Quiet-time for Daily Renewal- Apostle Peterson O. Abu

The speaker emphasizes the importance of having a personal fellowship with God through daily quiet time. They explain that being a Christian means having a personal relationship with Jesus and that maintaining a consistent quiet time is essential for spiritual growth and clarity of vision. They reference Psalm 1:1-5, which talks about the blessings of delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. The speaker shares their personal experience of maintaining a daily quiet time and how it has helped them stay consistent in their faith. They encourage believers to prioritize their relationship with God and set goals for a more intimate and powerful walk with Him in the year 2024. This evening we will be having a wonderful time with the Lord, as the Lord will be giving us a teaching that will help us for the year 2024. One of the things I want to tell you is that you shouldn't miss any of the Word study for this year, because the teachings are coming intentionally to help us to become Spiritual and as well to grow us spiritually, to mature us spiritually and to make us fit and qualified for the coming of the Lord. I'll be discussing with you on the topic I titled as Quiet Time for Daily Renewal. Quiet time for what? For daily renewal. I discovered that the majority of Christians we have in these last days are Christians that don't have understanding of how important it is to have a personal fellowship with God. I understand that the emphasis in these last days and in many churches has been that people should be coming to church every time. As better or as good as that may be, that is not the entirety of Christianity. The Christian who doesn't have a personal fellowship with God will hardly find time for a public fellowship with God. And when I say personal fellowship, I'm talking about the one you have with God alone. The one you have with God alone. If that one is not strong enough, there will be every reason you won't be in the public worship. By public worship I mean the worship of coming together of believers. The Bible says do not forsake the assemblies of believers together. As important as that is, that is only an effect of a personal relationship and fellowship with God. Why are we talking about quiet time? It is because it is your personal fellowship with God. Our relationship with God is first a personal relationship before we talk about a public fellowship. So many Christians don't have this understanding that being a Christian is not just a religious position. Being a Christian is not a separation from other religions. When you say you are a Christian, you are saying that you have come to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. And Jesus is a person. And as a person we must create time for him. And that is why as we start this year, it is important that one of the goals we should set for this year is how to maintain a consistent quiet time with the Lord throughout the year. How to maintain a committed, consistent quiet time with God throughout the year. We shouldn't be so busy. Busy with so many other things that we do not have personal time with God. We shouldn't be so busy. Busy with many other activities of this world that we start neglecting our quiet time with God. Several believers wake up in the morning and the first thing they do, they pick up their phone. Other believers wake up in the morning, the first thing they do is to rush outside. They don't understand that God is a person. They do not have the understanding that the man they are dealing with is a person. And such a man demands a personal relationship and as well fellowship with us as believers. Quiet time for daily renewal. The word renewal, like the mandate that the Lord has given to us as a church, believers renewal ministry. What is the meaning of renewal? It is like looking through the glass. Everybody look at the window now. You can see through the glass. Am I right? Now, if you don't take care of this glass, if you don't clean, consistently clean this glass, the vision will start getting blurry. Am I right? In time with God you will not be able to see clearly what is on the other side of the window. So the word renewal is you going daily to clean the mirror so that you will be able to see clearly, your vision to be sharp. And that is why every time you come to hear the word of God, there is a renewal in your mind. You start seeing clearly. It is the vision God has given to us. So what can make you to start becoming fresh? Because every time you clean this mirror, it becomes a fresh mirror. Everything becomes fresh and clear and sharp. Now, a Christian that wants to live a daily renewing life should be able to understand the place of quiet time. Let there be no quiet time, then you are on the edge of blurry vision. The moment you stop having quiet time with the Lord, you are going to a state whereby you do not have a clear vision from the Lord again. And that is why we are talking about quiet time for daily renewal. Many believers, many Christians that began the Christian faith many years ago, some of them gave their life to Christ in the 90s, some of them in the 80s, some of them in early 2000. When you go to visit them, they know about the Bible. But there is no current clarity of vision. They don't have a clear vision of the moment. They don't understand the time. Like the children of Issachar who had understanding of the time and knew what Israel had to do. Number one, they had understanding of the time. Number two, they knew what Israel had to do. And that is where