Category: 31 Days of Quiet

Motivate: To Inspire a Response

. . . just say the word . . .
(Matthew 8:8 NIV)


What motivates me, most likely, is different than what motivates you. When I am weary, I need to take a nap in the middle of the day. When I feel depleted of ideas, I need to go and play in my art room. When I feel bored with my quiet time, I need to seek God’s presence with creativity and variety. 

Another thing that energizes me is definitions! If I’m experiencing  a dry time with God, I ask for a word. Just one word to keep me moving towards God. Sometimes the word brings much joy, like desire, my One Word for the year. Or they can be convicting, like today, while I was reading Jesus Calling: 

“To live in My Presence consistently, you must expose and expel your rebellious tendencies.”

Ouch! And further into the reading, God exposed and thankfully helped me to expel some resentment. God brings these words to mind for my well-being and wholeness, and for that I am ever grateful.


In 30 Ways Wake up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel shares some clever ways to use a slogan or catchy phrase to jolt your quiet time:

We’re a T-shirt society. Give us a slogan, cause or  catchy saying and we’ll wear it on our back. I listen to sermons frequently. Yet only a few stick out in my mind. One was a series Jill Briscoe did for leaders. Every day in every message Jill would use the Nike commercial slogan and say, Just Do It! 

Now in ministry when I am so exhausted…I feel I can’t go on, I hear a gentle reminder, Just do it…On those days I don’t feel like having my quiet time I hear Just do it!

Pam made her own T-shirt to illustrate a talk she gave on perseverance:

On the front it has a cross. On the back: He went the distance for me, I can live this moment for him! I know that perseverance is a complex subject. There are hundreds of verses on the topic, but when I am dead tired what keeps me motivated is that saying, that word picture of all Jesus did on the cross for me. 

She invites us to create our own slogan to inspire our devotion to God:

Try it! See if you can create an internal motivating saying for one of these spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, worship, Bible study or holiness. Think of how it might fit on a …T-shirt.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com



I would love to hear any great slogans you come up with! Share with us in the comments!

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Fast: To Abstain From


This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
(Isaiah 58:6-9 The Message)


Spiritual fasting is often associated with abstaining from food. When I found this passage from Isaiah, I was amazed to note that the kind of fast that pleases God is the one that abstains from sin and selfishness. And instead embraces justice, compassion, service and practical presence in the lives of those in need. 

In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel points out another benefit of fasting:

The  most encouraging benefit of fasting is sometimes overlooked because it is so simple: fasting changes our pace, our focus and our hearts so we have fewer distractions. A fast gives us quality time with God.

She goes on to list Scriptures that define situations that called for fasting: 

Times of mourning (Matthew 9:14-15), times of decision (1 Kings 21:12), consecration to God (2 Chronicles 20:3), repentance (Jonah 3:5), intercession (Esther 4:16), overcome sin (Isaiah 58:6)

Before fasting, please pray and ask God what kind of fast that He wants from you. If you have never participated in a food fast before, please read up on the practice or ask someone who has experience to share some tips and guidelines. Each person’s physical capability to fast differs. 

Pam reminds us that fasting means taking a break from the routine, in order to connect with God: 

 Anytime you break the routine and give God the time, he is faithful to meet you there. Give up something to gain more.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam www.Love-wise.com


What will you do this week to gain more time with God?


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Refresh: To Give Someone More Of

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.
(Isaiah 40:8 NIV)


Trees are ever changing their outward appearance season after season. Tiny buds to full, verdant foliage, to multi-colored leaves that drop to the ground, to bare branches; each version of a tree gives me something to appreciate. The hope of new life in the spring, the shade of summer, the rich palette of autumn and the stark, clear view of the winter sky. When I embrace the offering of each season in perspective, I am refreshed.

Trees also remind me that summer does not last forever; seasons fade, but the Word of the Lord remains constant.

Pam Farrel encourages us to change it up with our Bible versions:

Sometimes when we read and reread passages, they become such familiar territory  that we don’t see the word afresh. But God’s Word is alive! We need to find ways to heart hear the words of Scripture as if we were reading them for the first time. 

