“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jerimiah 31:25
Is it just me, or do you sometimes grow wearing in your Quiet Times?
According to Titus 2, I am an older woman. Even though I have been blessed to walk with the Lord for 35+ years, I have a confession to make. While I earnestly desire to be in the Word daily, I have found it hard almost impossible to stay engaged and consistent.
I LIKE VARIETY
There I said it. Through the years, I have made it my goal to daily come before the Lord to meet with Him. It is only because of His great mercy and the grace granted by the Holy Spirit that I am drawn to spend time in His presence. My day doesn’t feel right if I don’t have time with Him. While I rely on Him to draw me, I have struggled with the ‘how-to’ of this time.
For years I searched for a study that would satisfy my soul. While looking, I created the following list of what I desired during our daily appointment.
- Anticipate intimacy as I meet with Him
- Count on a daily plan
- Discover something new about His character
- Linger over a passage long enough to become intimately acquainted
- Understand portions of Scripture as it related to the whole Bible
- Arrive at Spirit-led conclusions that line up with Scripture
- Apply the Word correctly to my life circumstances
- Create a moment in my day to hear His still, soft voice
- Pray the Scriptures
- Memorize the Word
This doesn’t seem like too much to ask for, does it?
However, I have been frustrated by two general approaches in Bible study that left me feeling restless and unsatisfied.
Drive to Arrive –
These are daily Bible reading plans that drive you to arrive at a certain place in a certain amount of time. Please note, there are enormous benefits in doing this method as it gives you a familiarity with the Bible. This is so important and often missing from our Biblical literacy. We often embark on these ambitious reading adventures and get disappointed when we miss a few days (or weeks) and are not able to keep up with the rigor.
Led to Be Fed –
These types of studies have the typical fill-in-the-blank homework accompanied by a video where you are led by the author to understand the passage(s) as they have understood it. It could be likened to eating pre-chewed food rather than drinking pure milk or chewing on the meat of the Scripture. The fill-in-the-blank questions lead us to write down the right answers.
Frequently, there is no room to seek the Lord’s face on the particular topics covered. In the end, it becomes information rather than transformation. And sadly, the result of this kind of study is an inability to feed yourself by studying the Word of God. Allow me to introduce a third and different type of method to study the Bible…
Invited to Dwell –
The Hebrew word Selah means to pause and listen. Selah is a unique, simple approach to Daily Quiet Time that invites the reader to reside in the same passage for five days in a row and prayerfully explore it. The word dwell in Hebrew means to pitch a tent, remain, abide, inhabit, stay, and take a seat. Beautiful concept, isn’t it?
Invited to Rest –
First, Selah beckons you to pause from your hectic life – sit and stay awhile within a portion of Scripture and become well acquainted with it. Psalm 46:10
Secondly, Selah invites you to listen. To listen well you must slow down. When was the last time you took a moment to hear the still, soft voice of the Lord? 1 Kings 19:11-30
Finally, remember the checklist
Selah creates a space for every one of the items on the list to happen! I created Selah as a vehicle to get you and me where we want to be in our daily Quiet Time.
Do you want to start something new this year? Do you want to rest in a pause that refreshes you in the Word? Take a look at our two Selah studies here.