Skip to main content

Spending Quiet Time with the Lord: Tried and True Strategies

Have you ever wanted to spend intentional time with the Lord, but don’t quite know where to start? You’re in the right place! It has taken me a long time to figure out what works for me when it comes to intentionally making time to learn more about Christ and spend more of my life focused on Him. I am not perfect by any means, but below are some things that can help you get into a quiet time routine of your own. 


  1. Prayer

If spending time with the Lord is what you’re after, prayer is a powerful place to start. What better way to connect with God than to speak directly to him? For so long, I neglected prayer in my personal life. I like to track things and keep count of “streaks” and prayer wasn’t always  easy to track. Because of this, I didn’t spend near enough time talking to the Lord. 


Praying doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, the Bible warns us about praying solely for show in Matthew 6:5.


“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”


Praying can simply be you talking to God about what is on your heart. However, if you’re looking for a more structured place to begin, I would suggest the P.R.A.Y model. Here’s what that means: 

  • P - Praise

Praise God for who He is. Thank Him for being in your life. If you like to pray along with scripture, here are some verses that I would recommend: 1 John 4:8, 1 John 1:5, Isaiah 40:28, or Exodus 34:5–6.

  • R - Repent

Bring your sins and shortcomings to God. Ask for forgiveness of these sins and a heart that is fully bent toward glorifying Him. If you like praying along with scripture, I would suggest praying through Psalm 51. This chapter in the Bible has been tabbed in my personal Bible for years, and is such a good guide to repentance. 

  • A - Ask

Bring your worries, concerns, needs, and wants to God. He cares for you and wants to hear from you. In this portion of prayer, it is important to remember that God may not give us everything we ask for, but He has a greater plan than we could ever imagine in store for our lives. If you’d like to guide this portion of prayer with scripture, here are a few that have encouraged me: Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:6, or 1 John 5:14.

  • Y - Yield

To close your prayer, offer yourself to God and pledge to follow His will for your life. He wants our full devotion, not just bits and pieces of our lives. If you’d like to pray through scripture, I would suggest Matthew 16:24, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 2:20, or John 5:30.


  1. Bible Reading

Reading your Bible is often what people think of first when it comes to spending quiet time with the Lord. There are many ways that you can go about reading your Bible, but I would encourage you to always start with prayer. Pray that God will give you understanding, encourage your heart, and allow you to learn more about him. 


Many people follow Bible plans if they are new to consistently reading their Bible. These plans can be found on a number of different apps and websites. I personally use the YouVersion app. Some plans will take you through the whole Bible or a book of the Bible, while other plans are more situational (for example, if you are struggling with anger, there would likely be a plan that takes you through different parts of the Bible that talk about that). 


Many other people will go through a book of the Bible, or the entire Bible, on their own without a plan. This can be great for taking things at your own pace and allowing yourself to slow down and hear what God is teaching you each day.


None of these options are “better” than the other, you can do what works for you!


  1. Journaling

Journaling is another thing that I have incorporated into my quiet times in the past. Often, prayer journaling allows me to get my thoughts together and stay focused in a way that helps me feel more connected to God. Prayer journaling can be a stream of consciousness thing, or a list. You can adapt it to fit what works best for you and your relationship with Christ. 


Gratitude journaling has also been something that has helped me in times where I feel disconnected from Christ. Taking time to slow down and thank God for the blessings in my life helps keep me grounded and focused on the right things. Again, this can be stream of consciousness journaling or a list. I have used both strategies!


  1. Worship music

There is so much power in worshiping God out loud. Whether it be in the car, in your room, or in church, singing/listening to worship music is a powerful thing. I would challenge you to find music that is entirely focused on Christ, and not just how we as humans feel or think. Some of my hardest battles have been fought in part by worshiping Christ through song. 


  1. Prayer Walking

This is something that I don’t think gets talked about often enough in the world of quiet time. Getting out in God’s creation is an important way to remember what He has done, what He is capable of, and what He can do. I love praying as I walk and thanking God for the beautiful things that surround me. These moments of quiet often lead to so much peace in my heart. Prayer walking is a wonderful way to slow down in a world of constant craziness.


Your quiet time doesn’t have to look exactly like everyone else’s. You don’t have to have an aesthetic journal, Bible, or highlighters in order to connect with Christ. God wants you to come to him exactly as you are.


If you have questions or comments about what you’ve just read, I’d love to chat! Feel free to comment down below or email me at penandpurpose2@gmail.com.


God bless!


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NaNoWriMo As a Full-Time College Student

For many years, since I was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming an author. I used to write stories on whatever paper I could find. However, a lot of that whimsy and creativity flew to the wayside as I began to advance in my educational journey. Essays soon began to take the place of short stories, and discussion posts overtook poems. This was a difficult transition, as I had always felt that God gave me the ability to write for a reason. Fast forward to my third year of college. In my program, this is arguably one of the busiest years. Still, I could feel the creative void then more than ever. It was at this time that I heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) . I immediately blew it off, thinking that I was too busy and there was no way I could make it work with my schedule anyway. A few weeks later, I found myself staring at the “Join Challenge” button on October 31st (the day before the challenge begins). With little thought involved, I signed up. After all, I could jus...
Post a Comment
Read more

Setting Rules in Your Faith

I grew up in a classic Christian household. We went to church every Sunday, prayed before meals, and regularly read the Bible together. I constantly saw my parents living out their faith, so I grew up thinking that it couldn’t be that difficult. They made it seem so easy. However, as I got older, I started to try to live up to their example too much. I decided that I needed to be the picture of a perfect Christian, and anything less meant that I wasn’t good enough. I began to set rules in place for myself - look a certain way, act a certain way, read my Bible in a certain way. It started to take a toll on me, and that’s when I realized that something was going to have to change.  The Rules The rules that I started out with didn’t seem so bad. They were disguised as good things. Reading my Bible isn’t a bad thing at all, but I decided that it didn’t count as quiet time unless I was sitting down with a pen and notebook with just the right amount of time to do an in-depth Bible study....
Post a Comment
Read more

Beating Writer's Block

  Hello writers! Today we’re going to be tackling the age-old question “WHY CAN’T I WRITE???” This is something that I regularly struggle with (we are simply going to ignore the fact that I have not written a blog post in a month), but I have been working through. In other words, I don’t consider myself an “expert” in defeating writer’s block, but I am a person who has had some experience. So let’s dive in! What even is writer’s block? Just to clarify in case you’ve never heard it put into words: writer’s block (in the simplest of terms) is the inability to write for a period of time. It can be caused by a number of factors including stress, lack of motivation, problems with self-esteem, or perfectionism. As always, remember to give yourself grace! If you aren’t able to write for a few days, or even weeks, you are still a writer. We all have hard times. However, this post is for those of you who aren’t feeling motivated, but want to get some words down. I’ve heard plenty of advice ...
2 comments
Read more