Encouragement

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13th December 2007

To all my brothers and sister, all over the world wishing you all a very happy and fulfilled Christmas, the year of completion 2007 and everything new in 2008 the year of new beginnings. May the God of all lights shine upon you throughout and to the end of this year, and the years to come; Shalom!!

I have not forwarded an article to you for viewing for quite some time, but today while looking through various articles I have written I felt compelled to send you this one written in October during my ‘quiet time,’ it is adopted from a devotional booklet ‘Word For Today’ and my response to the topic taken from my notes.

Perhaps, during this reason it is easy to lose focus and communicate with the Christ of Christmas, so I believe although we know all about what I have written in this article somebody somewhere may need a reminder. God bless you

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16th October 2007

Quiet Time Notes:

W FT - 9 – 16th October 2007 Seven days lesson from Psalm 63:1 “O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You.”

My Prayer – Lord Jesus I commit my life to seek You daily. I would like to make a specific time in the morning between 5-7 am – so Lord please help me to be consistent. Amen Joyce Johnson.

Lord, this is the conclusion of the seven days study and the lesson has challenged me to go over each day’s subject matter and briefly documented a few points. I went back over each day’s teaching in ‘Word For Today’ on the topic – ‘setting aside a quiet time’ with You, Lord. This is not new to me because spending quiet time with You is my daily practice; however, although it was not my original plan when I started the daily reading; I will extract from each day’s lesson and write it down as a reminder. I believe this is what the Holy Spirit has led me to do as I read the last lesson.
The lesson started on the 9th of Oct and today is the final day of study 16th Oct. The writer has emphasised seven aspects of seeking God during our quiet time including today’s:
He emphasesed that we must realise that we are in a spiritual battle and we can only succeed by the indwelling power of Holy Spirit; we should pray that God will strengthen us; and depend on Him to help us develop this habit for His glory; we should write down the following words and sign our names at the bottom. Then keep them before us constantly:
“Lord, I commit myself to spending a definite time with You every day, no matter what it cost. And I’m depeniding on You to help me to be consistent. Amen”

