God's Will & Quiet Time

Where to start with your quiet time with God

No one ever taught me how to study my Bible in my quiet time, but different people impacted me with their example and verses along the way. Revive Our Hearts ministry helped me grow a lot as a new believer. 

What is God's will?

1. Do the next right thing exactly where you feet are. Psalm 37:3 says “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend (cultivate) faithfulness (live securely).”Waking up, ask “What do You want me to do today, Lord?” Read the Word and you’ll find more in answer to that question. How can I be faithful and obedient? What are the daily responsibilities that you have? How can your attitude, thoughts, and emotions honor the Lord as you go about your day? Be faithful in the little habits: cleaning your room, having a respectful tone of voice, mowing the yard, doing your best in school or at work. I have found that when I am obedient in the menial, little things, He directs my path (Proverbs 3:5-6) in the bigger decisions by presenting open doors and opportunities. By faith I walk through the open doors that He reveals when I see if it is wise (based on Scripture and older, godly, wise counsel I ask before I make a decision) until He shuts them, which I always see as a blessed answer to prayer by keeping me from going in that direction. 

2. Reading the Bible. Are you reading your Bible every day to get to know Him? It's a relationship, not a religion, so get to know God. I would have "God dates" on Friday nights as a new believer in college. I would read the Bible to get to know what does God like? What does He dislike? What are His character attributes or names? Think about your motivations and ask the Lord to convict your heart and reveal any sin. Use comprehension strategies as you read the Bible. Ask questions. Get curious. Start with getting to know Him: what does He like, what does He dislike, what makes Him happy, or angry? WHO IS HE as He describes Himself in the Bible?

3. Evaluate your motives, triggers, tendencies, and reactions. Why do you obey? Why do you respect your parents? Why are you kind to others? Why do you go to church? Is your heart’s desire to seek the Lord, to know Him, to please Him and to make Him known, because you WANT to make Him happy, you want to KNOW HIM. Not because it’s what your parents do. Is there a specific circumstance that triggers you to anger when it happens? When I noticed that I got upset with other drivers in traffic or when technology didn't work, I realized that was a trigger and I responded with anger in my heart. Then, I repented and asked God to help me respond in a way that honored Him the next time that circumstance popped up. Now, neither one of these situations trigger me! I also realized that I have a tendency to go big or go home. I can easily overcommit and not keep boundaries to the people who matter to me. I learned that I need to guard against this by saying "no" to anything that I haven't prioritized in my life. Setting my priorities first helped me focus on what I valued as most important uses of my time.

4. Recalibrate your heart. Are you preparing your heart to be in the presence of the Living God? Have you repented today and gotten right with Him today? Luke 9:23 says, "And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." That means I need to ask Him to reveal any sin that quenches His Spirit and displeases and grieves His heart. Then, I repent of it and surrender again control of my life to Him, reminding myself that I am His willing servant. Pray before you sit down with Him and read the Word. Ask Him to show you more of Himself and what He wants from you in His Word. Ask Him to prepare your heart as you get ready to go to church and worship Him with other believers.

5. Obedience is God's love language. John 14:15 says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Once you study the Word to find what He likes and what are His commands, then start obeying them in the daily activities and duties you have to do. Some good places to start are: This I AM God in Exodus, this thrice holy God in Isaiah 6. The "I AM"s of Christ in the book of John. You can learn what what makes Him happy in the Psalms, like Psalm 15, Psalm 119, and in Matthew 5, the Beatitudes where it lists "Blessed are" those who... Ask what does He want from me in Galatians 5:22-23, Colossians 3, James 3:17-18, and Romans 12.

6. Keyword study or highlight your Bible. Not everyone does this, but I like to annotate as I read to understand it better.

   In blue, I highlight everything that describes a disciple, all of God’s commands, the things that a Christian should “do”.

   In pink, I highlight everything that describes love, marriage, or women's roles like in 1 Cor. 13, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 1 John, 2 John, Deuteronomy, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Proverbs 31, and John, Titus, and 1 & 2 Timothy, and 1 Peter. The same could be done to look for characteristics of godly men.

   In purple, I highlight anything that has to do with prayer and the prayers of the Bible to pray.

   In yellow, I highlight everything that describes God. 

   In light blue, I highlight verses I want to memorize, have memorized with my son, or have memorized.

   I underline key words in pen that I want to study topically. 

   In green, I highlight God's promises and compile them to pray the promises of God.

7. Study topically. I try to reread Psalms and Proverbs every other few months, if not every day. I like to walk and listen through Psalm 119 almost every day this summer. I collect verses and compile them to study topic words like: wisdom, faith, trust, pride, humility, anger, the tongue, the word of God, etc.

8. Memorize and meditate. I try to memorize verses or chapters in Psalms. I try to listen through Proverbs regularly. As I listen I quote along with the audio Bible. I text a friend group of sisters who also have that desire to help keep me accountable. I may just repeat a phrase from a verse that the Lord is teaching me about. I think about each word and its meaning. Scripture memory and prayer are a great work, but it is work. It is worth it. Keep going.

9. Going deeper. If you want to search deeper, I’d start with “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer, any of his books, or any of the books by C.S. Lewis. I’d also encourage you to study the topic of prayer and repentance. My favorite quotes to start are on the topic of repentance in the church and prayer by A.W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis or G. K. Chesterton. You also could look up the Greek word and meaning from the New Testament, or the Hebrew word meaning if it’s from the Old Testament. I like to read a commentary on a chapter that I'm studying. I try to study as deeply as if I were going to teach Sunday School on it. I also love a journaling Bible to take notes or write prayers on the side. These are just a few things I do. Another resource that was helpful is a book called "Teach Me to Pray" by Kay Arthur.