Steps to Daily Quiet Time

I cannot emphasize enough, friends, the importance of daily devotions. I was fortunate enough to have my homiletical mentor, Dr. Stephen Olford, stress to me the priority of morning devotions, that a preacher was only as tall in the pulpit as he was long on his knees in prayer. And I want to make this message today, friends, a lesson on how to have a more effective daily quiet time.

To see this more clearly, let us turn in our Bibles to Luke's Gospel in chapter 10, beginning in verse 38. Now it came to pass, as they went, meaning Jesus and the twelve, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about, much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone, bitter therefore that she help me? And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Jesus felt accepted at this little home in Bethany. It was a place of solitude and hospitality, a place where he could simply relax and enjoy the company of some friends.

It was a place where, if I may so speak, he felt he could kick off his sandals and relax. Years ago, I preached to a room full of pastors, and my text was this passage before us today, friends. I entitled my sermon, Martha in His Face and Mary at His Feet.

And I talked about how busy bossy Martha tries to order Jesus around by telling him to go get her sister and make her work in the kitchen with her. And I said that Martha was in his face. Then I elaborated and emphasized how Jesus placed on Mary the importance of just sitting at his feet before the one thing needful.

And it was to hear and learn from the master. So we had Martha in his face and Mary at his feet. And when I finished that sermon, a pastor from New Orleans approached me, and he would not leave me alone.

He wouldn't let me leave the pulpit until I gave him my sermon notes, so he could go preach that sermon to his congregation the upcoming Sunday. Well, this little passage of Scripture, friends, is indeed important, and it has an important message in it for us today. For in this little pericope, we see the biblical example that worship should precede service.

When I was conducting my research on my biography of George Whitefield, which is 1200 pages long, I located a window pane in a museum on Long Island that once was in a home that Whitefield stayed in. The owner of the home was a shipbuilder and a man of commerce who was much occupied with the things of this world. And George Whitefield, as he arose early that particular morning, he took the diamond ring off his finger, and he wrote on the glass of that window pane the following words as a message to the owner of that home.

Whitefield wrote, One thing is needful. And you can still see that window pane today, friends. And it's true for all of us.

One thing is needful. Our walk with God begins each day with our daily quiet time in Bible study and prayer. Well, today I'm going to give us some guidelines on how to have an effective and impacting daily quiet time.

And I make you a promise, friend. Right now, if you incorporate a regular, consistent devotional time in your life, you'll never regret it. And it could deepen your entire walk with God.

And I'm going to give you today, friends, my outline on how I've had my daily quiet time with God for years. You can adapt it or use part of it or all of it if you prefer. But the key here is the priority of the daily quiet time.

It must become a habit in your Christian walk. The more impacting your daily quiet time is, the better you get to know the Word of God and better you get to know the God of the Word. Well, first, let's address the time of day to have your daily walk with God.

I find the earlier the better. Our example is in Mark's Gospel, where we see Jesus getting up before the break of day to pray to the Father. For years, I set my alarm clock at 4.30 a.m. to set aside enough time to meet God and get in His Word.

And a pastor friend of mine at the time, who I was planning a church with, when he found out about how early I was having my daily quiet time, he made me promise that when I woke up, I would give him a telephone call to wake him up as well because he wanted to do the same. Well, bless his heart, it didn't last long. His wife complained about those early morning phone calls at 4.30. But you, friend, must choose a time of day that works best for you.

If not first thing, then perhaps on your lunch break or some other time where you can slip away and have some privacy and get alone with God. But I personally have found rising early in the morning before any members of my family will give me the solitude to get alone with God. And that's the key and the key emphasis, friend.

Your goal is to experience more of God and increase your faith and strengthen your walk with Him. Now let's address what to study. Some folks will do a lucky dip.

They'll flip open their Bible and just study what turns up. I don't do it that way. Sometimes I'll start in Genesis and slowly walk through the books of the Bible, seeing if a certain verse or passage of Scripture speaks to me that particular day.

I may stay in the Old Testament or I may camp out in the New. But I pick a passage of Scripture and carefully and prayerfully read over it. I meditate on it, kind of like a cow, June or cud.

You want to go over it until you digest it. I always have a pen in hand and I mark up my Bible. And this is something that's been very helpful to me through the years, friend, marking my Bible.

I keep a pen in hand. I use a blue ink pile of G2 to mark and underline my Bible. And if you were to go through one of my Bibles, you would find that just about every page is marked up in blue ink, indicating where the Word of God has spoken to me and spoken to me there.

I have words circled, underlined. I write my comments in the margin or on top of pages. And at the bottom of pages, I draw pictures that are beside these texts that are meaningful to me, that may signify a certain passage that spoke to me that morning.

