How to Have a “Quiet Time”

What are the steps of having a regular Quiet Time? Today we will consider the two main areas: (1) Establishing the Equipment and (2) the Engagement.

This is the third of three episodes in a series addressing “the Why, the What, and the How of establishing an effective Quiet Time.”  In the last episode we talked about What is involved with maintaining a regular “Quiet Time.”  In this video we will walk through the steps of doing a Quiet Time. 

• Once again, we are defining a Quiet time as: a set aside time when you intentionally, actively seek God through actions such as reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping God.
• And once again, this is an introduction to how to have a Quiet Time.  You may have a particular way that you have sought the Lord throughout your life — this episode is simply walking through what was discussed in the previous episode.  I will borrow the framework offered by David McIntyre in his book “The Hidden Life of Prayer” (find the link below),^[1] namely the idea of the Equipment and Engagement.

So, if a quiet time is basically a set aside time when I am seeking God, how do I move through the essential elements of my regular Quiet Time?

FIRST, the Equipment of a Quiet Time

What do I need in order to “do” a quiet time?  McIntyre mentions three things: a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart.

• Having a set place, a quiet place for seeking the Lord is helpful for a number of reasons.
  • First, in our lives we have places that have significant purposes.  The bed – a place to sleep & for married couples a place of intimacy.  The kitchen – a place of labor as well as joy.  The office – a place of work.  The grill – a place of cookouts, and for some, pride.  The church… most of us also have a specific place that we sit week after week.  Places have significance. 
  • Second, having a quiet place is important to help eliminate distractions — or at least mitigate them as much as possible.  Sitting in front of a TV is not conducive to focusing on the Word.  If you are like me, there are distractions everywhere in my home.  So, I try to find a place that has the least possible distractions.  For some that is literally a “prayer closet.”   
  • What if your home is filled with young children and there are no “quiet places”?  Find a place that has the least distractions.  And that leads us to part two.

• Having a set hour, a quiet hour for seeking the Lord.
  • Your day may be filled with all kinds of demands — and especially for those with small children — it can be very difficult to find a quiet hour.  For me, it often requires staying up after everyone has gone to bed.  But, where in your schedule is a natural pause that affords you the time to be quiet?
  • Establishing a set time helps to establish that rhythm.  While some may see regularity as “getting into a rut” – establishing a regular rhythm helps both your body and your mind to get settled.  Like many of you, after I wake up, my rhythm includes having that morning cup of coffee.  I want to challenge you to establish holy habits – a safe harbor in the chaos of life.  It is like a liturgy for our daily worship.  
  • Where you can, find a quiet hour and claim it for seeking the Lord? If you cannot have a quiet place, have a quiet hour.  If you cannot have a quiet hour, find a quiet place.  And if both are impossible to find, at the very least, part three…

• Having a quiet heart.
  • I like to think of this as taking time to ‘catch my spiritual breath.’  It is the process of mentally settling down all that possess your mind –  realizing the presence of God.  It requires coming to your quiet time with faith that He will speak and honesty with where you are and how you are doing spiritual — even if right now, that means being honest that you are a wreck.
  • Most of us are able to find somewhere in the day and the week that we can reclaim for thhe purpose of seeking the Lord.  Sometimes that means turning off the phone and stopping the scroll on social media.  Give it a try this week!

With our equipment in place, we move now to the Engagement.

SECOND, The Engagement of a Quiet Time

This is where we READ the Word, PRAY, and Worship.  So, let’s use Psalm 100 as an example for today’s episode.  

• After having ensured I have a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart, I begin with walking through the SOAP Journal.
  • I have the Scriptures open and my notebook ready – and start by writing the letter “S” in the top left corner of my notes.  Then “Psalm 100.”  Now, let’s read the passage.
    • ¹  Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
      ²  Serve the LORD with gladness!
                       Come into his presence with singing!
      ³  Know that the LORD, he is God!
                      It is he who made us, and we are his;
                       we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
      ⁴  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
                       and his courts with praise!
                       Give thanks to him; bless his name!
      ⁵  For the LORD is good;
                        his steadfast love endures forever,
                        and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100, ESV)
      
  • Now a summary of Psalm 100 — There is a repeated theme of thankfulness or gladness – so I would summarize this, initially as a song calling for the people to respond in thankfulness.

• “O” for Observations
  • I like to note when there are commands in the Scripture – so I circle the words / phrases – “make a joyful noise,” Serve,” “Come,” “Know,” “Enter,” “Give thanks,” “bless.”  It is also worth noting that each verb has as its object either “the LORD” or something  pertaining to him – such as His presence or His gates or his name.
    • So we might make the observation that this Psalm calls us – and all of our actions (making noise, serving, knowing, giving thanks) – to be God-ward, moving towards HIM.  
  • Continuing in verse 1, the manner in which we conduct these actions is described: “making a noise” is to be “joyful”; “serving the Lord” is “with gladness”; we “come into his presence” “with singing”; we “enter his gates” “with thanksgiving” and “his courts” “with praise.”
  • Next, we note to whom the Psalmist is calling — first his command to “make a joyful noise to the LORD” is for “all the earth.”
    • What a fascinating thought!  Imagine all of creation and all its noises being made unto the LORD.  From the wind rustling the trees, to the clucking of chickens, mooing of cows, the morning song of the birds, the crashing of waves, the symphony of thunder – all making their praise to the LORD who created them. 
  • Second, we see that the Psalmist calls to humanity in general and God’s people in particular.  There is first a statement of our origin – “God made us;” and then a statement of belonging – “we are his.”
    • One interesting thought – We are called “the sheep of his pasture.”
    • This draws to mind the images from Ezekiel 34 when God says that He, himself will be the people’s shepherd because the leaders were failing.  Also Psalm 23:1 where we read that “The LORD is my Shepherd,” and John 10, where Jesus says that He is “the Good Shepherd.”  But when would sheep (verse 3) enter the temple courts (verse 4)?  Normally only for the purpose of sacrifice – on that topic, I have included a quote from the missionary and martyr, Jim Elliot, in the description below.^[2]
  • Finally, in verse 5 we see the purpose clause behind the whole of the Psalm.  Why should we do all that is stated in verses 1-5?  “FOR THE LORD IS GOOD” and we read the phrase common to the entire book of Psalms – “His steadfast love endures forever.”

