Quiet Time Rhythms

Summary:

Quiet Time Rhythms help us practice quiet time consistently while also giving us the freedom to change things up when necessary.

 

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Hi friend, I’m Brigette Henry. I’m a Spiritual Formation Coach and I help women develop a deeper relationship with God. Welcome to my podcast, Journey Together, where I explore topics related to spiritual growth and formation. (music fades in) Today, I’m sharing rhythms to help guide your quiet time.

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Introduction

This month I’m talking about quiet time, and if you haven’t heard me say this already, no one taught me how to have a quiet time. And I think there are a few reasons for that. First, I think the general assumption is that quiet time should come easy to us. It should feel natural to sit down in a quiet place and spend time with God. But it doesn’t. And in Romans 12:2, Paul tells us why.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Our world is hurried and busy, so it’s hard to slow down and rest. This world doesn’t reflect biblical truth, so sometimes it’s hard to sit with the truth in scripture. The world doesn’t know God, so it can’t teach us about God. Living in this world, we learn rhythms and habits that don’t reflect our God. And they don’t lead us closer to Him either. So, we need to sit down and have a quiet time to remind ourselves of God’s truth. And that isn’t going to feel natural.

Unique Relationship, Unique Quiet Time

Another reason I think no one taught me to have a quiet time is because each relationship with God is personal and unique. And our quiet times reflect that unique relationship. Maybe no one in my life knew how to share their unique experience in a way that would be helpful to me.

As I’m writing this podcast script and working on quiet time resources for you this month, I’m struggling with the same thing. The last thing I want to do is teach you a bunch of rules about how to have a quiet time. Because when we focus on rules, we overlook the ways God is trying to speak to us.

For example, I talked about quiet time lies two weeks ago on the podcast. One of those lies was that we have to finish the chapter. Or the page. Or even the paragraph. But sometimes mid-sentence, God will call us to dwell on His truth. He asks us to stop, rest and consider what we’ve read. When we watch the clock and enforce the rule that we have to finish the chapter, we miss what God is trying to teach us.

So, as I’m sharing these quiet time methods today, I want you to take everything with a grain of salt. Some of these methods may be familiar to you. But today, I want to teach you these methods from a different perspective. From here on out, we’re going to call them rhythms. And even if you’re familiar with the rhythms I share, I want you to consider how these rhythms can adapt to your personal time with God.

Find Your Focus In This Season

Before I share the three rhythms I want to go over today, I want to talk about seasons.

One of my favorite things about spiritual formation is that it’s a process. In one season, God teaches us about His goodness, and in another He shows us how to trust Him more.

I’ve never opened my Bible and not found something new. My circumstances constantly call me to learn something new from scripture. And in every season, He calls me to different habits too. Sometimes, He asks me to focus on my prayer practice during my quiet time. Other times, I feel Him asking me to step into difficult parts of scripture.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is: Where is God leading my quiet time in this season? And to help you figure that out, I’ve created the Find Your Focus quiz. The quiz will help you think about where God might be leading you in this season. And, at the end of the quiz, I offer helpful resources for your focus. You can find it on my website through the link in the show notes.

Once you know where you want to go, I’ve got three quiet time rhythms to help you get there. I’m going to start with the SOAP rhythm.

The SOAP Rhythm

The SOAP Method is a popular method of studying scripture and applying it to your life. But, I don’t think we’re using it to its full potential.

This is one of the methods I learned with a lot of rules. So I’m going to give you a general overview of the method. Then we’re going to talk about how you can adapt the method to become a reliable and helpful rhythm in the changing seasons of your life.

SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. You start with Scripture, reading a few verses or a larger passage. Then, make Observations about the scripture you chose. You could ask yourself: what stands out to me in these verses? How do I feel about this passage? Does it make me uncomfortable or confused, or is it encouraging and hopeful? Is there anything I don’t understand? What is the context of these verses?

After you’ve made observations about the passage, it’s time to consider Application. Ask yourself: how does this apply to my life now? How has this applied in the past? How does this apply to a general walk with God? How can I use this passage in my life now? Last, you end with Prayer. The method is a fairly simple guide to studying and dwelling on scripture, and I’ve found it helpful in the past.

Turn It Into a Rhythm

Now, let’s talk about some ways you can broaden the scope of this exercise. Let’s turn it into a rhythm. A rhythm is just a set of habits. It’s a set of habits that you naturally fall into. Which means in one season, you can use this SOAP rhythm as you read through the Bible with a reading plan. Or, you can use it with an emphasis on prayer, and read through different prayers in scripture. Here’s a few creative ways to use this rhythm:

1. Read through the Bible in a Year – If you’re reading through the Bible in a year, use the SOAP rhythm to focus on a specific passage. After doing your daily reading, choose a few verses to observe. Then work your way through the SOAP rhythm.
2. During a Hard Season – Use a list of hopeful verses as the Scripture for your SOAP rhythm. During the Prayer portion, pray the verse over yourself. And consider writing the verse on a notecard to carry with you throughout the day.
3. Learn More About God – Choose passages of Scripture that talk about who God is. Some examples of this are Genesis 1, Exodus 34:6-8, and Isaiah 43:10-11. Make Observations about God’s character and consider how that changes the way you live.
4. Pray More – If you’re in a season where you want to learn how to pray, consider using the prayers in scripture as your guide. You can start with Matthew 6, and then read through some of Paul’s prayers at the beginning of Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and the rest of his letters.