I'll highlight it and write the date beside it. I'll draw perhaps a little picture of a seascape to draw my attention to it. I know it's time to get a new Bible.

When it becomes so marked up, I can't even read it anymore. Now, what kind of Bibles do I find helpful in my daily quiet time? I usually have three Bibles handy, and I rotate between them or cross-use them. They're all King James Version.

You can use what you choose, but I choose the old King James. I preach out of the King James. I know I'm a dinosaur, and most everyone else uses a more modern translation.

But the key is to use what you like to read. But I do want to address the study Bibles, which I prefer, and which have been most helpful to me through the years. I find the following three study Bibles indispensable.

The first is the Key Word Study Bible. It has all the original Hebrew and Greek meanings, which are extremely helpful to you if you don't speak Hebrew or Greek. Next, I use the Matthew-Henry Study Bible with the commentary of the Puritan Matthew-Henry alongside each passage.

George Whitefield kept the Matthew-Henry Bible commentary beside him in his daily quiet time, and Whitefield read his Bible on his knees. Well, I tried to do that first season, friends, and I soon learned I was no Whitefield. I can't read my Bible on my knees, but I can say I have learned from Matthew-Henry a great deal that has enriched my walk with the Lord.

The third Bible I find indispensable is the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. It's a systematic way to study the Bible through linking up words and themes. I wore out two copies through the years of this Thompson Chain Reference Bible, and you may prefer to use it as well, friends.

I have a doctorate in biblical studies, so these three Bibles help me to stay sharp. Now, what is the emphasis of the daily quiet time? The obvious is Bible study and prayer. Stephen Olford trained thousands of pastors from all over the world, and he shared with me the shocking news that the average pastor he learned only spent ten minutes a day in prayer.

Some believers, well, would like to have a prayer card or a prayer list of names to pray for, and I found out it's helpful to get a copy of Operation World, which has the statistics on spiritual needs for all the nations of the world. I kept a world globe in my study, and I would read the needs of a country from Operation World. I'd read about China or Africa, and then I'd kneel and place my hands on that particular country on my globe, and I'd pray over it.

Oh, the tear stains on that globe from those desperate times of prayer through the years. How we limit God, friends, by praying selfish prayers that only address the needs of our family and friends. But are we praying for our communities? Are we praying for our nation? Are we praying for other nations, especially those in the 1040 window? Do we pray for missionaries like we need to? Do we pray for Bible translation, which is so necessary? Do we pray for Bible distribution as we should? Do we pray for the spread of the gospel like we should? Or are our prayers just preoccupied with only God bless me, mine, and ours? A man once confided to me he didn't know how to pray, and he asked for some advice.

I told him to go out and buy a map of the world, spread it out in his study, get on his knees, and pray over each country, and that'd take care of a lot of praying. Well, next, I believe what I'm going to share with you now, friend, will be perhaps the most impacting element of your daily quiet time with God. It starts with a story about two Englishmen, F.B. Meyer and C.T. Studd.

Well, they came to America to speak at conferences in New England down to the south one year, and as they shared hotel rooms, F.B. Meyer noticed that C.T. Studd had a little habit in his daily quiet time that this young man Studd would gaze and gaze at an open Bible and only one verse of Scripture. Finally, F.B. Meyer asked him what he was staring at that verse of Scripture for. Was it to memorize it? And C.T. Studd replied, I am focused on this particular verse because I am asking God to make that verse a reality in my life.

C.T. Studd wasn't just reading his Bible. He wasn't just memorizing it. He was asking God to make the Bible go right through him, and that should be our aim as well, friends.

The Word of God should transform our life to make us more like Jesus. Well, then I would finish my daily quiet time with a time of intercessory prayer. Also made it a practice to maintain a daily prayer journal, a little notebook with lined pages where I could write the date and verse of Scripture and record what God spoke to me through His Word on that particular day.

I'd also record my special prayer requests to God where victory won, but keeping a journal through the years helped me in my walk with God. In fact, friends, I can go back and get stirred up spiritually by just rereading my journals from years ago and see where I was on fire for God, and I see where I was cold, and I see where I was indifferent. But our key should be to stay in a red-hot love relationship with Jesus, and to have an impacting daily quiet time is the key, friends.

Now, these are just some suggestions to you on how to have a more effective daily quiet time. The emphasis is the priority of the time, the place of the time, the passage that you read, the prayers that you make, but however you choose to order your daily devotional time. It's up to you, friend.

Well, I hope this little message has been of some help to you today. May our gracious Lord bless you as you spend time walking with Him.