"Quiet Time"

This concept for spending time with God was plugged a lot in my youth group in the 80's. It is great to do but is something I have always struggled to maintain with any sort of consistency.
Guilt & Duty: Thankfully I am now past this stage where guilt is the motivator - well most of the time. I would end up doing a "daily devotion" just so that I could tick it off the "to do" list, however, the real purpose of connecting with God was being overlooked.
Catching Up: if you are following a Bible reading plan, such as the Bible-In-a-Year, more guilt can creep in if you miss a few days, or just can't keep up with the amount of reading. Trying to catch up again can again defeat the purpose of meeting with God.

Meeting with God is the point. A bible college in Adelaide used to have the motto "Knowing, Being, Doing". It struck me from my observations of growing up in the church that there was

• great pride in knowing: e.g. theology, Bible verses by heart;
  
• a great sense of obligation or duty to be doing: busy serving God in the church, or as a missionary; but
  
• little emphasis on the hidden discipline of being.
  

I believe that understanding how to be - understanding who you are in Christ is essential for healthy and realistic growth of the inner person (Ephesians 1 is good for this, and so is the Creative Living course at Tabor College).

Your value to God is not based on what you know or on what you do, it is based on God's love for you. If you exist, you bring glory and pleasure to God simply by being, because you are His creation.

Suggestions:

• If you get way behind while following a daily reading plan, it may be better to skip, and continue on the day you should be on, so you don't get put off by the impossible task of catching up.

• Get an undated reading plan, so that you can continue from where you are up to, without being held to a strict timeline. As a mother, I have really appreciated the verse in Isaiah "The Lord gently leads those with young". He knows the demands on our time and peace of mind.

• There are different reading plans available on the internet (just "Google" it). The Bible Society has a printable brochure that has a Bible reading plan which covers the Bible in about 4 years. This means you get more manageable "bite" size sections of scripture to read and meditate on. The readings, I think, follow the suggested daily readings in the "Daily Bread" devotional guide.

Journal: Having a small journal (I like the undated idea) where you can follow the SOAP acronym for daily Bible study :
Scripture: Does a small portion or verse of your day's reading jump out at you? Write that scripture in your journal.
Observation: What is the scripture saying?
Application: How does this scripture apply to you? What is God saying to you through it? How do you think the Holy Spirit is wanting you to apply it to your life?
Prayer: simply - Pray! ... about what you believe God has been speaking to your spirit about.

The above SOAP idea has been around for a long time, and various churches and organisations have produced their own journals specifically designed to be used in this way. UCB has also produced a similar journal (using the acronym SOAR) available through the "Word for Today" devotional, which lists daily readings if you want to do the Bible in a year.

I have been greatly encouraged by a book "The Divine Mentor" by Wayne Cordeiro. I think God brought the book to my attention, because I had been asking him for a mentor, and felt that I had lost some potential mentors when we left Naracoorte. The Bible needs to come alive to us in order for us to continue growing in our faith. The Holy Spirit was given to us to "guide (us) into all truth" and "remind (us) of everything (Jesus) said" (John 16:13 and 14:26). He is our mentor. Wayne's point is that God also uses the people in the Bible to mentor us. There is so much we can learn from the huge range of people who make mistakes, or get things right, who are blessed or who suffer greatly. (I know we don't really want to read the latter). Life is short. If we can learn the lessons from others' examples, it may save us a whole lot of time!! At least that is what I hope. I am finding that I do not learn as fast as I would like!!