Quiet time, devotions, time with God

Recently, I was asked by two different people about my “quiet time” with God.  They wanted to know what did I do and where did I do it?  Do you go to your own room?  Do you use a Bible study book?   Do you pray and read your Bible at the same time?  Growing up I saw my parents quietly read their Bible in the living room, or do a Bible study for a church class they were in, and on occasion I even caught them in personal prayer time in their bedroom.  When I got older, teachers said, that I should have a set time and place to read my Bible and be alone with God.  Often as a teen I would be given devotional books and such.  AS a young adult I began going to Bible studies, and often their was assignments to do at home.  I do not think any of these methods of study or prayer are bad, but in the season of life I am in now I do not do anything like the church taught method of “quiet time.”

I thought I might share a little about how I stay focused on God and His Word daily. Then in the next few weeks I hope to share my daily experiences with you and let you try it out with me.

So, here are the things i do daily to stay close to God.

1.  As soon as I wake in the morning, before I even leave my bed, I spend sometime in prayer to God.  Thanking Him for another day to love and serve Him.  Praising Him for who He is and what He has done.  Then asking Him to help me be all He created me to be.
2. After I get out of bed and go down stairs for the morning as I supervise my children and get my coffee in me, I silently pray for my children, my husband, and our daily plans.
3. Then I read from Psalms or Proverbs to myself or sometimes to the kids.
4. We do Bible as a family every morning, each week includes OT (Torah portions), Psalms 119 (in Hebrew), and NT passages, currently we are in Acts.  During our reading we may look at other scriptures that come to our minds that we are reminded of.
5. Showers of prayer.  This is my time to really focus in on God and what He may be trying to teach or guide me in.  When I take my daily shower, I take that time to be with God alone.  These are often times when He shows me areas I am struggling in or things I need to focus on.  Often I get my best ideas in the shower.  And i often leave the shower feeling a sense of peace and renewal.
6. In the evenings we read the Bible as a family again, but often after the little kids are in bed I wil read with JEr, the big kids, or alone something in scripture or scripture based.  This is the time of day i may read a blog or devotional.

So, That is how I stay in the Word daily.

Would you like to know what I read today?  It is Sunday, and we do Sunday a little differently.   We do not have morning lessons only evening ones.  So, I slept in, but here is a few things I read throughout my day.

A blog post I read, I often read from this blogger.  http://www.alittleperspective.com/who-are-the-children-of-israel/

I also read the books of 1,2, and 3rd John to myself as well as the book of Jude.

With the kids we read several chapters in Genesis as a review of the life of Abraham and Sarah, we also read about them in Hebrews.

I plan to read another Bible blog post yet tonight.  But as you can see, I enjoy fitting my Bible in my day as I focus on the work He has for me each day.

Check in tomorrow to see what I am reading and when.

Shalom

Written by Katie