Stone Soup for Five: quiet time during the apocalypse {some tweaks and ideas}

quiet time during the apocalypse {some tweaks and ideas}


Isolation and lockdown and the upheaval of everything normal is taking its toll on all of us in different ways, but for me it's taking the toll the most on my time with the Lord.  For years I've gotten up in the morning, poured a cup of coffee, sat at my desk, and had wonderful times in the Word.

But the reality of apocalypse life is that my desk isn't working anymore.  More often than not, without even realizing it I find myself online reading the latest news, or shopping for a house (really that was this morning... and we're not even thinking of selling our home), or down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos.  (I'm not on social media anymore, except twitter, because I hate twitter, or that would be a whole other nightmare.)

What worked in the past definitely isn't working now.  So in rethinking my quiet time, I first had to tackle what I wouldn't do:  sit anywhere near a screen.  Which means moving my space from my desk, and putting my phone in a completely different room.  Because for me a side affect of the apocalypse is zero self control with screens. Who knew?

That done, I moved on to what I would do:

1.  I filled a basket with my Bible, some good Christian reading books (see number 3), pads of paper for random thoughts and things I have to do, a couple pens and pencils, and my prayer binder and put it next to the couch.  Other necessary equipment: a coffee warmer and a cozy blanket.

2.  If I just open my Bible and start reading at this season of life, I will get halfway through the chapter (or all the way through) and not even know what I read.  So I am doing "warm up reading" and getting my brain in gear by reading a few pages of a good book first.  (I just finished True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer (Wow!) and am working through a short chapter at a time of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity right now.)

3.  After reading, and getting my mind turned toward God, I open my Bible and read the chapter I am on for the day.  Right now I'm working through I Will Meditate Volume 4 and I'm in the sad book of Judges.

4. After reading and journaling about the chapter, if there is nothing in the chapter that turned into a prayer on its own, and if I'm struggling with what to pray, I'll lead my mind into prayer by reading a page of Valley of Vision or a page of The Christian in Complete Armor.

6.  Then I'll pray through a few pages of my prayer binder (have you built your own yet?  You should!) or a chapter of the Bible, or through a list of prayer requests for friends and family.

I obviously don't do any of the above perfectly (just this morning I got up from the cozy spot on the couch to check email and ended up shopping for a house).  But rethinking things is helping me to craft a new kind of time with God that is looking a bit less scattered and distracted.



What about you?  Have you made any changes to keep you on track in this new season?  Share below to help me and others with ideas that we might try!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Kari! I really needed that nudge to get more serious about my time with the Lord. I love your plan and as I was putting it into my notes it occurred to me that, knowing me, it could turn into a checklist. With my Type A personality I love to DO things FOR the Lord and totally forget about being WITH the Lord! So I interspersed types of prayer in between your different activities. It looks like this:
    1. Keep notepad & journal nearby (Notepad - random to do's; Journal - gleanings from God)
    2. Confession
    3. Read a spiritual book to get my mind in a God frame of mind
    4. Pray for illumination
    5. Read the Word
    1. Mark it up - key words, aha's, questions
    2. Journal takeaways
    6. Pray
    1. Praise
    2. From today's Scripture reading
    3. Lead mind into prayer by reading a Devotional book
    4. Thanksgiving
    5. From Prayer Journal
    1. Family listing of requests
    Thanks again!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. I don't feel quite so guilty over distractions. I sit in a chair in front of a window so if I get distracted it's through nature and I give thanks to God for the beauty that I see.

    ReplyDelete

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