Day One –
Come to God with:
(a) Expectancy – expect to give and get’ from your time together with God ---;
(b) Reverence: don’t rush into God’s presence. Prepare your heart and be still before Him and letting the quietness clear away your thoughts of the world---.
(c) Alertness: get into bed early so you’ll be in good shape to meet God in the morning He deserves your full attention. Give God the best part of you day---
(d) Willingness: this attitude is crucial; don’t come in your quiet time to choose what you will or won’t do, but with a purpose of doing anything and everything God wants you to do---.
Day Two
---I want to hear God’s voice before anyone else in the morning – Stephen Olford, - Daniel/David met with the Lord three times a day (see Ps55:17; Daniel 6:10) whatever time you set be consistent---. Guidelines
(1)Don’t start with a two-hour quiet time- you’ll be discourage and create memories of failure rather than success, ---.
(2)Don’t clock wathch, that’ll ruin your quiet time faster than anything else. Decide what you can do in God’s Word and prayer during the time selected; then do it--!
(3)Emphasise quality, not quantity. It’s what you’re doing in your quiet time --- whether 15 minutes or two hours --- .
(4) Choose a special place eg. – ‘next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood beore the Lord’ (Genesis 19:27 NIV)/ Your special place ought to be a place where (a) you can pray aloud without embarrassment (b) you feel comfortable, - but don’t have your quiet time in bed, that’s too comfortable!
Day 3 –
Quiet time problems!
The problem of discipline – known as the battle of the blankets – this faces you the moment you wake up; tips on overcoming this problem:
(1) Go to bed on time; too many of us stay up late watching TV therefore we have a hard time getting up in the morning ---. Dawson Trotman lived by the Scripture ‘Early will I seek thee’---. He excused himself and went to bed even if he had company the night before.---
(2) Get up immediately upon waking. If you wait to think about it, you’ve already lost the battle. --- Plan it. Be intentional! Resolve like the Psalmist, ‘In the morning O Lord, You hear my voice (Psalm 5:3 NIV).
(3) Go to bed with thoughts of Scripture. Fall asleep with the attitude of, ‘See You in the morning, Lord.’ Ask Him to awake you with thoughts of Him. --- Go to sleep with Scripture on your mind---.
Day 4 -
Feelings of not getting anywhere
When you feel that you’re not getting much out of your quiet time – Rick Warren refers to this as the battle of the blahs – you can never judge your quiet time by your emotions. Emotions may lie; feelings may come and go---. So don’t glorify (feelings) how you feel, your ‘experience’ every morning. Not having goose-bumps doesn’t mean God is not present. (a) Dry spells can be caused by disobedience – God won’t bless you beyond your last act of disobedience. He won’t reveal step 2 until you’ve taken step 1 (b) being in a hurry- Samuel Chadwick said ‘hurry is the death of prayer, so go for quality and content not mileage. (c) being in a rut – when your quiet time becomes a ritual insead of a relationship ---; be flexible and change your routine, keep it interesting for you and the Lord; (d) not sharing your insights with others, – when we give out we get back more in return--- share your thoughts with others and see what happens---; tell God about it if you’re still not getting anything out of your quiet time --- learn to see God in all kinds of circumstances in order to get to know Him well. – Don’t get weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9 NIV).
Day 5 –
Overcomming the battles
Once you have won ‘the battle of the blankets’ and ‘the battle of the blahs’ you will have to fight ‘the battle of the brain’--- ie your mind will wander off in 101 directions during your quiet time - you will have distraction from various quarters; helful suggestions:
(1) be sure you’re thoroughly awake --- do something to get the adrenalin flowing! See example in (Ps 42:1 NIV).
(2) Use a memo pad. When you decide to seek God you’ll suddenly ‘remember’ everything you need to do or left undone. Write down these thoughts and come back to them after prayer time is ended.
(3) Walk while you’re praying – you won’t fall asleep while standing or on the move.
(4) Personalise the Scriptures. Pray them back to God. Since God’s Word is always in line with His will. Your prayers will get answered eg. Ps 23. This simple technique can transform you prayer life during your quiet time.
Day 6 -
Opposition
Nothing is more difficult to maintain than your quiet time with God---. Satan knows if he can keep you from it he’s won the battle, because he’ll have no opposition from you ---. So how can I overcome this problem?
(a) Make a covenant with God and be serious about it. When you make a vow to God do not delay in fulfilling it ---. It is better not to vow and not ---Ecclesiastes 5:4-5;
(b) Put it on your schedule – Bock out time to meet with God each day ---. (c) Be ready for the devil’s attacks. To be forewarned is to be forearmed---. Scout’s honour is to “Be prepared!” (d) Leave your Bible opened the night before at a passage you intend to read in the morning. When you wake up it will serve as a reminder to have your quiet time. – ‘But what if I miss a day?’ Don’t worry and go on a guilt trip. If you miss a meal it doesn’t mean yoou gave up eating. You simply eat a little more at the next meal and go on from there.

Day 7-

Formula for developing good habit

A formula for developing a habit is:
1. Make strong resolution! If you begin half-heartedly you’ll never succeed. ---‘Encourage one another daily’ Heb 3:13 – so become accountable to someone--- remind you of the promise you’ve made to God.
2. Never allow exception – a habit is like a ball of twine ---each time it drops some of its strands unwind. Never allow it ‘just this onece to occur.’
3. Seize every opportunity to practice your new habit, do it right there and then whenever you get the urge to do it. Don’t wait, use every moment to reinforce it – you can never over do a new habit when first starting out.
4. Rely on the power of God. When all is said and done, you must realise you’re in a spiritual battle – you can only succeed by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Depend on Him to help you develop the habit for His glory---. Amen!!

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