God has helped this church so much. There are people that have understanding of the time, but they don't know what we ought to do. There are people that tell you that Jesus is coming very soon, He is coming very soon, but they don't know how to give you necessary preparation for His coming. But the Lord has so much blessed the church that we have understanding of the time and that we know what to do. And the importance of this quiet time as a teaching is that as you journey through this 2024, it should be with intentionality. Number one, that your work with God should be solid. Your work with God should be powerful. Your work with God should be more intimate this year. That should be your first vision for the year. Your first vision for the year is how you should become more closer with the Lord or to the Lord. How you should have a more intimate relationship with God. And one of the ways you can maintain that intimacy, one of the ways you can maintain that consistency is when you maintain the quiet time. Quiet time with the Lord. Other people call it alone time with God. And other people call it having fellowship with the Holy Spirit. In whichever way, all the same. They have the same effect in the believer's life. Let us look at the book of Psalm 1 verse 1 to 5. Psalm chapter 1 verse what? Verse 1 to 5. Psalm chapter 1 verse 1 to 5. The Bible says in Psalm chapter 1 from verse 1 to verse 5, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doeth he meditate what? Day and night. And it shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in the season. Its leaves shall not wilt, shall not wither, and whatsoever it withers shall prosper. But therefore the ungodly are not so, but are like the shaft which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. As we read this place of the Bible, as we come to consider verse 3, it says it shall be like a tree planted by the riverside. That means you must understand that the secret of the longevity, and the secret of the living long, and as well the glory of a tree is the continuous sapping of water from the ground. And a tree that is planted close to the water has a great advantage of daily refreshment. Its leaves shall not wither, because every day that tree drink from the water side. You must understand that a withered Christian is a Christian who doesn't have his roots connected to the water of life. Who doesn't have his roots connected to the water of life. The Bible says in the book of John chapter 15 verse 3, it says that the word of God, and you shall be cleansed by the word I have spoken unto you. It means that the word is a cleansing agent. It's like a water. It's like a what? A water. And every time you have a quiet time with the Lord where you read your Bible, you are freshening from the water of life to make your leaf of body, your leaf of life to become fresh. A Christian that doesn't have quiet time with the Lord every day, one day will get tired, number one, of serving God. Number two, he will get tired of coming to church every day or every time. Number three, he will get tired of even practicing Christianity. Number four, he will get tired, if that person is a worker, he will start coming up with excuses that he won't be able to continue with work force again. The reason is not because that person has actually been tired. The reason is because he has disconnected his roots from the water that make it freshness. People have been asking me for this many years. There are people that knew me 10 years ago. And 10 years ago, they saw me carrying the Bible. I was preaching on every street from the city of Worry and other places. I moved down to different parts of Delta State. As well, I went to the Middle Best. Now I'm in the West. And they saw me preaching. And some of them, when they see me like this, they tend to ask a question. You have been preaching for more than 10 years. What is your secret? The way we knew you, like one of my friends, a longtime friend in those days, we once lived in the same compound. I remember how he sent a message to me. And he said, how is everything? He has a child now. He has a wife now. And he said, how is everything? I said, I'm fine. He said, I discovered that the way you were carrying God those days, is the way you are carrying God till now. He said, well, we all started it together, but I couldn't continue again. Because when we all started the Christian Way together, his Christianity lasted for only three months. After three months, he returned back to the world. But what was the secret of my consistency? Well, the secret was I maintained a daily consistent quiet time with the Lord. No matter how busy I was, I made sure that I would always have time alone with God every day. Quiet time has been the secret of our fathers of old. The life of Pastor E.A. Adeboye and Pastor W.F. Kumuye and Pastor David Oyedepo, the reason they are continuing serving the Lord, the reason they are still serving the Lord, the reason they are still burning for the Lord, is because every day they spend time with who? With God. Every day they spend time with who? With God. And that is their secret. What Pastor E.A. Adeboye has been doing for the past 40 years, is still what he is doing. He is still spending that time with God every morning. He is still spending that time with God every day. When you are still sleeping, the man is waking up, he is praying, he is asking God, give me grace for today. Give me grace to overcome the temptations of today. But look at you, the reason you are not serving God, the reason your fire has gone off, is because there