I currently have a quiet time which I usually do in the morning for about half an hour. I find this really sets the mood for the rest of the day as I get to hear more about God and his promises to me in the Bible letting that wash over me before I go about the rest of my day.
I’m currently going through something called the Bible in one Year. So far this is the fifth time I’ve done the Bible in one year and have learned a lot of new things each time I’ve done this process. I understand that spending time with God through Bible and prayer is very important for us.
I’m currently doing Nicky Gumbel’s bible in one year for the second time and this includes a short devotional each day which helps a lot with biblical understanding. I’ve discovered more I know the Bible and the more spent on God through prayer the better my understanding of God and I’m more able to trust God with my life.
However, reflecting on my quiet time I wish that I spent more time in prayer as reading the bible takes up the majority of my quiet time. I’ve understood over the years that there are many different types of prayer and many different ways to pray.
Some of my top ways to pray that I prefer as follows (top three):
- Using the Bible to pray: the Bible is countless prayers, Psalms, promises of God, and other parts to pray through. By doing this you are never without things to pray about which is great because you’d be concerned sometimes you’d run out of things to say to God.
- Prayer journalling: there are multiple ways to prayer journal but however the one that I enjoy the most is just dialoguing and talking to God and letting him speak back to me so I can record his voice. This way I feel like I’m having a back-and-forth conversation with God which is great.
- Keeping a list of prayer requests: I used to echo app which allows me to record prayer requests which come in handy as I like to consistently pray for things every day. By doing this I’m able to pray and never give up in my own way.
Overall there are a lot of different ways to pray and each of them is good in its own right however we shouldn’t try to overcomplicate prayer and treat it as more of a communication between us and God.
I believe there’s a difference between reading and studying the Bible. If you are reading the Bible you’re able to read more in a shorter space of time but however, studying the Bible you can go more in-depth into one passage.
So I believe reading the Bible is great especially if you are to get a general gist and context of particular books or even the whole bible. On the other hand, bible study is really good if you are looking to dissect the passage or to go really deep into the passage concerned.
In conclusion, I believe that the bible and prayer are a necessity for a Christian’s life in order to grow in our relationship with God and to mature as a Christian.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Let me know in the comments below.
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