“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Mt 6:6 NIV).
“The first thing the Lord teaches his disciples is that they must have a secret place for prayer; every one must have a solitary spot where he can be alone with his God. Every teacher must have a schoolroom.” [Andrew Murray, With Christ is the School of Prayer p. 23]
Make plans now to refresh your quiet time
One of the first planning tasks of the New Year for me is to plan what I will do during my devotional times each day. I find that if one always does the same things, then quiet time gets boring and fails to inspire as it should. If time alone with God is to be fresh and renewing, then I need to renew the plan that I use at least every year. Most of us think about starting things in the New Year, and most devotional books begin in January, so January is usually a good time for starting a new devotional plan.
Quiet time basics
There are several related basic considerations. How much time am I able to spend? What will my Bible reading plan be? What enhancements will help me at this time? If I am planning a more ambitious reading program like reading the Bible through in one year, I may chose a devotional guide such as Your Daily Walk from Walk Through the Bible Ministries. It is designed to encourage and assist in just such a plan. Or perhaps I want to coordinate my readings with a devotional book I am using. One of the best of this type for a longer devotional time that I have used is A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants by Upper Room. Another great plan that works for shorter time frames is to find a devotional book by a classic author that you enjoy. I have greatly profited from more than one devotional by E. Stanley Jones (no relation), the most recent being 365 Days with E. Stanley Jones, Mary Ruth Howes, editor. You can also use a short booklet such as “Daily Bread” or “The Upper Room.” If I have a Bible reading plan that is not related to a devotional, I might not use a dated devotional book but instead read a chapter from an inspirational book, either classic or contemporary. Three contemporary ones I highly recommend are Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson, Fresh Faith by Jim Cymbala and Listening for God by Marilyn Hontz. This coming year I will be continuing my repeated reading of the Psalms and then moving to the NT, followed by starting again in the OT. For my extra reading I have chosen a book called Rooted in Faith, Meditations from the Reformers, Compiled and edited by Bernard Bangley.
Setting is important
Another important matter is the setting you use for devotions. It needs to be consistent and conducive for the purpose. If your family knows that when you are in your chosen spot at your usual time you are likely having devotions, they will help preserve the time for you too. At this stage of my life, I use my easy chair for my devotional time and have devotions right after breakfast. I have a bookshelf handy for my Bible and devotional book plus a prayer request card box to help me remember requests to pray for. Habit of time and place is a big help to devotional consistency.
Catherine Marshall wrote, “Finding a quiet time: With young children in the home there will be few uninterrupted stretches of time. So watch for free minutes, chinks of time throughout the day to pray. The question really is, how much do you want to pray? Claim this promise for the quiet heart: ‘For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace…! (1 Cor. 14:33).” [from Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels pp. 109, 110]
How do I spend my time?
The primary parts of every quiet time are Bible reading and prayer. Prayer time itself should be multi-faceted with space for listening, self-examination and confession, worship and thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Great enhancements to a quiet time include hymn-singing or reading, devotional reading, journaling, meditating upon Scripture, and memorizing Scripture. At one time or another I have used all of these to assist in my time alone with God but seldom have I used more than two from the list of enhancements at a time. Don’t worry about getting it right. You can start by just reading your Bible or a devotions booklet and praying. God wants you to communicate with Him.