is no consistent quiet time with the Lord. But I pray, after the message today, we shall have consistent quiet time. I say after the message today, we shall have consistent quiet time. So what is the meaning of quiet time, first of all? The word quiet time is also known as being alone with God. It is a deliberate time that is set apart to have personal communion with God. A deliberate time that you set apart to have personal what? Communion with who? With God. That is called quiet time. You are the one that sets the time. This is the time I will be meeting with the Lord. A deliberate setting of time to have personal what? Communion with God. So it is personal. It is not a family issue. It is not like a family gathering. It is you waking up in the morning. This is my time. I will be waking up at this time. I remember, by the grace of God, I think I can still tell a story for myself. Am I right? From my experiences. When I gave my life to Christ, one of the things the Lord helped me, because my pastor, I love my pastor so much, but I think many of my discipleship I got came from reading of books. I read a lot of books. I read books on the man God uses by Oswald G. Smith. I read books from John Wesleyan. I read books from Charles G. Pinney. I read books from Leona Robin Hill. I read books from many of these great men of God that God used, because I had no mentor. My pastor was not that close to me, not like me that comes for your visit. My pastor never visited me like coming to meet me or visiting me to teach me the Bible, never for once. So what I did, because I love God so much, at the same time, I was too inquisitive to know God more. So I spent every of my money going to bookshops. I don't know whether the man is still alive now. I was very young then. Any little money I had, at that time, you can still get books for 100 Naira, for 115 Naira. Any book I had, any money I had, I would just rush to the bookshop. I would be looking for books to just buy. And that was how I got books of men of God, that the secret of their burning for the Lord came from their personal time with God. And I remember those days, my prayer time with God at that time was 5 o'clock in the morning. And every 12 o'clock, I would pray by 12. Then I would sleep by 1. I prayed from 12 till 1 as a new convert. 12 till 1 I sleep. Then by 5, I would wake up and pray from 5 to 6. And I continued like that. I was questing for the Lord. I was thirsting. And every time I wake up that morning, I still remember, I still fresh in my memory. When I start crying to the Lord, when I start praying, I would pray to an extent, I would start crying. I would be telling him, what do you need for me more? I'm ready to lay everything. Just tell me, just tell me, what do you need for me? It's not this time of you asking God, Lord, I need this. Sometimes ask the Lord, Lord, what do you need for me? Every time we go to the Lord, we are asking God, Lord, I need this. Lord, I need that. Have you gone to God and asked God, God, what do you need for me? And in the place of prayer time, it's a place of devotion. Nobody watch you. And that was how I would pray. I would what? I would pray. I would pray so much, I would start weeping, asking the Lord, I give you my heart. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for you alone. There was a place of consecration. There was a place of dedication. There was a place of sanctification. I was telling the Lord, Lord, I give you all. Ask me. Just ask me. There is no hideout in my life, Lord. I can tell you, your son is telling you that there is no hideout in my life. Ask me anything. There will be never anything that will be difficult for me to give to you. It was those times I started those things. Never. You will never come to me and say, the Lord is saying this, and I said anything like, why? It never, because before every morning, before I come to stand before my pastor, before I come to stand to sing as a chorister those times, before I come to do evangelism, I have told him that anything you need for me, I give to you. It was in the place of quiet time that we made consecration to God. It was in the place of quiet time that we made convenance with God. It was in the place of quiet time that we told the Lord that even if everybody turned against you, Lord, count on me. I will never disappoint you. Every time you look at Peter's scene, you will look at Peter's scene and you will be so happy that you have Peter's scene in this part, in this vision of Nigeria. There was a burning zeal. There was a passionate desire. There was a committed approach to the Lord. There was something that was burning me from deep within inside. I would wake up by 12. I would pray from 12, asking the Lord, Lord, use me. Lord, use me. Lord, sanctify me. Make me holy. Holy in my intention. Holy in my motive. Holy in my attitude. In my heart. In my action. Take away hunger. Take away bitterness. Take away pride. Take away arrogance. Lord, I give you all. It was in the place of quiet time that we got to know the Lord intimately and that is why a Christian that doesn't have a time he has set apart to be meeting with God will not be a strong Christian. Will not be a sincere Christian. Will not be a true Christian. A Christian that can't set a time apart and say every morning I wake up. And when I did that for so many years, it came to the place where I said one hour is not enough for me. One hour is too small for me. And I shifted the time to 2 a.m. 2 a.m. So anything 10 o'clock, I'm falling asleep. And by 2, oh that 2, that 2 became so powerful. That 2 became so deeper. I would pray 2, 3, I was still praying. 