My dear readers,

How to Keep Our Quiet Time

Keeping Quiet Time (QT) is a child of God spending time with his heavenly Father. He loves to spend time with Him because he loves Him. It is a time of great joy and delight. It is never a chore or a burden. He looks forward to it every morning before he begins his day of witness for Christ. QT is part of his new life in Christ and a new experience. It thrills his heart to have this new experience that becomes more and more delightful with time.

However, there were moments when QT became a chore. He remembers those moments were times when his love for his heavenly Father grew cold, and the passion for the things of the world occupied his thoughts and heart. All things spiritual, like keeping the Lord’s Day holy, studying the Bible, fellowshipping with fellow believers and listening to God’s Word, became distasteful as his soul was troubled. These spiritual activities thrilled his heart again when he repented and returned to the Lord. QT resumed, and the delight and joy in things spiritual returned like a stream of cool, refreshing water quenching the thirsty soul.

QT is an excellent spiritual thermometer that measures a believer’s spiritual well-being.

How do we keep our Quiet Time?

Prayer – QT is the time when we pray to our Heavenly Father. We pray before beginning our QT. We ask God to forgive us of our sins and help us concentrate as we read His Holy Word. We ask God to speak to us through His Holy Word. 

After meditating on God’s Word, ask God for help and strength to obey what God’s Word says. Meditate on God’s words throughout the day. It will help the mind from wandering into sinful or lustful thoughts.

Enter into a time of prayer for self, loved ones, study or work, and the church. For self, pray the Lord to grant discernment and courage to face the day’s challenges. For loved ones, pray for the fear of God to be in their hearts so that they will not sin against God, for their spiritual well-being and the day's challenges. For example, pray that the Lord will give the wife strength and a cheerful disposition to carry out her duties to God’s glory. Pray for the Lord’s protection upon the children, concentration in their studies, and opportunity to witness for Christ. For the church, pray for the Lord’s protection from attacks within and without. From without, grievous wolves will devour the flock, and believers should be careful as they are sent into the world as sheep among wolves. From within, brethren will serve together in unity, and all will seek to promote Christ alone, for He must increase and we decrease. Pray for ourselves as we serve in the ministries of the church and all who serve with us.

Use the church prayer bulletin to pray for more items. In this way, we get to know the needs of our brethren. The prayer bulletin includes weekly and monthly ministries, salvation requests for loved ones of Christian brethren, requests for the sick, church and overseas ministries, weekend ministries, and the Mandarin congregation. The blessings in praying will come upon those who pray and the prayed-for ones. These blessings will be experienced when we keep our QT consistently.

We become more and more prayerful as the QT becomes a God-honouring spiritual habit. Praying without ceasing will be a great spiritual fruit when QT is regular and filled with joy.

Remember to end the day in prayer as well. Night time QT is an excellent way to end the day every day.

Reading God’s Word – Calvary Pandan encourages believers to use the quarterly Read, Pray and Grow (RPG) series. It has been carefully written and edited to ensure the teachings are sound. When using the RPG, read the Bible portion for that morning before reading the write-up that explains the biblical passage. The main focus is to know God’s Word better. Do not skip the Bible reading, for the RPG is not meant to replace the reading of God’s Word but to supplement it.

For a mature believer, using the RPG is like an appetizer to a main meal. As we grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of God in Christ, we need a personal reading of Holy Scripture in our QT. Some believers read through the Bible in one year. Others read through the Bible in six months. Select a Bible reading programme that is helpful to our faith and spiritual growth. Do not be too adventurous to choose a Bible reading programme whereby reading the Bible during your QT becomes a chore. The main thing is to enjoy our time with our Heavenly Father. Once the delight in spending time with God is diminished, it will soon become a burden.

Have a simpler Bible reading programme. Design one that suits your spiritual growth. For example, if you choose to read through the Bible in one year, you can divide the daily reading into morning and night readings. You can also choose a two-year-read-through-the-Bible programme. You may even read through the Bible with a theme if that helps to maintain the focus and interest. When we pray, we speak to God. When we read the Bible, He speaks to us. As you mature in your spiritual growth, increase the depth of your devotion in your QT. Always make it meaningful and enjoyable.

Begin the day right – The believer should commit all of the day’s affairs to God and ask for His help to see them through successfully and for God’s glory. This will keep the child of God humble. Self-confidence and God-confidence in the believer’s heart cannot co-exist. The danger of self-confidence is usually not found in a babe-in-Christ but in a believer who has been one for a few years or more. The most deadly sin in a believer’s heart is the pride of life. When kept faithfully, QT reflects his dependence on God as he begins his new day every day.

When we stop praying or keep our QT infrequently, it is a symptom of not wanting to lean on God but on ourselves to do God’s work. It is like entering into the battlefield without our armour on. We will become an easy target of the evil one and will suffer as a casualty in no time.

Preparing the inner man for the spiritual battle ahead – Early morning QT reminds the believer that he is beginning a day of spiritual battle. Reading the Word of God enables God to speak to him the right Words for the proper battle ahead since God, who is omniscient, knows the nature of the daily battle. Once his QT ends, the battle begins. All circumstances and people he faced for that day may be a potential challenge that may result in sin if he is not spiritually and appropriately prepared. But when he is prepared, even when he stumbles and falls into sin, he will repent immediately since he knows that the trial came from the Lord and he failed. He wants to repent to return to the Lord.

Conclusion – Sometimes, keeping QT can become a chore. Do not give up. Persevere in keeping your QT. The weakness of the flesh is in all believers. Our merciful and gracious heavenly Father understands our frailty. He always desires our repentance and for us to return to Him as children of God after His heart.