QUIET TIME: WHEN THE TOUR GUIDE IS NOT ENOUGH

QUIET TIME: WHEN THE TOUR GUIDE IS NOT ENOUGH

A young man had heard many good stories about Kakum National Park, one of the finest parks in Ghana. And so one day he woke up dressed and set off to go and discover the goodies of Kakum. He is ushered to visitors’ area; he pays the required fees and is assigned a tour guide.

Afterwards what he does is quite astonishing. This young man with all smiles shakes hands with this tour guide saying, "Thank you Kakum National Park, you are truly handsome like people say" He then with so much excitement leaves the park and can't wait to share the joy of visiting the park with his friends.

Wait a minute, before you judge this young man as crazy, just be careful because you could be judging yourself....

You are doing the same thing with your daily quiet time. Did you know that Daily Bread, Light For Our Path, Shine Magazine, Rhapsody of Realities, Daily Power, Living Word, you name it all are together called Devotional guides? They are not the word of God but they guide you to read the word of God.

Yet how many of us never get to open the Bible that these devotional guides are supposed to encourage us to read. I keep saying that when you only read Rhapsodies for example without reading the Bible for yourself, you are only reading Pastor Chris' quiet time. The result of this unfortunate development is that many who claim they are having their daily quiet time never grow in their faith.

One of the key things that daily quiet time is supposed to help us develop, is the art of hearing from God for ourselves. When you know the voice of God, you can escape every trap of the evil one. So from today don't just shake hands with the guide and return home. Allow him to lead you to the tourist site to discover things out for yourself. You will be blessed by the many jewels in there. It is all yours to discover.

The Psalmist in Psalm 119:103 declared, "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Do you have this experience with the word of God? You can if you start discovering it for yourself. Please find below a suggested new way to have your daily honey moments with God.

1. 1. Get a quiet place where nothing will distract you, a Bible, note book/quiet time diary, pen and a daily devotional guide (optional).
2. 2. Pray and thank God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand God’s word.
3. 3. If you are using a devotional guide, look only at the Bible text for the day (not the commentary). Otherwise, choose a verse or verses from the Bible and read twice, slowly, to enhance understanding.
4. 4. Meditate (think) about what you read - what it means - ask questions to help you as you do this. Eg. What is this verse saying about my behavior, What is God saying about my life, etc. Ask “wh” questions.
5. 5. Write down in your note book your understanding of what you read.
6. 6. After all these above, if you are using a devotional guide, you can now read the commentary also and think about it and put down new lessons you learnt in your notebooks.
7. 7. Write in your note book also how you can apply the lessons in life that day and afterwards using “I” in your writing. Don’t write for example that, “God is telling us that…” instead you should write, “God is telling ME that…”
8. 8. Pray about what God told you/ what you learnt during your quiet time.
9. 9. Share with your family and friends what you learnt from your quiet time via word of mouth, facebook, whatsapp, twitter, instagram, written short notes, etc.

God bless you and give you more grace as you have your quiet time today and always!