4, I was still praying. 5, I was still praying on my knees. I began to pray 3 hours to 2 hours. Sometimes it's 5.30, almost to 6. I was praying it every day. What was the prayer point? Not I kill you. Not devil I kill you. I kept asking the Lord, I want to be like you. Jesus, make me just like you. Take away my mind. Give me your mind. Take away my will. Give me your will, Lord. Because when I read the Bible, I thought I have gotten this. When I go to mingle with other Christians, I will discover that other Christians, they don't talk loud. I came from a community that everybody what? Talk loud. If they are shouting here, you can be as I hear with. But when I mingle with other Christians, they talk very soft. They talk very kindly. Their tone is not loud. I will go back. Because I never had that in me. I never had that meekness in me. That gentility in me. I will go back in my quiet place. I say, Lord, I've come this morning again. What you did in the life of this brother, you must do it in me. Help me to be meek and to be gentle. The Bible says Jesus is meek and who? And gentle. Praise the Lord. Quiet time. And that is why when there is no quiet time you have with God, many things will go wrong with God. Because even though when you are becoming angry, there is no water for you to settle it with God. Instead, when you get angry today, you have to return back to your quiet time and say, Lord, I got angry easily. Take that thing away from me. But when you are not having personal quiet time with God, how will you approach that matter? How will you deal with that matter? And that is why God is making us to see the importance of what? Of quiet time. So quiet time, also known as a low time with God, is the time that you set apart to be meeting with the Lord every day. The time you set apart, you can make it 3 a.m., you can make it 4 a.m., you can make it 5 a.m. If you are not going to work, make it 6 a.m. Or some people make it 7 a.m. And that 7 a.m. they have is 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Because they are not going anywhere. So you must understand that your quiet time with God is the secret of your fire burning. So if the devil wants to do anything, he will do everything to stop you of your what? Of your what? Of your quiet time. Now when we talk about quiet time, it is also an individual time with God where a believer has a personal fellowship with God. An individual time with God where a believer has a personal fellowship with God. For you to be able to understand properly the meaning of quiet time, you will first have to understand the meaning of fellowship. The meaning of what? Fellowship with God. So when we talk about fellowship with God, it is to have more intimate relationship with God. The word fellowship means kolonia. The word kolonia is a Greek word which means sharing together, which means communion. And from there we have the communication. Because if there is no communication, there is no word kolonia. In kolonia we communicate, neither in words or in affection. And that is why fellowship is what deepens your relationship with God. Because every time you come to the Lord and say, Lord, this is my personal time with you, you are telling him that you are so important for me to make time for. Anybody you see that says, well, I don't have time, I don't have time, that is why I'm not praying, I don't have time, that is why I'm not waking up in the morning. They are only telling God that God is not important to them. What are they saying? That God is not important to them. So when we talk about fellowship, fellowship comprises of three things. Number one, talking to God through prayer. In fellowship you talk to God through what? Prayer. Number two, hearing from God through the reading and the meditation on the word of God. Praise the Lord. Hearing from God through the reading and the meditation of the word of God. So if you are a Christian, number one, you are not praying, you woke up this morning, you didn't pray, you woke up yesterday, you didn't pray, and till now you have not prayed, and tomorrow you are not going to pray, you are not a true Christian. Number two, hearing from God through reading and the meditation of the word of God. You don't read your Bible, you don't study your Bible. This is just generally taught. 2024. And yet many of us already started missing our Bible reading. From the fourth day, no Bible reading. It shouldn't be like that. When you read three chapters of the Bible daily, you are going to finish the Bible for a year. If you read the Bible six chapters daily, you are going to finish the Bible in six months. If you read the Bible ten chapters daily, you are going to finish the Bible in four months. In four months. Choose the one you are going to do. How will you meditate when you don't read? And there are believers, they say there are believers, Bible they don't read. There are pastors, they don't read their Bibles. They depend on years after years, finishing of the Bible. You finish the Bible ten years ago, we are not talking about what you finished ten years ago. What about now? It's called renewal. Renewal is a daily experience. If it's not a renewal, then it's dead. When there is quiet time, when there is fellowship, you pray in your place of quiet time. Number two, you read your Bible. Let us tell our husbands to read their Bibles. Tell our wives to read their Bibles. One of the enemies of spirituality in these last days is mobile phone. People press and press and press their phone. Intentionally tell yourself this