Developing a QT Habit

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time realizing the Bible is “living” and “active,” especially as I read through the genealogies, Leviticus or Numbers. Right? There are a lot of difficult and dry parts of the Bible. Not only that, the Bible is intimidating! It’s a really thick book and hard to know where to start.

Yet, I remember, as a kid seeing my parents getting up early in the morning to sit and read their Bibles with their cup of coffee, a habit they still continue today. I also remember when I shared a room with my older brother, I would pretend to be asleep when he would come in each night. He would turn on the lamp beside his bed, pick up his Bible and notebook, read and take notes. Both of these images are precious to me and were foundational in my concept of spending time with Jesus.

Parents, please know that your children are watching your patterns and habits. You are shaping their futures, whether you realize it or not. It’s never too late to establish new habits that will help them make good decisions with their future.

I wish I could say that those stories created a habit in me from an early age, but alas they did not. They laid a mental foundation, but not a practice. 

When I was 15 I had the privilege of attending a missions trip with Teen Missions International to Ireland. They required a 30 minute quiet time every day. They provided the time, but it was just alone time with the Bible. Again, the Bible is a big book, lots of pages and I had no idea where to begin. 

Someone had said that Proverbs was a good book to read, so I would read one chapter a day. That lasted 31 days (this fact makes a fun exercise to read 1 chapter a day each month that has 31 days). 

Then I heard James called the “proverbs of the New Testament”, so I read that. At the end of those two books, I didn’t know where to go, so I started back in Proverbs again. I gleaned a lot from those two books, and eventually I branched out to others books. But it was always a moment of uncertainty of where to go.

Then there is the blind, turn and point method. Have you ever done that? Randomly flip through the pages of the Bible and just point at a passage hoping to land on a message for each that day? It certainly is a better approach than not reading the Bible, but it also shouldn’t be looked at like a mysterious way to hear God’s voice like a Magic 8 Ball approach to God. 

The Bible is not just a book, it is a library of 66 books (39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament). These books were written by over 40 different authors, most of whom never met one another, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents over a period of 1,500 years. It is an ancient book, yet it’s message transcends time. 

Because it is an ancient book, it can take work to understand it. That’s why it is good to take small chunks of it each day and focus, mediate and pray over a little at a time. One good principle to follow is: “when the simple sense makes sense, don’t seek another meaning.” 

When you read the Bible and it makes sense, don’t think there is a hidden message in it. God delights in revealing His word to you. He has not put an elaborate code or hidden message in the Bible. Seek the plain things, as Allister Begg says, “keep the plain things the main things, and the main things the plain things.” God’s not out to trick you, He wants you to know His Word. 

Because of all these things, I chose the Word of Life Quiet Time journal as the resource for our youth. It is a tool that guides us through the major portions of Scripture throughout the year. It takes away the guessing game of “where do I go next.” It also has helpful questions to try to understand the simple and plain sense of the passage. 

I first encountered this tool at the Word of Life Bible Institute as a student. Again, I was required 30 minutes every day in Quiet Time. But this time, they gave me a journal with an assigned passage and two basic questions: what is the writer saying? and how do I apply this to my life?

This tool helped me maintain consistency and continuity to my time each day. I have used this tool with past youth groups and found it too be helpful. Recently, WOL updated their resource with interactive questions to help even more. They even have a journal for every age group of the family, so the whole family could do the same quiet time each day! Check it out HERE.

My encouragement to you is not to see the tool as a homework assignment or a task to be accomplished, but as a helpful guide in making the most of your time. You have permission to just read the text and talk to God. You can answer every question, or you can skip questions that you don’t find helpful. It’s not about getting the work done, it’s about connecting with Jesus. 

Personally, I love to get outside to be still and read my Bible. In Ohio, the weather doesn't always permit it, so my daily practice is to brew a pot of coffee and sit at my breakfast nook, and look out into my back yard with my Bible and my journal. The amazing thing is, every time I do my quiet time, God is there waiting for me. It's a joy and privilege to spend time with the Creator of the Universe. 

So whether you use the WOL QT journal or just grab your Bible and a notebook, look to the journey of growing closer to God!

Are you ready to start an amazing journey? The amazing truth is this, that when you spend time with God, He meets you there. 

James 4:8

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

As you develop this habit, you will begin to more and more aware of His presence in your life! Look to His Word, hear His voice and enjoy His presence!