How do you do a quiet time?

This is what I do

Find a quiet place where I won’t be distracted. I start by praying to God. First I tell him everything that is on my mind. Then I ask him to quieten my heart and prepare it to hear what he has to tell me from the reading. I spend a bit of time praising Him for who he is.

I think it is really important to go through books of the Bible systematically. You can do this by picking a book and reading through it, or by working through a devotional guide. I use one at the moment called ‘Closer to God’. It’s by Scripture Union, I have always found their stuff good and has a solid Biblical base.
I look at what the reading is today, but I don’t read any of the notes on it yet.

I read through the passage, going straight through, to get an overview of the passage. If it is one that follows on, I like to read the passage before it to remind myself of the context.
Then I read it again slowly with a note book and pen. I jot down words that I don’t understand, and words/phrases/ideas that are repeated. I write down any verses that I think have a key idea in them.

I look up the words I don’t understand and then I write down the meaning.

I think, how does this passage affect my life? What is it teaching me about my Christian walk? What is it teaching me about God? What stands out? Dose it remind me of anything else I've read in the Bible?

After I have done this I read the notes from the devotional. Sometimes they pick up the same ideas I did, and sometimes they are not. That’s okay because God may want me to take a different meaning away then someone else has found. I like when they give me a bit of historical or cultural context to help understand some things a bit better.

I then talk with God about what He has taught me and ask for his help in the day ahead. I pray a bit for different people (I have a weekly schedule for different people to pray for each day).

So that’s a brief over view of what I do, what about you? Any tips for spending time with God one-on-one?

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(Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/743507)