One way to do this is to read a different translation or to read a variety of translations to gain a different perspective on the same passage.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam www.Love-wise.com



With biblegateway.com comparing translations has become so much easier. Here are some samples of a favorite verse about rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  
(NASB)

Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 
(GOD’S WORD Translation)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
(KJV)

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
(The Message, Matthew 11:28-30)



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Promise: Reason to Expect Something


God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
(Psalm 18:30 NLT)


The first promise besides “that whosever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life” that I “claimed” in my youth was from the book of Hebrews. I found the promise in the Gideon’s Bible, when I went to Buffalo for my Air Force physical. It was my first time away from home, my first physical as a teen-aged girl and I was embarking on the adventure of my life. 

I had known Jesus from Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. He was my Savior, but I was just beginning to understand that He wanted to be the Lord of my life. After graduation, on the advice of some mentors from church I met with the Air Force recruiter. My youth leaders taught me to seek His will through prayer and Scriptures. So when I found the Gideon’s Bible in my hotel room, I came across a page with topics, like loneliness. Under that topic, I looked up verses on trust.

As I read the words from Hebrews 13:5b, I experienced the personal promise of Jesus that He would never leave nor forsake me. And time after time, as I left home for basic training and being stationed in the Philippines, I would rehearse that promise in my heart.

The other life long promise He gave me that night in the hotel was a directive and a promise: 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
(Proverbs 3:5,6 NASB)

Whenever I was lonely for home or afraid for my future, God would bring this promise back to mind. A mere two years after God gave the promise to me, I would be surprised that someone else knew this promise as well.

I was stationed in Del Rio, Texas at Laughlin AFB during the spring of 1986, and I was dating this handsome fellow. And I was praying hard to know if it was God’s will for us to become a married couple. One day he left for a trip, and I borrowed his car. He left a note encouraging me that we would trust God together and at the end he wrote, Proverbs 3:5,6! (I had never told him that it was my guiding promise!)

We were engaged by May of that year and exchanged vows on October 18, 1986. (Twenty-seven years ago today.) God keeps his promises.


What promise has God made to you? Have you ever written it on a 3×5 card, like Pam Farrel suggests in her book, 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time? 

Here’s a creative way her family shared promises one year:

One Christmas my mother gave every daughter and daughter-in-law in the family the same quiet time book and journal. When we saw each other throughout the year, we shared promises that we had gleaned from God for our own lives–and each other’s.

Creating your own Bible promise book can help you navigate the pain of grief…or loss. God knows what your pain is and His Word can be a healing balm.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com





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Quest: To Go on a Journey to Find Something


Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; 
knock and the door will be opened to you. 
(Matthew 7:7 NIV)


Did you ever notice that the word question has quest in it? Ever since, my friend, Lynni, pointed this out, I have approached questions with a whole new zeal. I love journeys, adventures and quests. Especially quests that involve words. My favorite kind of quest is searching a trail through the dictionary. I start out looking for the definition of one word, and that leads to another and then another and another. Sometimes, I even get sidetracked by a word that I wasn’t even looking for!

Questions lead us in a quest for deeper knowledge and deeper intimacy with Christ. Asking questions helps to sort out what we believe, and searching for the answers prepares us to give a reason for our hope.

In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel invites us to ask all kinds of questions during our quiet times with the expectation that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the answers. She advises:

Spend a quiet time writing out a list of theological questions that you’d love to know the answer to. Which doctrines do you need to learn more about: eschatology (end times), the person of Christ, the Holy Spirit, baptism, sin or sanctification? 

After you’ve written a list…go to a Christian bookstore to buy a book that will help you study…try asking your pastor what theology books he or she had to read in seminary or Bible college. 

Think of questions  people who don’t know Jesus ask. Make a list and research biblical responses…For example, I have answers to questions like: Why should I wait until marriage for sex? Why should I believe the Bible? What makes Jesus so special? What happens to people who don’t accept Jesus? What is heaven like? What is hell like? What does God have to say that will help me be a better parent?

Ask other believers: Why do you still believe, and what has held your faith together all these years? Listen for commonalities. 

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com

What question is burning in your heart today?


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