year it must not continue like that. How long have you spent three hours, five hours without your phone? Are you not seeing that the phone is taking a greater part of your life? It's stealing your time. When there was no phone, when you were using a bought phone, or when you were not using a good phone, when you were not always having data to browse, you could pray, you could sing, you could sleep with songs, music, spiritual songs. You were burning for the Lord. The Lord has given you a good job. You have data 24 hours. You have pushed away those commitments. You have thrown away those consecrations. These things are gradually injuring our consistency with God. You press your phone T12. How long will you have your time with God by four? You will be so tired to have time with God by four. And all these things are hindrance of consecration. All these things are the things stopping us from hearing the voice of God. This is New Year. The Lord is beginning to speak to people. Yet you have not heard anything from God. The Lord is beginning to reveal Himself to people at this New Year. Yet you have not heard anything from God. What has God said to you from now, from January 1st to this day? And people are coming saying the Lord said to me this. What has the Lord said to you? Is this how you are going to continue? Not one word from God will you get? And you will hold on to to run to at this year. Not one word from God. How and why? Because we don't have time to spend with God. Fellowship demands you yelling and meditating on God's word. Number three is obedience to every of God's instruction. Fellowship demands obedience, absolute obedience to every of what? God's instruction. Let us go to Psalm 5, verse 3. Psalm 5, verse 3. Are we there? Psalm 5, verse 3. If you are there. Let us read together. If you are there say Amen. Psalm 5, verse 3. My voice shall I hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee. Are we what? Is it our voice or my voice? Eh? It's my voice. David was talking about his quiet time. He said early in the morning. My voice shall you hear in the morning, O God. And in the morning shall I direct my prayer unto Thee. And what? What do you mean of look up? Be in expectation. Be in expectation. You are expecting that what you have prayed for that day you will get for that day. If David could say my voice you will hear in the morning. And God said that this is the man after my own heart. It means for you to be a man after God's own heart. You must be spending time with God every morning. You must be spending time with God every morning. It must be something you do intentionally. You discipline yourself to be doing it. My voice shall I hear in the morning, O Lord. And in the morning shall I direct my prayer unto Thee. And we what? We what? We look up. Psalm 42 verse 1. Psalm chapter 42 verse 1. Psalm 42 verse 1. I'm waiting for you. Amen. Okay. Psalm 42 verse 1. As the earth panted after the water books, so panted my soul after thee, O God. You see, the thing that makes a man to intentionally set a time apart to be meeting with God is hunger, is thirsting. As the earth panted after the water books, so panted my soul after thee. There is a longing in me. There is a burden in me. There is a thirsting in me that makes me to wake up early in the morning. Why my wife is still sleeping? Why my husband is still sleeping? Why the children are still sleeping? There is a burden. There is a longing that wakes me up in the morning to cry to the Lord, to pray to the Lord. Oh, it said, as the earth panted after the water books, so panted my soul after thee. You know, one of the things we were doing those days, I was doing those days. If you, because in my particular church where I got born again, where I was growing up, we have many youths. Praise the Lord. Yes, we have so many youths at that time. And some of these youths, they were not spiritual. So, when I discovered that if I come close to you, you will just want to talk and talk and talk and talk. I will be looking at time, that time. Because I do sleep in brother's house. I can come to this brother's house today. We will be in your house, either for me and you to pray, or just for me to come and sleep. Because my mom at that time, she never wanted me to be around her every time. So, I started going to church to sleep. So, if I don't sleep in church, I will go to brother's house. I will go to this single brother. I will spend the night with him. I will go to the other brother. I was living like that. And I discovered, whenever we are discussing, and the matter is not spiritual, and you keep engaging me in discussion. And I look at the time. Now, 9pm, we are still discussing. 10pm, we are still discussing. I will be thinking about my time. 2 o'clock a.m. In my mind, I will be saying, this guy doesn't know that I have an appointment with God. I will just find a way to just lie down. Say, just keep talking. I am telling you. And from that, we will just do stuff. Are you with me? Because I have an appointment with whom? God. Because you almost made me to miss my personal time with God, I will not come to your house again. I will not come. I was so jealous of my quiet time with God. I was so jealous of it. And it was in my quiet time that I heard the audible voice. The dying God called me to start ministry. It was after about 7 years later of my consistent praying that I heard the audible voice. It is like that. As the deer panted after the water boots, so panted my soul after thee. As the deer. As the ox. If there is no longing in your heart for God, you won't be consistent