Since we began the Online Quiet Time, we have been posting blogs to help you grow in your spiritual walk, as well as understand how to use the system more effectively. If you see something on our blog you would like to share with your friends, you are able to share it on Twitter, Facebook and other social media!
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Is your prayer life bland right now? Many times, we grow tired of talking to God, because we say the same thing over and over. Think about this: if a husband said the same thing to his wife every day, just so he could say he talked with her, she would probably not feel very loved! In our relationship with God, we shouldn’t let prayer be a check on our list, but rather a dynamic and intimate conversation with our Creator. Here are 5 ways to keep your prayer life exciting:
- Try taking a prayer walk once a week, and just talk with God about life.
- Pray alone with your eyes open, looking up as you would if you were talking to a person.
- Write your prayers to God.
- Pray out loud and communicate as you would in a conversation.
- Pray the Scripture. For example, pray Colossians 1:9-12 as you pray for a friend.
Do you feel as if your Quiet Time Journal is the same as yesterday or the day before yesterday? Many times we fall into the rut of a habitual personal Quiet Time. It loses its excitement; sort of like that training meeting you sit through, just trying not to fall asleep. The answer to your situation is personal Quiet Time dynamics. Here are 5 ways to keep your Quiet Time exciting…
- Find a character trait of God in your Quiet Time each day and journal about it.
- Try listening to the passage in one version while reading it in another. Then, study the words or phrases that are different.
- Listen to background music to set the mood.
- Try doing your Quiet Time in a different location from what you are used do.
- Make a devotion or sermon outline from the day’s passage.
Have you ever wanted to look back at all those journal entries in your Quiet Time Journal? With the Online Quiet Time Diary, you can narrow down your search to a specific date and see what you were meditating on in the Word that day.
Here is how you do that…
We have a cool feature that allows you to add a friend’s prayer request to your own list. When you add their prayer request to your list, they will receive an email whenever you pray for them. If you add your own request for them to your list, they will not get an email.
Let me explain how to do this…
Quiet Time seems so easy for those of us who have had a daily habit of being in the Word. Some students have not had that privilege. We need to teach them how to have a daily Quiet Time with God. Mike Calhoun shares how we can do that effectively, so that they can develop a daily habit because they are in love with God.
In today’s culture, we all want to be connected. Social networks have created an environment in which we can be instantly connected. We have developed a feature you can use to instantly share your thoughts from the Quiet Time passage with your friends and family through social networks.
Here is how you set up your social networks with the Online Quiet Time system…
We all need people to help us grow and change. We need to make wise choices about whom we allow to access our hearts. Mike Calhoun talks about some vital principles of biblical accountability. This stuff is important! Online Quiet Time has a great accountability feature you can use in your spiritual growth. Take some time to watch this video and be open to what God has for you to learn.
You and I are relational; we need interaction. We need to plan time with each other and talk with one another. We are very excited about a feature we have for creating groups in the Quiet Time System! In these groups, you can share resources, plan events, talk about Quiet Time and much more!
Here is how you do it!
You are walking through the grocery store and see the best oranges you have ever seen in your life! So you buy a few and put them in your fruit basket at home. You have friends over and they are in awe of how fresh those oranges look! But, as days go by, the oranges begin to lose their fresh look and eventually their fresh taste. Soon after, you are swatting fruit flies. One day, you pick up an orange and there is mold on the bottom. It is no longer the fresh orange you originally bought. The analogy to our spiritual lives is significant. If we are not careful, our relationship with God can become stale and moldy. We lose our passion for Him and our Quiet Time gets old. This should not be true in our lives! Here are three quick thoughts on “Keeping Your Relationship with God Fresh”…
1. Understand that You have a Passion for Legalism (Philippians 3:1-4)
Look in the mirror and you will see a legalist. On this side of eternity, we all are legalistic. Our sin nature likes legalism. We like to find our satisfaction in thinking that God is pleased in our habitual Christianity. So, we put on a show. However, that will eventually attract the fruit flies and mold. We need to beware of this legalistic desire.
2. Understand that You Smell Bad on Your Own (Philippians 3:5-7)
Paul lists all of his “religious” accomplishments. As you read through the list, understand that everyone in his day would’ve had the utmost respect for him because of his accomplishments. In his cultural context, he was the top dog of his profession. But he says that even all these accomplishments are loss! In another version, Paul counted these things as dung. His degrees, positions, ministries and background were nothing if his Savior was not his number-one passion!
3. Understand that Having Jesus is the Passion (Philippians 3:8-10)
Do you want a fresh relationship? Count all things as loss compared with knowing Jesus! Paul’s passion was to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection. Not only that, He wanted to have fellowship with Him in His suffering. Take that a step further; Paul wanted to be like Jesus in His death. Wow! Paul’s righteousness was by faith in Jesus.