If you choose to make the SOAP rhythm a regular quiet time rhythm, you’ll find yourself practicing it naturally. Then, you can apply different scriptures to different seasons of life, and have a rhythm that adapts with you.

The ACTS Rhythm

The ACTS method is a popular prayer method. ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. This method is based on how Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6. It’s an excellent rhythm to learn if you’re nervous about praying in front of others. Or if your prayer time always feels chaotic and unstructured.

You start with Adoration. Choose an attribute of God and dwell on it. Praise Him for Who He is. Thank Him for how that attribute affects you. Then, move to Confession. Confess your sins to Him and ask Him to reveal any other sin in your life. And then thank Him. Express gratitude for all that you have, and all that He has done for you. End with Supplication by praying for yourself and others.

Turn it Into a Rhythm

For years, I treated this method like a strict set of rules. But recently, God has inspired me to use this rhythm in other parts of my life. For example,

1. As a Breathing Exercise – When I’m overwhelmed, I use the ACTS method to calm down. I take a deep breath in and think about one of His attributes. Then I breathe out. I breathe in again and Confess a sin. Then I breathe out, and breathe in again and practice Thanksgiving. I repeat the ACTS acronym until I’m feeling calm.
2. As a Sentence Prayer – This is similar to the breathing exercise but without the emphasis on breathing or calming down. When I’m bored washing dishes, or I’m in a situation where I don’t know how to pray, I use the ACTS rhythm to form sentence prayers. I say one sentence about his character, then one sentence of confession, and on and on. It’s a great way to pray when you’re nervous about praying around others. Like the breathing exercise, you can repeat the cycle as many times as you want.
3. As a Journaling Exercise – I journal my thoughts to God when I’m frustrated or overwhelmed. And I’ve found that starting with Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving tend to calm my heart before I ask for anything. It’s not necessary to check all of these boxes when you pray. But repeating God’s truth back to Him is powerful. It gives me a chance to calm down and consider what I really need.

The JOY Rhythm

The last rhythm is the JOY rhythm. You probably haven’t heard of this one, because I made it up. But, if you’re the kind of person that just needs a simple rhythm with wide application, this is a good one for you.

JOY stands for Jesus, Others, and You, and you can use this rhythm in a lot of different ways. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

1. As a Prayer Rhythm – Start by dwelling on who God is and thanking Him for His character. Then, pray for others and then pray for yourself. Sprinkle thanksgiving throughout your prayer time, thanking God for what He’s done for others and what He’s done for you.
2. As a Bible Study Rhythm – Use this rhythm to observe and consider scripture. After reading a passage, ask yourself what the passage tells you about God, others and yourself.
3. As a Calming Technique – When a situation is frustrating or irritating to you, ask yourself where God is in that situation. Then consider how that affects others and how that affects you. This will help you get a biblical perspective on the situation.

The JOY Rhythm is really flexible and can be used in so many different ways! If you find it helpful, send me an email and let me know how you used it. I love hearing how God is spiritual forming other Christian women!

SOAP, ACTS, and JOY Printables

If you found these rhythms helpful today, I have printable pages for each of these rhythms. They also come with additional questions you can ask yourself about each part. For example, the SOAP pages come with questions you can ask yourself for the Observation and Application portion. You can get those printables for free at the link in the show notes.

Conclusion

I have so much more coming your way this month as we continue talking about quiet time! Next week I’m going to share some of my favorite quiet time resources. And, spoiler alert, a lot of them are FREE!

If you haven’t entered the quiet time bundle giveaway yet, make sure you do that before the end of the month. The link changed 24 hours after I started the giveaway so if you tried entering and it didn’t work, I have an updated link for you. You can go to brigettehenry.com/quiet-time-bundle-giveaway or find the link in the show notes. You can also just go to brigettehenry.com. There is a banner on every page of my website that will take you where you need to be.

The quiet time bundle includes one of my favorite books on the attributes of God. Plus, a Philippians 4:8 tote bag that I designed and made myself. It’s so cute I almost kept it. And lots of other prizes to help you craft an effective and intentional quiet time.

As always, if there is any way I can pray for you, please don’t hesitate to let me know. You can email me at brigette@brigettehenry.com. You can find that link in the show notes as well. I’ll see you next week when I bring you a ton of my favorite quiet time resources. Thank you for joining me today, and I’ll see you next week as we continue this spiritual formation journey together.

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Links:

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: https://brigettehenry.com/quiet-time-bundle-giveaway

FIND YOUR FOCUS QUIZ LINK: https://brigettehenry.com/find-your-focus-quiz/

SOAP, ACTS, and JOY PRINTABLE PAGES: https://mailchi.mp/7d04916bf47a/soap-joy-acts-sub-page

Journey Together FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/journeytogetherchristianwomen

Interested in 1:1 coaching: ⁠https://brigettehenry.com/coaching⁠

Subscribe to my weekly email: ⁠https://brigettehenry.com/subscribe⁠

My website: ⁠https://brigettehenry.com⁠

Contact me at: ⁠brigette@brigettehenry.com

Music by: Morning Garden – Acoustic Chill by Olexy on Pixabay

All scripture is CSB (Christian Standard Bible)