What is a “Quiet Time”?

There are three essential elements included in having a regular Quiet Time:
(1) The Word of God
(2) Prayer
(3) Worship.

This is the second 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 Why a Quiet Time is important. In this episode we will address what a quiet time looks like – or what essential elements should be part of our Quiet Time. 

As was stated in the last episode: A Quiet Time is a set aside time when you intentionally, actively seek God through actions such as reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping God.

• I want to emphasize at the beginning of this video particularly — 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, and you may come from a faith tradition that has another approach to the specific mechanics or you may use additional devotional aids.  What I am suggesting in this video are three essential elements that can form the foundation of your time.

If you are genuinely seeking the Lord and use these three essential elements I am suggesting here and build your Quiet Time around them, you will grow in your walk with God.  In every context that I have served, it has been proven simple, effective, sustainable, and “scaleable” based on the time available and length of passage studied. So, I humbly submit to you a basic format for your Quiet Time. 

• In this episode we will develop the essential elements of a Quiet Time, and in the next episode we will actually walk through HOW to do it.
• Here we go! If a quiet time is basically a set aside time when I am seeking God, what essential elements should be part of my regular Quiet Time?

THE FIRST ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF A REGULAR QUIET TIME IS THE WORD OF GOD

• For motivation on why we should dig into the Word of God, review the pervious episode.

Knowing that we need to be “in the Word” is well and good, but the question I want to answer today is “what does digging in the Word look like”?  Maybe you are like me — whenever I am reading, my mind run all over the place and there I times I read the Word and walk away not knowing what I read… then I wonder why I’m doing it… then I stop.  What does it look like to have fruitful study in God’s Word? 

I would like to share with you concept that has been around a long time — “the SOAP Journal.”   That stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer.  What will you need for this?  Your Bible, a way of taking notes (whether that be electronic, or pen and paper), and a humble heart. So, start with the letter “S”

• S – Scripture – Start with writing out the Scripture reference — whether you are reading one verse, one chapter, one book — write out the reference.  For example: 1 John 1:5-10.  Then, read through the passage.  I like to scribble a few notes along the way, but more on that next.  After you have read the passage, try to add a thought in your own words that summarizes the passage.

• O – Observation – As we read the word, we want to understand what is God saying.  This, for me, is the longest (but most rewarding) part of the SOAP journal.  Here is where we ask questions and investigate the text.  We want to get the best interpretation of the passage as we can. Try to note some things from the context – that is, the verses that come before, after, and around this passage.  Understanding the context will help with developing the interpretation.  As you read the passage, were there repeated thoughts?  What seemed to be the focus of that passage?  As you read the passage, were there any key terms, phrases, cultural things that might need more investigation?  I normally take notes while I read, and after reading, will make a few summary comments.
  • Note this is different than application … our goal in this section is to know what God is saying.  The next section is Application.

• A – Application – This section address how I plan to obey or put into practice what God is saying. Write out how you plan to do this. Spend some time meditating on how the passage applies to your life before writing the application.  Avoid being too general, like “I should love people.”  Get specific in ways this passage impacts actual actions, thoughts, attitudes, words, etc.  Ask questions like: What does the passage teach me so I can praise God? Does this passage show hidden sin in my life? What do I need to “become” in light of this passage? How does the grace of Jesus help me to become this? How would my life be impacted if I took this passage seriously?
  • And once you have summarized your application section, move on to prayer.

• P – Prayer – Pray that God will strengthen you to obey what you just learned from the Word. While certainly you do not need to write out all that you are praying about, I do recommend writing out at least a one sentence prayer connected to the specific things you learned from your time in the word.  But this leads us to the second essential element of a regular quiet time….

THE SECOND ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF A REGULAR QUIET TIME IS PRAYER

Throughout history people have developed various approaches to addressing different elements of prayer.  There is nothing magical about one approach over another.  The most important thing is this — consider different aspects of prayer to develop a more robust time in prayer.  Often our prayers can become like a broken record, simply saying the same things about the same things.

If you are looking for a few books on prayer, I would like to recommend three to you (links are listed below):

• “Praying the Bible” by Donald Whitney^[1]
  • Donald Whitney’s graciously short book gives a method of turning your Bible study into a vehicle for your prayers.
• “A Method for Prayer” by Matthew Henry^[2]
• “The Hidden Life of Prayer” by David McIntyre^[3]

So – Knowing that we need to be “in prayer” is well and good, but the question I want to answer today is “what does being in prayer look like”?  David McIntyre, in the book just mentioned, talks about “the engagement of prayer” addressing “Worship, Confession, and Request.” Matthew Henry’s approach has been slightly modified to fit the acronym “ACTS” — which is what I have used for years. So what does that look like?

ACTS — that stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving , and Supplication.  

• A – Adoration – Praising God for who He is (Psalm 34:1-3).  After having gone through the SOAP journal, we should be able to think of something about who the Lord is, and we can use this time to praise God for it!

• C – Confession – This is where we are agreeing with God about our sin, we are bringing before Him the areas we have missed the mark (whether it be sins against others or sins against God).  We take our hope and consolation in 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

• T – Thanksgiving – Here we thank God for what He has done (we see examples of this through the Psalms).  We thank God for both the clear interventions and ways He has specifically worked in your life, as well as the general things which we often forget (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 

• S – Supplication  – This is where we “make our requests known to God” as Paul says in Philippians 4.  Supplication can be broken down into two categories – Intercession and petition:
  • Intercession – that is, prayer for others (consider James 5:16, where we are instructed to confess our sins and pray for one another; or 1 Tim. 2:1, Paul urges “that supplications, prayers, intercession, and thanksgivings be made for all people)
  • Petition – that could be considered prayer for ourself (we see examples of this all throughout the book of Psalms; consider the encouragement of Hebrews 4:15-16 where we are encouraged to draw near to God to receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need because we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, who is able to sympathize with our weakness and has been tempted in every respect as have been)

Finally, one area that we would do well to consider in the area of prayer is taking time, with a quieted heart to Listen. We are not called only to speak to God, but to listen.

We can tie it all together – both the time in the Word and the time in Prayer. We can take the content of our time in the Word – the S.O.A. – and run it through aspects of prayer, “P,” mentioned above. We will go through an example in the next episode.

THE THIRD ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF A REGULAR QUIET TIME IS WORSHIP

We have already mentioned this in the “adoration” section of prayer.  But we can move from a time of thinking, studying, praying and get into a time of signing.  I highly recommend adding “worship” to your regular routine.

This might look like listening to a song (you have access to thousands of worship songs through YouTube).  Perhaps you are familiar with the hymn book that is used at your church.  Either find a song you know, or look up a song that is related to what you have learned in the Word. If you are musically inclined, pick up an instrument – play a song to the Lord. 

Why do I recommend this?

The act of worship engages another part of our being that may be left behind if we only are “thinking” through a passage or prayer.  We can often remember truth when it is tied to a tune.  Singing helps cement the truths we learn.

Finally, Psalm 22:3 says that the Lord sits enthroned on our praises – there are ways that through praise our hearts draw near to the Lord — for a posture of praise confesses that we are not the ONE who is worthy of praise.  

Conclusion:

• So my friend, what is included in having a regular Quiet Time?  Three essential elements are Scripture, Prayer, and Worship.
  • BUT like I said, this is just an introduction — what do you think?  Are there other essential elements?  What do you include in your daily quiet time?   
• Don’t forget to check out the other two episodes in this short series.  How do I actually “do a quiet time”?  That is the topic for the next episode.
• 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] “Praying the Bible” by Donald Whitney

[2] “A Method for Prayer” by Matthew Henry

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

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