in your quiet time with God. It is burden. It is hunger in the spirit of a man that makes a man to pray, to read the Bible every time. It is hunger. It is burden. You won't have a quiet time with God if it is not better from what? Burden. From what? From burden. Mark chapter 1 verse 35. Mark chapter 1 verse what? Verse 35. Mark chapter 1 verse 35. The Bible says in verse 35 of Mark, it says, And in the morning, rising up a great while before thee, they went out and departed into a what? A solitary place and there prayed. This was Jesus Christ, our perfect example. Jesus Christ, the perfect standard of God. Jesus Christ, our model. He woke up in the morning before day, before the breaking of the day. Because if the disciples wake up, there will be distraction. So he would wake up in the morning and find a quiet place somewhere to pray. He was doing that every day. He was doing that every day. He was doing that every day. A true Christian will wake up in the morning and spend quality time with God. Spend what? Quality time with God. Wake up in the morning. Unfortunately, there are sleeping bulldozers. People that even 9 o'clock they are still sleeping, 10 they are still sleeping, 11 they are still sleeping. No time for God. They go to bed by 8, wake up by 8 in the next day morning. Sometimes when they wake up by 6, the next day they pick their phone, go to Facebook. Go to WhatsApp, look for the current message. No time with God. There are even nursing mothers who call the Aspergishwa deficiency the only claim that is because they have a child at hand. And that is why they don't have time for God. A wise mother, when the child is sleeping, will be what? Praying. Forget about those excuses. John Wesley's mother had 12 children. He was their teacher. They don't go to school. He was teaching 12 children. Teacher. He was their tailor sewing their clothes. He was their nurse treating them. And he was their mother feeding them. So while the father was not there, and yet he could do that every day. I learned that the woman prayed 2 hours every day secretly. Despite all those... What are you saying? A woman that is burning, tasting for the Lord will do crazy things for who? For God. You don't know that there is a strength that comes to empower a woman who is willing to pay a certain price. You don't know that the moment you agreed and said, despite I have 10 children, I will be praying 2 hours. Even when people will say you are a crazy woman, how can you do that? Because you have made that decision, there is a power from above that can what? Empower you. It is when you start testing your deficiency. When you start encouraging your laziness and say, well, I can't do it. That is when you can't do it. That is the decision you can take. That no matter the child I have, no matter how busy the children are, I am going to spend the time with God. Before they wake up, they will be hearing me murdering employers in the closet. Let the children grow up to say, however, I always hear my mom, always hear my dad, that in the morning, when I was very small till now, you will be hearing daddy, what you will be hearing from daddy's room or from mommy's room is... They are breathing out prayer. As the deer panted after the water boat, so panted my soul after the... It is in the place of quiet time. No quiet time again. And that is why family devotion is a thing of religiosity now. We just make it religious practice. Because even the father and the mother, even the brother doesn't have quiet time alone. No quiet time. A single mother should be able to teach... If there is anything you should teach your child, if there is anything at all, teach them the art and the power of what? Prayer. Not by you sitting them down, but by you doing it for them to see. By you doing it for them to see. Most of our parents, they fail. They never pray nothing in the place of quiet time. We never saw our mother praying. We never saw our father praying. Then why do you want to repeat the same mistake to your children? Let your children know that the only thing my father have, that my father can die doing that thing, is to call upon God. My father, he can die doing that thing. My mother, she can die. That should be the testimony of your children about you. That I can see my father, he can spend hours calling upon God and there is no time my father pray that his prayer is not answered. So that your children will be growing up and one day they will look at God and say, the God of my father answered me. The God that I saw my father praying to every time from childhood, let that God answer me now. Because they have to know God through the dimension of their what? Of their father. In the place of quiet time. They have to know God through the dimension of their mother. In the place of quiet time. Hallelujah. So Jesus was always praying. Jesus was a man of prayer. He was a man that always looked for his secluded place to pray. Daily observance of quiet time is one of the ways of growing near to God. And also it is the source of daily renewing of the mind and spiritual well-being. We cannot fully know God until we start making our time to be alone with God. We cannot fully know what? Know God until we start making our time to be alone with God. I expect sister comfort to always have time. I expect brother idol to always have time. Even though beloved is there, when beloved is sleeping, to always have time to pray. To always have time to battle in the place of prayer. I expect every Christian and every member of this church to find time in the morning before the breaking of the day. You