The Quiet Time

How’s your daily prayer life? What’s the state of your ‘quiet time’? Do you spend time with God on a regular basis and if so, how do you do it? For some Christians it can be a real struggle in this hectic world in which we live to fit in a regular time of prayer and biblical reflection - while for others, the rhythm of daily prayer is natural.

Studies have shown that our differing personality types will necessitate a different approach for different people. Not everyone can fit in an early morning prayer time and some will find that regularity and routine is a problem in anything they do, let alone prayer. However, this can sometimes be an excuse rather than a genuine reason. All the main world faiths expect their adherents to commune regularly with God and pray for other people, and not just on the Sabbath. Prayer is not something which should be left to the minister but is something which, when approached seriously, transforms the life of the believer.

Here are a couple of suggestions for those whose prayer life has stagnated or needs a fresh look.

Northumbria Community

St. Aidan

For some people, having a daily liturgy which is shared by other people is a valuable thing. The Northumbria Community is a dispersed community of people throughout the UK and beyond, who regularly use the ‘Celtic Daily Prayer’. It can be purchased in book form from the community itself (see web site) or from a Christian bookshop. Each day has a liturgy for morning, midday and evening and this includes a set of Bible readings, a daily reading from the Celtic tradition and mediation for the day. It borrows heavily from the Celtic saints (St. Aidan is pictured left) and the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The web site mentioned above has a list of related resources including music.

You can join with other companions of the community or simply use it on your own.

Bible Reading on-line
Some people like the idea of reading a small portion of the Bible each day with the aid of study notes. Probably the most famous of these are ‘Every Day With Jesus’ by the late Selwyn Hughes. However, reading a small snippet from the Bible each day may not suit everyone. It might therefore be better to read a larger section of the Bible on a less frequent basis – say weekly.

An excellent way of doing this, for those who are on the internet, is to use The Bible Gateway which allows you to listen to the Bible on-line. The whole of the Bible can be heard in a number of different versions. As long as you can tolerate the American voices which is used on most of them, it’s a good way of sitting back and taking in the Word in large sections. There are a number of other similar sites, some with downloadable files.

If you have other suggestions which people might profit from, please let me know by replying to this email.