Adaptable meeting guide: How to have a quiet time

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THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE: MARK 1:29-39

PREPARATION: Do vox pops of a few people at your church talking about when and how they have a quiet time with God. Aim to show a wide variety of ways of doing it, and a range of ages but definitely include some a few years older than your group. Create a sheet that has these categories on it, with space beside each for people to write a few phrases: Family – your name, relatives or origins; Talents – the things you’re good at; Ambitions – what you want to do in the future; World – where you’ve been or where you’d like to visit; Interests – things you do in your spare time. You’ll need equipment to show a video and play a song.

UNIQUELY YOU

10 mins

Give everyone a copy of the sheet you created and a pen. Get them to write down three or four facts in each category: they can help each other out. Then they should go around the room, crossing out any that they have in common with others. They can add in new ideas as they go. After a while, get each person to read out their unique facts.

PERFECT DAY

10 mins

Play a version of the song ‘Perfect Day’ and ask them what their own perfect day would include. Then ask them to describe their least favourite day and see what they come up with. Has anyone chosen to do work, volunteering, study or exercise because of what it will bring in the future even if it’s not fun at the time? You’ll come back to these first two activities later in the session.

INTRODUCING THE QUIET TIME

5 mins

Explain that many Christians who want to grow in their faith set aside time regularly to be with God, to pray, to read the Bible, to read Christian books or just to be still. This is often called a quiet time although it doesn’t have to be quiet! Ask if anyone knows people who do this - what do they do?

BIBLE STUDY

5 mins

Ask someone to read Mark 1:29-39 to the group. Ask and discuss: what different things does Jesus do in the passage? How would you describe this couple of days? Why do you think Jesus gets up early to pray? Why doesn’t he just stay in bed and pray? What might this passage have to say to us?

KEY POINT

Jesus made time to spend with God, and chose a time and a place when he wouldn’t be disturbed. Jesus had a massive headstart in his relationship with his father, but if he needed to spend time with God, how much more do we!

DISCUSSION

10 mins

Talk some more about the concept of a quiet time by discussing these questions:

• Why do you think Christians make having a quiet time a priority? What do they get out of it?

• What do people do during a quiet time? Invite them to think about ways in which they learn about God, feel close to God and get to know God better. How could they include those sorts of experiences in a quiet time?

• Be honest – how do you feel about the idea of a quiet time?

Point out that lots of people feel guilty that they don’t spend time with God regularly but that’s not what God wants at all! This is an invitation from God to get to know God better, to grow in your relationship, to receive love. Refer back to the ‘Perfect Day’ activity and the choice to do things that might not bring an immediate reward but are still very valuable.

Show the video you made of people talking about their experiences of having a quiet time. Get the group to respond – what do they think of these ideas? What resonates with them? What might they try?

KEY POINT

There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ quiet time. People need to discover what suits them and what they can realistically fit in their lives, rather than aspiring to some super-spiritual unattainable ideal. But as well as establishing a regular pattern, it’s also good to try something unusual in order to allow God to speak in new ways; don’t get locked into just one thing.

PLANNING AHEAD

10 Explain that just as we are all unique and different people, so each of us needs to find a way of having a quiet time that suits us. It’s no good trying to copy someone else, or setting yourself an unrealistic target such as an hour a day. A habit needs to be easy to do – ten minutes that you actually do is better than an hour that you intend to do but never do.

Invite the group to try having a quiet time during the week, and explain that this activity will help them think through what might suit them. You’ll read out two options for when or how to have a quiet time, and they should choose the one that most appeals and write it down. These are the options:

• Morning or evening

• Still or moving around

• Quiet or noisy

• Structured or spontaneous

• Alone or connected to friends

• Every day or less regular

• Short and sweet or in depth

• Guided (using Bible reading notes for example) or flying solo

• Indoors or outside in nature

Then invite the group to spend a few minutes looking at their words and thinking about when and how in the next week they are going to have a quiet time. Invite them to commit to trying it out over the next week, even if it’s just once, and suggest that you talk about how you get on when you next meet.