Your QUIET TIME: Is Spending Time With God Your Favorite Time of the Day?

1. Be still before Him

Psalm 46:10 NKJV

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

We need to stop and acknowledge who it is we're talking too. Almighty and all powerful Creator! We need to know He is sovereign (in control) and He knows the future. He holds you in His hand.

1 Peter 5:6-7

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

We need to come before Him and lay distracting thoughts aside, thoughts of things we need to do that day, problems that cry for our attention, worries that are filling our head...we need to clear our minds and focus our attention so that we can hear from God.

Psalm 4:4

Tremble, and do not sin; meditiate in your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.

We need to come ready to fill our mind with thoughts about Him...prepare to converse with Him.

Psalm 23:1-3

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

God wants to restore and refresh us when we are in His presence and it is His desire to lead us beside the quiet waters. There is a "sweet place" we can be with God where we sit in His presence and He calms our hearts and minds.

Zepheniah 3:17 NKJV

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

2. Be open and honest with Him

Read Psalm 139:1-6

• God knows every thought in our minds but we need to CONVERSATE with Him in order to have a relationship!

Psalm 64:2

O You who hear prayer, to You all men come.

• God wants to hear us. Don't be afraid to open up your mouth and say what you really feel...God already knows it. You need to speak it to Him in prayer. This is how you communicate with God. James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

Psalm 89:46-48

How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember what my span of life is; for what vanity You have created all the sons of men! What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?

The Psalmists were painfully open and honest with God. They communicated openly with God so that they could deal with what was going on inside them...so that they could acknowledge it and be directed and healed by the Lord. Speaking out loud to God helps us put in perspective what is going on inside of us. It may just help you stay focused with all those thoughts swimming around in your head!

3. Be listening to Him as you read the Bible

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

It is in your intimate one-on-one time with God in His Word that you can have a very powerful encounter with communicating with Him. It is in His Word that you hear His voice and respond!

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

in the NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

• The Bible is God's Word. It is how He communicates with us.

• When we open the Word of God we need to understand the verses are not going to jump off the page into our hearts without the Holy Spirit.

1 John 2:27 NLT

But you have received the Holy Spirit,* and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and continue to live in Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:9-12 NLT

This is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things Godehas freely given us.

• Talk to God while you are reading His Word!

• KEEP A JOURNAL FOR YOUR TIME WITH GOD. Record verses that speak to you, something God showed you that day, prayers He answered, prayers you want Him to answer!