Do you want a passion for God? Do you want a fresh relationship with God? Do you want your Quiet Time to be exciting? Ask Him to show you your sinful righteousness of legalism. Count it all as loss! Get on your knees and make Paul’s prayer your own. Then, you are ready for God to work.
One of the strengths of Quiet Time, whether on paper or online, is that everyone is on the same passage. This strength really stands out in the online version. Now, whether we are a few friends, small group, church or millions of folks around the world, we can all comment, dialog, encourage and sharpen each other because we are all on the same passage.
While we use passages along with churches that are using Word of Life in their youth ministry, keep in mind that more folks use the Quiet Time Journal than don’t use Word of Life in their youth ministry. The passages aren’t necessarily youth ministry orientated. We have both small and extremely large churches all around the country that are using the Quiet Time system who don’t use Word of Life in their youth ministry; the passages are tailored for the Quiet Time no matter who uses them.
We have made the decision to lock in the passages for a number or reasons, the most important of which is the power of a large group of folks who are all in the same passage. We are trying to step back and do the same thing in a much more global way. We have Quiet Times for every age starting at age four through adult. They all go together and the passages for each of those are built on the same passages. We do that so a family or a whole church can have every age group all in Quiet Time (whether age 4 or 40; whether using paper or online), and they can all be in the same passage. The family can talk about it together around the dinner table, the 2nd grade can talk about it in Sunday School or the 11th grade can talk about it in youth group.
The QT is a complete devotional system. The online version extends the toolset and philosophy several steps further and is hugely powerful. However, the power of the whole system is that the passages are all on the same schedule. There is power when Christians are unified, especially when it is around the Word of God!
The Word of God is important to families. If the Word is not the foundation, then families will fall! You can use Quiet Time to accomplish this necessary discipline. John Barnett explains the need for family devotions in the 21st century! We all need this, so check out the video!
We’re glad you’re part of the Online Quiet Time community!
We trust you are enjoying doing your quiet time online and are benefitting from the many tools available, now’s your chance to invite others to join in, too! One of the great aspects of the Online QT is being able to share your QT with friends, family and those close to you. We have a new feature which allows your email address to be used as a free coupon code. So when your friends and family sign up all they need to do is put your email address in the coupon code box and they will receive a free month. We’ve found that the QT is much more enjoyable, encouraging and beneficial with friends and family! Pass out your code to get your own social circle started today!
How to incorporate the online Quiet Time
Online Quiet Time information:
Praying the new Online Quiet Time takes your time in God’s Word to a whole new level. Your Quiet Time isn't done until you share it and now that's easier than ever.
We all want it. Many times, we live for it, because we think we need it. We are jealous when it is given to someone else and not to us. We sing of it and then steal it. We do all we can to withhold it from the only One Who deserves it, because it means we need to be humble.
Dictionary.com defines praise as the act of expressing approval or admiration for someone for what they have done. Merriam-Webster.com defines it as glorifying, especially by the attribution of perfections. It is the act of admiring and glorifying one for the works they have done.
So, who is it we are to admire and glorify for the perfect works? We are to admire and glorify our God for what He has done. Let’s look at examples of what God has done in the Bible and the adoration people gave…
After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea…
Exodus 15:2 – “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.”
After David was delivered from Saul…
2 Samuel 22:4 – “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”
God is the King of all…
Psalm 47:6 – “Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises.”
God has saved us through Christ…
Ephesians 1:5-6 – “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”
This is praise to God for what He has done. Our God is indeed a God of great works in our lives. Do you see them? Do you give Him the praise that is His? Do you keep His praise because your pride gets in the way? We need to get our eyes on what He has done. He is our Creator and Savior. Let’s give Him the adoration and glory for His perfect work!
Three Practical Steps:
- Praise Him in your prayers.
- Praise Him in your daily conversations.
- Journal the things He has done.
If, for example, the Lord really encouraged you through the Word in a specific area of sin, you can write about it in your journal and keep it private or just shared it with your accountability group. Everything doesn’t have to be public. But, I would encourage you to be open in your walk ... > Read More
”Let us pray,” “Almighty God in Heaven,” “Thank You for this day,” “I pray for Billy,” and “In Jesus’ Name,” are among the many phrases we hear in prayers. People pray long prayers, short prayers, wordy prayers, simple prayers, ... > Read More
As I was growing up, my family did not do well with plants. We always joked that flowers came to our house to die. One day, however, we discovered Miracle Gro! It revolutionized our gardening experience. Suddenly plants stayed alive longer and looked better! That glimmer of hope encouraged us to ... > Read More
Many Christians are hypocrites. As the definition goes, “We pretend to have a virtuous moral and religious ideal that we do not actually possess.” This is why we need God’s grace to provide us with His righteousness as opposed to our own. Even with this, we still fail to live out ... > Read More
If you are curious about the Online Quiet Time, we would be happy to set you up with a 30 or 60-day free trial! Email QT@wol.org and ask for a subscription.
