Eternal Father!

 

A word of testimony: 

If we take one step toward Him; if we give Him one minute of our time;

He will give us more than we ever imaged - try Him –

you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

 

Some suggestions to help:

Don't try to run ahead.

 Do each week's assignment as instructed.

If you don't understand - please ask.

Share your daily experiences.

This is to be a "delight" not a chore!

 

"Delight yourself in the Lord"

 

NOTES:______________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

                                                      teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

Lesson 1

 

A daily quiet time is our private time with God; it is our closet praying - a time to withdraw from the cares of the world and be alone with The Father. (Matthew 6:6)

 

Again, Jesus sets the example in Mark l:35“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”  Do you have a spot where you can meet the Lord?  The closet is any place where you can draw near to God (to be alone and close, and free from distractions.)

Establish a regular time and make it a priority!  Make it your appointment with The Father and mark out the time on your daily plans.

 

You will need a Bible; a devotional guide (such as Open Windows, Our Daily Bread, etc.) and a notebook will be helpful.  For our study, "My Daily Delight" devotional is included with this study.

 

Jesus said:  “If you abide(live) in Me, and My words abide(live) in you, you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  (John l5:7)   Are you ready to pray for this kind of power?

 

Fellowship with The Father includes talking and listening.  This is why our Quiet Time consists of prayer and reading the Bible (God’s Word).  Next lesson we will learn how to organize our prayer and Bible reading.

 

First thing we need to do is make a commitment with God, and begin with a prayer like this:

Father, because I want to have a special fellowship with You on a day-to-day basis, show me the best time and place to meet with You.  I ask You to plant such a deep desire in my heart to spend time with You that I will keep our appointment faithfully.  Help me to claim the Biblical promise of Philippians 2:l3:  “It is God who works in you(me) to will and to act according to His good purpose.”      

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 A delightful experience has begun – IF you have taken the first step in having a daily quiet time with our Father! 

 

A word of testimony:  If we take one step toward Him; if we give Him one minute of our time; He will give us more than we ever imaged - try Him - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

   

 Today we will look at some of the examples of Jesus to help us see the importance of a daily interacting with our Creator-Friend-Redeemer.  Mark 1:35 - it is a solid way of starting your day; Matthew 26:36-44 - it is a way of building spiritual strength; Luke 6:12-13 - it is a way of becoming more sensitive to God's leadership.  Jesus spent time with His Heavenly Father seeking fellowship, strength and guidance...If He needed this, how much more do we?

 

     Why use a Prayer Journal or Prayer List?  We'll look at this and see one suggestion included in your notebook.

 

     I pray that each of us will do as Paul and have our determined purpose to know Him (God) and progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him (Phil.3:10)

 

 

What a delightful time we are having!

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8)

     I am "delighted" at the responses I am hearing to your experiences with learning that our Father is "My Daily Delight".   IF you have not begun trying to have a daily quiet time using the pink pages in your notebook, you are missing a delightful life-changing experience!  Get started TODAY!!!

 

Some suggestions to help:

Don't try to run ahead.

 Do each week's assignment as instructed.

If you don't understand - please ask.

Share your daily experiences.

This is to be a "delight" not a chore!

 

"Delight yourself in the Lord"

 Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

                                                        teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

Lesson 2

 

I have titled this series of study on how to have a daily Quiet Time, “Delight Thyself in the Lord” to remind us that this is how we develop and strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  It is NOT to be a ritual, but a delightful time of interacting with our Creator-Friend-Redeemer.  The more time we spend together the more HE will become all we desire (not just what we need.)  

                                                                          

We have seen from Jesus’ example that we need to have a daily, special, exclusive time with our Heavenly Father.  We have made a commitment to our Father, and established a time and place to meet with Him.  Now we will look at what we will do during this time.

 

Remember, every person will develop your own unique intimacies with your Lord.  The following are suggestions.  We previously spent l0 weeks taking a look at the model prayer Jesus gave us for an example from Matthew 6:9-13.  This will help us get a firm foundation for our prayer time. (Copies of these lessons entitled "Our Father"  are available upon request.)

 

As we talk with God each day, we need to be sure our conversation includes these five areas:

  (l)  PRAISE - Tell God how thankful you are for who He is.  How would you describe God?  That’s what you should praise Him for.  Write Him a Love Letter!

  (2) THANKSGIVING - Thank God for at least one spiritual thing; one material thing; one physical thing; one person.

  (3) CONFESSION  - Ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin in your life and admit it to Him.  Then determine not to do it again.

  (4) INTERCESSION - Praying for others.  Pray for those who have a need of salvation; healing; Christian growth or whatever.

  (5) PETITION  - Praying for yourself.  What are your needs?

 

Until next lesson - delight yourself in the Lord!

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

"If we take one step toward Him; if we give Him one minute of our time;

He will give us more than we ever imaged - try Him - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!"

   

I hope that you have by now discovered for yourself that the above statement is true.

     

 So far in our journey to know Him, we should have done these things:

     *1 - Realized we need to have a quiet time with our Heavenly Father.

     *2 - We've made a commitment to meet with Him daily.

     *3 - We've established an appointment time and place.

     *4 - We've begun including the five areas of conversation with our Lord; remembering what we learned from The Model Prayer of Jesus.

     *5 - We've begun using "My Daily Delight" pages to guide our time with the Lord. (This is the reading guide that is very useful in doing any book study. Example: John)

    

TODAY our main emphasis of learning is that the Holy Spirit of God is the key to our understanding what God says.  He is also the key to my desiring to talk/pray with our Father.  When we pray Psalm 119:18, we are inviting Him to make this quiet time a sweet fellowship between two people who love each other eternally.

     PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THIS A RITUAL, BUT A DELIGHTFUL ENCOUNTER OF COMPLETENESS...EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE!

        

   IF you have NOT begun any of the above, what are you waiting for? 

The right time is the first time you begin - You will be delighted!!!

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8)

   

"My Daily Delight" is becoming my daily desire.  I stay amazed at how many times during the day the Lord gives me to share it. My delight grows every time I hear one of you tell me the same thing is happening to you as well.  It is NOT too late for all of you to have these delightful experiences - get started TODAY!!!

Some suggestions to help:

Don't try to run ahead.

 Do each week's assignment as instructed.

If you don't understand - please ask.

Share your daily experiences.

This is to be a "delight" not a chore!

                                                       "Delight yourself in the Lord"

 

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 Lesson 3

 

We now have the example prayer from Jesus and the five areas of conversation as guidelines in our talking with God during our Quiet Time daily.  At this point, I would like to suggest that you begin to record what you want to talk to The Father about; and also record what He says to you.

 

Here are some suggestions:  (Once again, make this to suit you and your time.  The important thing is to PRAY - don’t let procedure bog you down.)

Suggestion #1 - Make a list of the people and things you want to pray about. Date it. Save a space to record how it was answered. As you add to, date.

Suggestion #2 - Have a notebook and divide your prayers into categories...such as:  Personal Requests; Family; Friends; Church; Missions; Work; Government. These can be put on a different page or dividers. Once again date each request and leave space for recording answers.

Suggestion #3 - Make a Weekly Prayer List: Put the categories in Suggestion #2 on a different day of the week. Such as: Monday-Personal; Tuesday-Family; Wednesday-Friends, etc.

Suggestion #4 - Simply record daily on a single page two things:  What I Said To God...(List your requests or what’s most on your mind that day.) What God Said To Me...(Write down the scripture He brings to your mind, inspirational ideas and impressions.)

 

As you begin to incorporate these suggestions into your Quiet Time, you will discover that a little is not enough - in time spent with the Lord or recording that time.  Recording gives you a permanent record of what God is teaching you and how much closer your relationship to Him is getting.

The most important thing to remember is that this is your daily time to delight yourself in the Lord!

 

Paul put it this way: [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power out-flowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death. (Amplified Bible)

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

  "If we take one step toward Him; if we give Him one minute of our time;

He will give us more than we ever imaged - try Him - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!"

 

     Have you discovered for yourself that the above statement is true?  You still can.  Remember He's still standing at the door and knocking, and waiting for you to open the door and let Him in.    Revelation 3:20 is an invitation.

  

There is nothing more that I can do than encourage you once again to practice what you say you are - a Christian; a child of God.  It begins by getting acquainted intimately with your Father by spending time with Him.  This is His greatest desire of us!  Listen to Him:

"Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

     "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not come to know Me?" (John 14:9)

 His greatest desire is for us to want Him!

Mark 12:30-31 is the Greatest Commandment required of us.  How much of our ALL is His?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind and with all your strength."

 

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8)

   I have tried to encourage you for the past four weeks to begin having "a daily delight" with the Lord.  Today is our last preparation lesson before beginning our study of the book of JOHN.  Using "My Daily Delight" every day will aid you tremendously in this study.  It is never too late to begin...

 

Some suggestions to help:

Don't try to run ahead.

 Do each week's assignment as instructed.

If you don't understand - please ask.

Share your daily experiences.

This is to be a "delight" not a chore!

     

"Delight yourself in the Lord"

Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

 

Lesson 4

 Let’s recap what we’ve established so far:

  - We’ve seen our need for exclusive time with our Heavenly Father; made a commitment to Him; and established a time and place to meet with Him.

  - We’ve looked at the example prayer from Jesus and the five areas of conversation we need to cover.

  - We’ve been given suggestions about recording our prayer requests and making notes of what God said.

 

The best way to get started in our Quiet Time is by reading a passage of Scripture.  There are, once again, a number of ways to do this...

   1) Use any daily Bible reading guide, such as; Open Windows, Our Daily Bread, Morning by Morning, My Utmost for His Highest.  These devotionals give you a daily Scripture as well as a daily thought.

   2) Read the Scriptures systematically.  Read a chapter a day from one Book, such as Psalms, Proverbs, one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), or begin to read The Bible through from Genesis to Revelation (there are daily schedules on how to do this available.)  You can use a Concordance , Topical Bible or Subject Index to read by subject.

     A practice that I recommend strongly is that if you use material that only gives you one verse of Scripture, go to that Scripture and read what came before and after it so that you have the whole scope.  Make sure you know who the passage was directed to and who said it.

 

Before reading, you might pray Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law(Word).

     Remember, the Holy Spirit is our Teacher and the only One who knows the mind of God and can take the Words of God and reveal them unto us.

 Delightful Insights

"Happy is the person whose delight and desire are in the

 teachings of God."  Psalm 1:2

Lesson 5

 

I hope that by now you have discovered the marvelous relationship that you have in Christ Jesus, and that you are delighting yourself in Him every day! 

 

If you began applying the suggestions given over the past five weeks, you have now established a habit of meeting with The Father. (I read that if you repeat something for 6 weeks it becomes a habit.)  This is the best habit you will ever establish!

 

You will probably notice also that as you have been delighting yourself in The Lord that your desires have changed!  Have you noticed that you now desire the things that He desires?!

 

Are you hearing the Lord throughout the day saying “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  This is something He delights in - removing the weariness and burdens of any given day.  You see, when you leave your Prayer Closet don’t shut the door - leave it open so that you can retreat throughout the day for more delight!

 

How much you want to know God, depends on how much time you spend with Him!

 

God requires our all...”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

 

And, it should be a Delight!

*   *   *