are sobbing in prayer. You are speaking in anxious tongues. Anxious languages. There is a bobbing within you that you cannot express. The only way you can express it is to sob. To groan in prayer. In the quiet place. Let us find the time with God. We claim we have been too busy. Busy and busy and busy, yes. Let us lay a pattern for our children to follow. Even when we are no longer alive, it will be a testimony. Your children can grow up to write a book tomorrow. Today I am a writer. What will your children write about you? Hallelujah. So we cannot really know God until we start making our time to be alone with God. Now what are the importance of daily quiet time with God? I have just seven importance. Number one, when you are always spending time with God through quiet time, number one, God will reveal his mind to you. Praise the Lord. If you are always spending time with God, you wake up in the morning, you read your Bible. I am not talking about family devotion. This is the one that comes before what? Family devotion. The one that it is only you and God. Not you and your wife and God. Not you and your children and God. Not you and your friend and God. No, it is you and God. You wake up early in the morning. If your family devotion is by five in the morning or by 5.30 in the morning, you wake up by four. You wake up by 3.30. To have your time with God, you pray. I will tell you what to do. The activities of quiet time. One of the importance of quiet time is that God will reveal his mind to you. To make God to talk to you about his mind. Number two, quiet time will make you, number two, you will receive spiritual refreshment and strength against depression and temptation. You will receive what? Spiritual refreshment and strength against what? Depression and what? And temptation. When you are feeling depressed, when your heart is heavy, heavy, you are burdened, you are heavily depressed, spend time with God. It will take it away. It will take it away. So, when you are spending time with God, you will be overcoming depression. You will have strength against temptation. When there is temptation coming in the day, you will be able to overcome the temptation because you prayed before that day. You pray at the early hour of that day. Amen. Amen. Number three, our mind gets renewed against evil thoughts and the thoughts of anxiety. Your mind gets renewed against evil thoughts. Evil thoughts cannot stay in your mind for long. Oh, I am thinking about the nakedness of this lady. Anytime I see a man, I always imagine the nakedness of the man. It is because you are not having quiet time with God. When you are having quiet time with the Lord, you will be able to overcome evil thoughts. Whenever I see my neighbor, I always think about it. Whenever I see sister, I always hate sister. Whenever I see brother, I always hate brother. Whenever I see this man, there will just be jealousy and envy in my heart. You don't have time with God. You don't spend time with who? With God. In quiet time, your mind will be getting renewed. Those evil thoughts will be taken away. Number four, we get to understand the Bible well. It is in quiet time we get to what? Understand the Bible what? Well. Are we tired? Yes. It is in quiet time we get to what? Understand the Bible well. Praise the Lord. Number five, it deepens our prayer life. It what? Deepens our prayer life. So when we are having our quiet time regularly, it will make our prayer life to be strong. It will make our prayer life to be deepened. So quiet time deepens your what? Your prayer life. Number six is what? It impacts in us. The Yeshua gift. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let me share the first time, one of the first time I think, the first time I had a prophetic insight. That was more than 10 years ago. It was, I was doing quiet time every day, every day, every day, every day. So one day I went to visit my family. I went to visit my dad, my step mom. I went to visit them and I passed night over there. That was about 13 years ago. So when I passed night over there, I said, okay, let me, I slept. So I woke up by two and I prayed, I prayed the five. So by five I woke them up for quiet time, for money to go short. And while we were singing, we were praying, I was leading them because they were not used to money to go short. I was leading them. Suddenly my eyes got opened and I saw a big tree. I saw a big tree fell. This, hallelujah. And immediately the interpretation came. But we were still praising the Lord when I saw it. And I told them, I said, I'm seeing a danger coming. They were looking at me, how is this young man talking? This is our brother we know now. I said, I'm seeing a tree falling. A very mighty tree from this family. When it falls like this, it will shake everywhere. And I looked at my stepmother. I said, the cloud is thick. It's about to rain. What are you saying? You are speaking parables. I said, the cloud is what? Thick. It's about to rain. A tree is about to fall. I said, let us pray against it. That thing happened between five to six. And by nine o'clock while I was still there, I was about to leave. They just called us. They said, my uncle just died. My uncle was a philanthropist. He's a Muslim. And he has been the only one in my family that has been to Mecca. He had money. Are you with me? And he's so nice, so kind. So nice. He can train people to speak. He was taking care of the community. He was a nice man. And my father loved him so much. Because my father was a direct younger brother following him. Praise the Lord. And by nine o'clock, they just made