Details about how to get started once you received your coupon:
1. Go to ... > Read More
During the past couple weeks, we have talked about what a quiet time is and why we need to have one. I want to share some thoughts about how to do your quiet time. It easy to talk about having a daily quiet time, but it is quite another to sit down and spend time with God.
Prepare your ... > Read More
We are very excited to let you know that we are working on a Quiet Time Application! It will be in your hands in the late spring or early ... > Read More
Last Tuesday, we shared that a quiet time is a time when a believer goes before God to commune. He or she goes to be in His presence and know His glory. They go to be washed, refreshed and humbled. But, all too often, we don’t have that time because we don’t understand our need. Have ... > Read More
When I first heard the phrase “Quiet Time,” I was so confused! It sounded like a timeout for being in trouble. Then I learned that it was a time set aside to commune with God and study His Word. In the fast pace of life, we forget about many things and even about people. We also forget ... > Read More
"We have been doing a men's Bible Study with 40 men. Last night, we were talking about Quiet Time as a group. This morning, I received a many emails from men who want to be involved in accountability through Quiet Time. If you could send me a few more free months I think that I can get some more ... > Read More
Have you ever reached the point where you have been puzzled; where things just don’t make sense? Sometimes Online Quiet Time doesn’t make sense. We have a way you can get in touch with someone who will walk you through issues you are having with the system. You can also send suggestions ... > Read More
"I have given all of the first eight free trials away. I am sure that many of them will purchase the quiet time when the 30 days runs out. I do a lot of counseling; therefore, I believe I could give out as many as you are willing to share. Thank you for your willingness to assist in the Chaplain ... > Read More
Everyone knows that life is better with friends! We all love to doing things with people. We grow socially and spiritually with people in our lives. Online Quiet Time is built as a social network around the Word of God. We need iron to sharpen iron, as Proverbs 17:17 tells us. Look for your friends ... > Read More
Have you ever learned something in your time with the Lord, but then forgot about the circumstances that made the passage so special? I have! Online Quiet Time has a feature you can use to find those passages by events in your life! Here’s how…
On your “Journal” page, tag ... > Read More
Word of Life Online Quiet Time Diary has literally revolutionized my life. I am able to do my Quiet Time on my smartphone wherever I am! My favorite aspect is the journal where I am able to write as much as I want in the two spaces of “what the writer is saying” and “how I can ... > Read More
We offer three levels of subscription. The first is the basic package we call the “silver” level. This is equivalent to the student paper quiet time. The “gold” level adds the complete commentary. The “platinum” level includes the Matthew Henry commentary in ... > Read More
In Colossians 1:9, Paul says, “We have not ceased to pray for you.” He then goes on to list the specific requests he was praying over in their behalf. How encouraging the persecuted church must have been to hear that a brother in Christ was lifting them up to the throne of grace in the ... > Read More
My 5-year old grandson has been asking lots of questions lately about God, heaven, hell, etc., especially at our prayer time after completing his daily WOL quiet time. We have discussed being saved and going to heaven on numerous occasions. Last night he asked, "Grandma, can I ask Jesus ... > Read More
Psalm 34 is a psalm of David in which he boasts of the work of his God. God delivered him from a deadly situation. He writes a psalm that has been passed down through time to our generation so that we are in awe at the wonder of our God. Online Quiet Time allows you to post praises for all the ... > Read More
Sometimes, we just need to read through the Word of God and be refreshed by the content. Where do you start? Reading plans help us read a portion of Scripture consistently. We grow in our disciplines using reading plans. Quiet Time Online has a way to edit the different reading plans….
Go to ... > Read More
The Power of the Prayer List
Of all the great tools and cool features of the Online Quiet Time, one of the top 3, and maybe even the top feature, definitely my personal favorite is the prayer list. Here are just a few things you can do to take your daily prayer time, using the prayer list in ... > Read More
Your QT Alarm Clock
Ever have one of those days when it seems life has dealt you a hand you would love to give back, and when you finally hit the pillow, you realize you forgot to spend time with God? Or all of a sudden your day gets all changed around and you wake up the next morning ... > Read More
Recently we’ve had a number of users asking how they can purchase subscriptions for a friend, accountability partner and their small group. Do you have a friend or family who cannot afford a subscription? Do you have a friend or family member you would like to see doing their ... > Read More
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