There are many wonderful and meaningful relationships in this beautiful world that the Lord has made. Every Relationship involves communication with each other in the form of sounds, actions, music, letters, signs, symbols, etc. God created every human being in His own image to relate with Him and relate with one another. Quiet time is meant to have a meaningful relationship by spending time with God.
INTRODUCTION:
Quiet time is
the personal time or an appointment with God. During our
quiet time, we may sing praise songs, pray, read Scripture or daily devotions,
meditate on God's Word, or simply be still and listen. Quiet time is hearing what the Lord tells us
to obey/ follow and speaking to God.
NEED OF QUIET TIME:
All of us are born and brought up in different
situations. We have different family background, financial background, social
background, cultural background, educational background, etc. that makes us
unique in our tastes and interests. And we all have some preconceived ideas
about many things around us because of the influence of our own environments
which may or may not be realistic and really satisfactory. In order to break
down the influences and differences, everyone needs some standard values in our
lives that could be given only by God (A Superior Personality), the Creator as
there is a manual for every machine from the manufacturer. In order to live an
orderly life without chaos and bias, we need to really know how the Lord wants
our lives to be. Only when we live according to the Word of God, we could find
a life of Joy, peace, and contentment in the midst of sufferings and obstacles.
Also, only when we depend on God and remember His majesty and Sovereignty by
praying to Him and praising Him, we would be able to face and overcome the situations
of the world in the best way. The solution for everything in the world lies
only with the source of everything in the world. Hearing from God and Speaking
to God helps us to enjoy all the things of the world that the Lord has made by
discerning between Right and wrong, as well as balance everything around us
knowing the purpose of God in our lives.
HEARING FROM GOD:
Hearing from God should not sound like
something very odd; it’s just reading, understanding and following the Word of
God pronounced through the scriptures. Though God could speak to us through the
sounds, signs, symbols, situations, thoughts, etc., we need to recheck it with
the scriptures as He is unchanging and never contradicts what He has said in
the scriptures through the circumstances and teachings in the bible. The best
way to hear from the Lord is through the Scriptures and the values inscribed in
it. Hearing from God helps us to know about God, to know about ourselves, to
know what we are supposed to be, and to know what we are supposed to do. The
values are so much approachable to our lives in the appropriate situations that
we can really confirm hearing from God by experiencing it. Only when we hear
rightly from God, we could really speak rightly to God.
One of the simplest methods to reflect on a
passage/chapter/book of the bible and hear some important aspects in it is the
“ASPECT method”:
A- denotes “ABOUT GOD”
S- denotes “SINS TO AVOID”
P- denotes “PROMISES TO CLAIM”
E- denotes “EXAMPLES TO FOLLOW & EXAMPLES NOT TO FOLLOW”
C- denotes “COMMANDS TO OBEY”
T- denotes “THEME”
By noticing the words about God in the
Passage/Chapter/Book, we could praise and admire God while speaking to Him. By
noticing the Sins to avoid we shall know what we need to correct in our lives
and ask God’s help to overcome them. By noticing the promises to claim, we
shall claim the inheritance that we have in our God which He has promised
through the scriptures. By noticing the Examples to follow & Examples not
to follow, we shall know the nature of human beings and thank/plead with God
for ourselves and the people around us in our lives. By noticing the commands
to obey, we shall follow the commandments given by God with His strength and
guidance. By noticing the Theme of the Passage/Chapter/Book, we shall remember
the important things we learned in it.
SPEAKING TO GOD:
Speaking to God doesn’t mean something that
needs an extraordinary effort; it’s just simple as we talk to our beloved
friend or father with love and respect. We can speak to God through the songs,
letters, reflection, Prayer, etc. Prayer is an action in which we simply speak
to God with our own words. Many times, we utter words that only state our needs
as we only remember that God is loving and caring and could provide all our
needs and help us in our weaknesses. Most of the time we forget that He is omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnipresent and fail to utter words to praise Him. Most of the
time we forget that He is faithful in providing our needs and fail to utter
words to thank Him. And Most of the time we forget that He is Righteous, Forgiving,
concerning and fail to utter words to confess before Him.
One of the simplest methods to speak to God in
Prayer without forgetting some important aspects is through “ACTS method”:
A- denotes “ADORATION”
C- denotes “CONFESSION”
T- denotes “THANKS GIVING”
S- denotes “SUPPLICATION”
All the things we heard from God through the
Scripture (by ASPECT) can be spoken to God. We shall adore God for His
attributes. We shall confess the sins we want to avoid as an individual and
community. We shall thank God for the Commandments, Promises, and Examples He
had given us. We shall supplicate Him for our needs and to overcome our
limitations.
CONCLUSION:
QUIET TIME is
essential for every person in his life to know the Purpose of his life. It
needs a lot of Discipline and regularity as every other relationship to exist
and survive. Some people spend time with God in the early morning, some people
spend time when they get up, some people spend time in the evening and some
people spend time in the night based on their personal setup and convenience.
The timing is not much important but hearing from God especially, through the
Scriptures and Speaking to God regularly is very important to be in the Will of
God. It is always best to spend time with God in the early morning which is the
best time as it is quieter and our thoughts are fresh. Also, we could
concentrate better in the morning as it is the first action we do in a day.
Hearing from God is as much as important as Speaking to God because both
complement each other and our Faith in God is strengthened. It also helps us to
become fully functional human beings.
“For
Everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received
with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the WORD
OF GOD AND PRAYER. –
1Timothy 4:4,5"
Paulaiah, Contact No- 9944695610; Email
ID- paulaiah.sam@gmail.com
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