• “A” for Application
  • How can we “do” or “OBEY” this Psalm?  In this case the application is rather easy to find (there are some passages that are much harder to figure out).  We can begin with a summary of the verbs.  We can (1) come into HIS presence – both in terms of seeking the Lord through a quiet time, as well as going to worship him with a congregation of believers at church – especially notice that this psalm is spoken to a congregation – “we”. (2) We can grow in our understanding of who God is and what he has done in History as well as our own lives. (3) We can worship Him, give thanks to him, and bless his name through song and prayer.
  • These are good generic applications, but how are we going to obey this passage specifically?  First, we can set a habit of daily drawing near to the Lord through a regular quiet time.  This day, we can commit to letting the attitude of our hearts be joyful.  When we notice an attitude of grumbling or begrudging, we must confront it with the Scriptures.  How do I confront those attitudes or thoughts?  Perhaps by even quoting this Scripture!  Proclaim to yourself “I am a sheep of his pasture – I will enter his gates with thanksgiving”! 
  • Finally, we can worship the Lord and bless his name through the singing of Songs (which is the last essential element of our regular quiet time). I recommend the song “Bless the Lord, O My Soul (Psalm 103)” by Sovereign Grace (see the link below).^[3]

• “P” for Prayer
  • I like to write down a quick summary prayer asking the Lord to strengthen me to obey His word after having studied it.  “Lord, please help me to have a joyful attitude as I live out my days.  May I rejoice in the truths that (1) I am a sheep of your pasture, and (2) that your steadfast love never ends!”

And that completes the SOAP Journal portion.

Before going on to the prayer section, one additional habit that I have developed over the years is pause and take some time and try to boil down all that I have learned into something I can quickly share with someone that day.  One such example would be to make a tweet, or instagram, or facebook post  that summarizes what you learned.  This also gives you the opportunity to share the truth of God’s Word on a potentially global stage! 

• After having completed the SOAP Journal portion, I now have some things to pray about as I move into the Prayer portion.  I will take what I learned and start working through A.C.T.S.
  • Adoration – Remember, this is praising God for who He is.  So we can praise and bless His name that his steadfast love never ends — that He is the shepherd of His people — and that we can indeed know that the LORD – He is God.
  • Confession – We can come before the LORD and confess that we have had moments and times of grumbling — that our attitude has not been one of thankfulness and rejoicing at all times.  Perhaps you have a specific incident in your mind, confess that to the Lord.  And, just as we learned that we are the sheep of His pasture, we are reminded of Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  And that brings us to the next section…
  • Thanksgiving – We thank the LORD that His steadfast love never ends.  Even when the love of humans come to an end or is conditioned upon our performance – His love does not end.  We thank Him that our iniquity has been laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and by His sacrifice we can know and draw near to God.  We can thank Him that He is our Shepherd and that he has counted us a sheep in His pasture.  Take time to think of the ways the Lord has taken care you and rejoice in thanksgiving to Him  
  • Supplication – As we mentioned in the previous episode, we can consider both Intercession (prayer for others) and Petition (prayer for ourselves).  Think of those who are currently “part of the fold” or God’s flock.  Pray for those who are in need of experiencing the steadfast love of the LORD, and perhaps consider being a messenger of that love.  Pray for those who are not yet part of God’s flock – for those who are lost.  As people from your various contexts come to mind (from work, from school, in your family, in your community), as they come to mind, pray for them. Finally, as you think of your own needs — spiritual, physical, emotional — present them to the Lord.

• As the time in prayer comes to a close, I like to cue up a song to sing and worship the LORD.  As mentioned before, after reading this Psalm,  I wanted to sing the song “Bless the Lord, O My Soul (Psalm 103)” by Sovereign Grace (see the link in the description).  And that concludes my Quiet Time.

Conclusion:

• So my friend, what were the steps of how to have a regular “Quiet Time”?  We saw (1) the Equipment of a Quiet Time as a quiet place, a quiet hour, and a quiet heart; and (2) the Engagement of a Quiet Time as Scripture, Prayer, and Worship.
  • BUT like I said, this is just an introduction!  What specific observations did you get from Psalm 100?  How can you personally apply what you learned from the Scriptures today? 
• Don’t forget to check out the other two videos in this short series. Until next time, thank you so much for joining me today on Byte-Size Theology – “may the Lord bless you and keep you!” See you over in the next video!

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[1] “The Hidden Life of Prayer” by David McIntyre

[2] From “Shadow of the Almighty: the Life and Testament of Jim Elliot” by Elizabeth Elliot

• “‘We are the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.’ And what are sheep doing going into the gate? What is their purpose inside those courts?  To bleat melodies and enjoy the company of the flock?  No.  Those sheep were destined for the alter.  Their pasture feeding had been for one purpose, to test them and fatten them for bloody sacrifice.  Give Him thanks, then, that you have been counted worthy of His altars.  Enter into the work with praise” (p 118-119).

[3] “Bless the Lord, O My Soul” by Sovereign Grace

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[4] Summer Reading Plan