Shoba’s Corner: Building a Quiet Time Library
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a NIV
Your statutes are my delight. Psalms 119:24a NIV
How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections. Be silent, and God will speak again.
-Francois de la Mothe Fenelon
The Quiet Time Basket
I have a basket which I call my Quiet Time basket.
The basket usually holds these and they are constants:
My Bible (in a Bible bag- mine is made by partially blind people in India)
My Bible Devotional
My journal
A pouch with markers, highlighters and pens in a few colors and a pencil are the constants.
A hymn book/chorus book
The basket also has 1 or 2 books which help me with my time with the Lord. These are changed round from time to time. I choose them from my little home library, which I have built over the years. All the books are Bible based and have helped me draw closer to God.
Collecting Quiet Time Books
Over the last several years I have been reading from, praying with and studying the Bible with these books. Here are a few ways in which I acquire these precious treasures.
- Once a year we, a group of 7 friends have a swap party where we exchange books which we have read and enjoyed. There is much joy and excitement as we fill our bags with new books to read and study God’s Word with. From our last meeting I have More like Jesus by Max Lucado ready to read! Sometimes, I pass on a book with a little note saying ‘This is a pass it on book’.
- I order well loved books at the thrift books website. (These are much cheaper than their shiny counterparts and somehow the used book adds to the experience).
- The Evermore bookstore in Auckland has a wide selection of used Christian books. I often treat myself to a good book when I finish a term at school, after a breast scan or on Mother’s Day.
- My husband, children and other family members often give me books as gifts knowing my love for them. On the first page I write down when I got it and some memories around that time.
If I know a friend is an avid reader, I love gifting her a book too.
- Recently, I have been enjoying the books on the Tirzah website. During the COVID lockdowns I soaked in 3 books – The Women of the Bible, The Proverbs 7 girl and the Habits of Devotion. These are excellent as birthday/ Christmas gifts as well!
Some Favorite Quiet Time Books
Here are 3 of my top favorites which have enriched my quiet time.
1. 31 verses to write on my heart- Liz Curtis Higgs
In 2018, when our son’s wedding was fixed and we were going to meet our daughter- in- love to be, I was so excited. On my drive back from work, I stopped at the Christian book Store to buy her a gift. After choosing her a gift, I bought myself this very excellent resource. Here the author has hand picked 31 verses, to delve in and hold in your heart.
Each chapter gives us a tip to memorize the verse and a place to write out the verse from our favorite translation. The chapter explains the verse in context and word for word.
There is a study guide attached which is great for personal devotions but would work just as well to use for group discussions.
‘You could discover a verse that calls your name and speaks to your current situation. That is one of the beautiful things about the Bible: it meets us just where we are!’
-Liz Curtis Higgs
All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 NIV
2. Dear Lord, It’s me and It’s Urgent – Marion Stroud
This book was a gift from my friend Ramya in 2016. It is a beautifully presented book in pink with prayers, verses and quotes. It has prayers for ‘every season of a Woman’s life’.
‘When you apply enthusiasm and thanksgiving to any job, that job comes alive with exciting possibilities.’ This is the last line of a chapter with a prayer for Blue Monday. There is a prayer for shopping with a daughter, for a son’s graduation and for a woman at work.
Quiet day Prayer
Lord, you know I have put this day aside
to spend in quietness with you.
And yet Lord, even as I cross the threshold
of this lovely place,
my mind is thronged with images
of all the things I have left undone
at home and at work.
-Marion Stroud
The prayers will make you cry, smile and sometimes laugh. Almost always it is exactly what is on your heart.
3. Prayers for the plain man – William Barclay
In early January 2020 as we were leaving India after our holiday there, my father handed me this little book. It was always hard to leave family behind and board the plane. Appa asked me to read the prayer for the day from the book. I flipped through it and read it. We bid farewell and left soon after. Little did I know that we wouldn’t be seeing each other for a few years after that because of lockdowns and COVID taking over the world.
The book has prayers for morning and evening for each day of the month. It has a prayer for birthdays, anniversaries and one for time of illness.
I have used it on many occasions when I couldn’t find the right words to talk to Jesus. It has also taught me to pray for others.
Bless those for whom today will be a difficult day, Lord:
Those who are meeting the day with tears,
Those who wake up with no work to do.
Those who are to be married today.
Those for whom today will be a happy day,
-a few lines from the morning prayer for Day 23
William Barclay
I pray you will be encouraged and uplifted as you build your own Quiet Time library and use it well. There is no particular pattern to follow when we meet with Jesus. We can relax with him, talk, read and listen.
My sheep hear my voice
I know them
They follow me.
John 14:27 NIV