Start the Day with SOAP

Quiet Time Helps #1

You spend time with those you love and with your best friends.  A quiet time or devotional time with God in the Bible and prayer – listening to and talking to Him.  Our real purpose on this earth is to pursue and intimate relationship with God and to share His love with others.  Passion for God and vision for people are two ingredients for a Christian life that impacts your world.

Even Jesus spent time with God daily talking to Him.  Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place where he prayed.”

Joshua 1:8 tells us, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from you mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

A quiet time does not have to be long or complicated.  Keep it simple and it will help you keep it consistent for the long haul.  After a brief prayer open your Bible and read the scripture.  If you are like me I have to read it a couple of times through really focusing so I can see what it is saying.  When you begin to see what the passage says, write down some things?  Are there things you still do not understand?  What does the person or character say about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?  Take any notes that you think are interesting.

Then you want to write down the things you need to apply in your life.  Is there something to thank or praise God for?  Is there a promise to claim?  Is there a sin to avoid or to confess?  According to the passage, how can I become a better follower of Christ?

Finally, end in prayer.

So here is the breakdown for your time with God.  This will be our quiet time model moving forward.

Scripture.  Choose the passage.  Have a plan, don’t make it a random passage in the Bible.

Observation.  What does the passage say?  What is difficult to understand?  What does it say to me?

Application.  How do I apply these verses?  Is there something to give God thanks for?

Is there is a sin to avoid?

Prayer.  Simply end your time with God talking with Him.

PRAYER:  God, help me to make it a discipline to carve out time with You every day in a quiet time!