How to Revive Your Quiet Time from the Dead
This week, I realized that “spiritual funk” was starting to set in. My quiet time was turning into a ritual again. I was reading to check off something on my list, but my heart and spirit were not connecting with the mystery and the glory of the page. I needed to revive my stagnant heart.
God’s Word is not something to be glossed over. I am not reading for information. I am engaging in relationship. My Abba Father has something important to say to me, and I don’t want to miss it because I am not fully present when I come to break bread at His table.
I have the Word of God in my hands. He speaks to me. I need to wake up and come before Him with a hungry heart.
Lord, give me ears to hear.
Have you been there? Do you find yourself in a rut during your quiet time? Maybe you need to shake things up and do things differently. Let go of your “usual” and ask God to do a new thing in your heart when you open up the Word of Life.
5 Ways to Revive Your Quiet Time
Read less
That’s right. Throw away your 3 chapter a day reading plan and read less. Tomorrow, I dare you to just look at 3 to 4 verses. Read them slowly and pray through each word asking God to make that manna come alive in your heart. Insert your name in the verses and personalize the Living Word.
Read it differently
I know you love your falling apart NIV Bible, but you may need to say goodbye to it for a season. I dare you to go buy yourself a brand new Bible in a different translation. Read a fresh page with a pen in hand looking for the nuggets found when you look at something with new eyes.
Read it out loud
Believe it or not, reading the Bible out loud might just help you notice things you’ve never noticed before. Make sure that you pause briefly at each punctuation mark – don’t rush through. Read slowly.
Write it out
Grab an inexpensive notebook at the dollar store and your favorite pen. Don’t worry about your terrible penmanship – just get to work. When you are done, read your passage again and underline the key words that jump off the page.
Focus in like a reporter
Imagine you are writing a piece for the New York Times where you need to explain this passage to the masses. Put on your investigative hat, and ask yourself one or two penetrating questions:
- What is the central message of this passage? (Narrow it down to one word, and you have a theme for your day.)
- How does this passage help further define the character of God? What evidences do you see of His goodness and glory?
- How should my thinking change as a result of reading this passage?
- How should this impact my interactions with others moving forward?
Need more inspiration to revive your quiet time? I’ve created a one-page printable to help you FUEL your quiet time. This simple 4-step format will help you focus in on one verse and see God’s Word come alive in your heart. Sign up today as a member of the Wildfire Faith Community and grab a copy in our Faith Fuel Library.
Ask God to help you develop a fresh spiritual appetite. God’s Word is alive. He will revive our hearts as we purpose to come before Him with surrendered hearts ready to receive. Open your mouth wide, and He will fill it.
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ARE YOU READY TO FIRE UP YOUR FAITH?
Wonderful tips, Lyli. We get in such a rut in thinking a quiet time, like anything else, follows the same routine always and forever. I like how you bring out different ways to approach it. Like the investigative hat and only reading a few verses and praying the manna will come alive. And one thing I learned a few years ago is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and insight to me as I read and study God’s Word. It’s one of His jobs…not mine.
I especially like the idea of looking at a passage with a view to explaining it to someone else, or like a reporter.
Such great tips, Lyli! I switched to the reading-less concept awhile ago and found it makes my personal time in the Word much sweeter! Thanks for sharing. These ideas!
These are great suggestions Lyli. My favorites on this list are write it out and read a new translation.
Love your ideas. I love reading for information, but you are so right its all about the relationship. Thank you for your wisdom.
Hey friend, I read and tweeted this, and realized I didn’t comment here! This is right after my own heart. I love everything about it! “Read Less” is point number one of almost every post I’ve ever written on Scripture engagement! Love what you ladies do at Love God Greatly. (I should go back and look at that again. Haven’t been there in a long time!)
I love this post. You have give us a scrumptious recipe for reviving our quiet time. I’m going to pass this along to a young adult group in my church. Thanks for allowing God to use you today. Blessings.
HI Lyli! I’m a list maker by nature and I love to mark off each item on my to-do list. But its easy to fall into that trap of just going through the motions and lose the meaning of our time with God. I love these great tips for reviving our quiet times. They are sure to help us focus on the purpose of our quiet time, a relationship with our loving Savior. God bless you!
Well we have had resurrection Sunday and Pentecost is coming. Time to spring back into life. I like the idea of digging like a reporter. There is so much wisdom and love that we have not hit on yet.
Such great tips for firing up quiet time! I just read your e-mail from this morning! Thanks for the shout out! Blessings!
Lyli – Challenge accepted, well ok truthfully I have already started recently I started to re-read the Bible starting in Genesis and God challenged me to not use my battle worn, trusty dusty life line NIV… It’s been great reading in a different version and the revelation that comes – is so good because I am making fresh notes in the margins and not reading the ones I wrote 5 or 10 or 20 years ago. LOL I even wrote a blog post about it for our church that will go live in June challenge people to do the same things. I love that our minds think a like- I just know if we lived close we would be fast friends! Have an awesome weekend. thanks for hosting
As a writer, I love the idea of approaching scripture as a reporter! If we are already subscribed, how do we get the bible study printable? Thanks. laurensparks.net
Your tips are so helpful. Thank you, Lyli!
This is gold! I find myself tied to the “chapter” so often when sometimes all I need is a few verses. And I nodded my head at the “falling apart NIV”. It’s like you peeked inside my Bible cover! Sharing this on FB.