a call from the village. They said he just died. And that was how they confirmed that. This is our son. He said there's something about you. Praise the Lord. All those things started from the place of what? Quiet time. That is right. Quiet time can help you with your spiritual giftings. When you are consistent there, God will give you a spiritual gift. It's when God sees that you are always praying, suddenly He will just give you a spiritual gift. You will not be aware. Until mystically, He will just say, Emmanuel, come. Maybe you went to somewhere and said, this brother is not fine. Can you just pray? And you say, Father, I live for this boy. I live for this boy. Suddenly the two eyes will be opened. People will be shouting, ha! Before they got surprised, what would be the first word? A surprise. Because you have gathered energy in the place of quiet time. You don't know that it's in the quiet time you gather energy, waiting for explosion. It is quiet time. That's when you are consistent in quiet time. You are not afraid of any devil. You are not afraid of who? Of any devil. It's in the place of quiet time. We must be consistent in what? In quiet time. It can impact unto us spiritual gifts. Number seven, it brings about spiritual growth. It brings about what? Spiritual growth. It makes you to grow. Praise the Lord. Forget about somebody that says, I gave my life to Christ ten years ago. If the person gave his life to Christ ten years ago and is not having quiet time with God every time, you that gave your life to Christ one year ago will become more spiritual than who? Than that person. You don't know. Somebody can give his life to Christ 90, 80. It doesn't matter. If the person is not coherent with God, Sister Comfort, if they give you newspaper of two years ago, if they give you newspaper of two years ago, will you read it? Even though you read it, what will you read it for? If the news is not coherent. If, for example, you read two years ago, that, oh, this thing happened in Ecuador, and they killed two people two years ago, will you say, hey, Jesus. Can I take part in that today? This was two years ago that they robbed the bank. You are still saying, can I take part in that today? Are you with me now? So somebody gave his life to Christ ten years ago. It's not coherent with God. It's a forgotten person. It's an historical person. When you meet them, before you explain born again, they will teach you born again, but they don't have power. The Bible says that they know, it says, they profess to know the Lord, but in their works they deny the Lord. Quiet time is important. And that is why if you want to know whether your husband is backsliding, ask him, are you still praying alone? Are you still reading your Bible? The moment your husband doesn't spend time alone with God, my sister, you are in big danger. Anything can happen. That's why you shouldn't be surprised. When somebody stops reading his Bible, somebody stops praying, you shouldn't be surprised of the kind of sin he can commit. Because he can commit any kind of sin. Praise the Lord. When you discover your wife is not reading the Bible again, your wife is not always spending time with God again. She doesn't wake up in the morning to pray. She can do anything. She can scatter that home. She can ruin that home anytime. So expect anything dangerous from her. Anybody that doesn't spend time with God alone, anything dangerous can come from them. They can even use you for ritual. So quiet time is one of the ways we secure ourselves in God. Hallelujah. So what are the best times for quiet time? What are the best periods for you to be praying? What are the best periods for you to be having time with God? Number one, a solitary period. What is the meaning of solitary? A quiet period. When I was in school, I went to electrical engineering. When they were teaching us electrical engineering, they were teaching us about power. One of our courses is called power. Power one, power two, power three. So when they are teaching you power, there is what is called peak period. Peak period is between 7, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. If you want to measure the peak period of the power factor or the power controlling environment that they are consuming, you don't check it in the afternoon. You check it in the morning. Because between 6 to 9, many people use a lot of electricity. Either they are earning their clothes for work or they are using electric stove. Are you with me? So this is the period they capture. They call it peak period. In the peak period, you are able to get the power factor that controls that they are using, consuming at that period. Are you getting me now? So there must be a time you should be spending with God. It must be a quiet period. And that is why I will not tell you that holy morning is comfortable. If you are living in a comfortable environment, in those days, I was living in a place called Pesuas. By 4.30 a.m., you can hear somebody put the smoke. These people from Manambra state, I can shower. In the morning, we all hear, hey, hey, hey, I can shower. With all those heavy compact bits, your brain will be shaking. Are you with me? These of you who read the Bible and meditate, you will be thinking about this song. Are you getting me now? And when I observe that you can't do quieter by 5, I have to shit my own to talk. Are you with me? So I became the one to be waking them up with songs. I play Jim Reeves. The moment I think about quieter, I will just put a song, Latif. Do, do, do, do. 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