Session Purpose
In this session, we will learn a simple, sustainable pattern for a Daily Quiet Time using the 5Rs, the 3EQ, and PTCIP. We will memorize and consider how our union with Christ leads to daily communion with Christ.
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for uniting us to Christ. Give us a growing desire to hear your Word, respond in prayer, and live each day by faith in your Son. Teach us to seek you faithfully without turning this practice into a measure of our worth or acceptance. Amen.
Union and Communion with Christ
Union with Christ is our once-for-all relationship with Christ, established by the Holy Spirit and received through faith. Our acceptance with God rests upon Christ and his finished work, not upon the quality of our spiritual disciplines.
Communion with Christ is our continuing enjoyment of and response to that relationship. Through Scripture and prayer, we know Christ more deeply, renew our minds, confess sin, receive wisdom, and grow in obedience.
A Daily Quiet Time does not create or preserve our union with Christ. It helps us cultivate daily communion with the Christ to whom we already belong.
Jesus’ Example of Communion
Read .
After an exhausting evening of ministry, Jesus arose early, withdrew to a deserted place, and prayed. Jesus did not withdraw because people’s needs were unimportant. He withdrew to commune with his Father and remain faithful to the mission for which he had come.
- What pressures and expectations surrounded Jesus?
- What deliberate actions did Jesus take in order to pray?
- How did communion with his Father help Jesus respond to the demands of the crowd?
Jesus’ example does not require every Christian to pray before sunrise. It does show the importance of intentionally withdrawing from distractions to seek God.
A Simple Daily Quiet Time
A Daily Quiet Time is a regular, intentional time of communion with God through Scripture and prayer. Begin with fifteen to twenty minutes. Choose a realistic time, a relatively quiet place, a Bible, and a notebook.
Use the 5Rs as one rhythm: Request, Read, Reflect, Restate, and Respond. During Reflect, observe what the passage says and interpret it in context; the three essential questions (3EQ) help you consider its significance. Restate its main truth in your journal. During Respond, pray through PTCIP and identify a MAP application. These tools serve the five Rs rather than adding separate tasks.
Request
Ask God to give you understanding, faith, humility, and a willing heart.
A simple prayer might be: Father, open my eyes to understand your Word. Help me see Christ clearly, trust what you say, and respond in faithful obedience.
Read
Read a manageable passage slowly at least twice. Notice:
- Repeated words and ideas
- Commands and promises
- Comparisons and contrasts
- Causes and results
- Statements about God and people
- Connections with Christ and the gospel
Reflect Using the 3EQ
Ask three essential questions:
- What does this passage teach me about God—his character, works, purposes, or ways?
- What does it reveal about humanity, myself, or the world?
- What would God have me know, trust, become, or do?
Seek first to understand what the biblical author is saying. Then consider how its truth should shape your faith and life.
Restate
Express the passage’s main truth in one clear sentence. State what the author is teaching rather than merely describing what the passage made you feel.
Respond Using PTCIP
Turn the truth of the passage into prayer:
- Praise: Worship God for who he is.
- Thanksgiving: Thank God for what he has done and given.
- Confession: Admit a particular sin, false belief, or misplaced desire.
- Intercession: Pray for another person in light of the passage.
- Petition: Ask God to supply what you need to believe and obey his Word.
Not every passage will lead naturally to all five kinds of prayer. PTCIP is a guide for balanced prayer, not a formula that must be forced upon every passage.
Conclude by identifying one faithful response:
With Christ’s help, I will…
Use MAP to make this response measurable, attainable, and personal. Measurable means clear enough to review, not that every aspect of growth can be counted. Attainable means a realistic next step in dependence upon God. Personal means your own response, rather than a change you demand from someone else. For example: “With Christ’s help, I will ask forgiveness from the person I spoke harshly to before our next meeting.” Let the passage determine the response; some passages call first for renewed trust, gratitude, or patient endurance.
Memory Passage
“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - NET2
Memorize the verse in phrases:
- I have been crucified with Christ,
- and it is no longer I who live,
- but Christ lives in me.
- So the life I now live in the body,
- I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God,
- who loved me and gave himself for me.
Practice a Daily Quiet Time
Use to practice the 5Rs.
Request
Ask God to help you understand what it means to be united to Christ and to live by faith in him.
Read
Read slowly at least twice.
Reflect
Use the 3EQ:
- What does this passage teach about God’s grace and Christ’s work?
- What does it reveal about our inability to make ourselves righteous before God?
- Because you have been crucified with Christ and Christ lives in you, how should you now live?
Restate
Summarize the main truth of in one sentence.
Respond
Use PTCIP to turn the passage into prayer. Then identify one specific way you will live by faith in Christ today.
I will …
Interpretive Summary
In , Paul teaches that sinners are declared righteous through faith in Christ rather than through works of the law. United to Christ in his death, believers now live new, embodied lives through trusting dependence upon the Son of God who loved them and gave himself for them.
Daily communion with Christ is therefore not an attempt to earn God’s acceptance. It is the grateful practice of living by faith in the Christ who already loved us, gave himself for us, and now lives in us.
Fourteen Daily Quiet Time Passages
These optional passages support ongoing Daily Quiet Times. Choose a manageable passage for each time with God; you do not need to finish this list before the next meeting. Continue the 5Rs, letting the passage guide your prayer and one MAP response.
- Week 1
— Jesus withdraws to pray
— Christ lives in us
— Abiding in Christ
— United with Christ in his death and resurrection
— Life in Christ through the Spirit
— Fellowship with Christ
— Transformed by the Spirit
- Week 2
— Every spiritual blessing in Christ
— Made alive with Christ
— Christ magnified in life and death
— Knowing Christ as our greatest treasure
— Rooted and established in Christ
— Christ, who is our life
— Remaining in the Son
Training Another Christian
Help another Christian begin a Daily Quiet Time:
Explain that communion with Christ flows from union with Christ.
Demonstrate the 5Rs using a short passage.
Practice the process together.
Help the person choose a realistic time, place, and passage.
Follow up with encouragement rather than guilt or pressure.
Preparing for Session 3
Before the next meeting:
- Learn at a manageable pace, including the reference. Review a small selection of earlier passages, rotating them through the week.
- Practice a realistic rhythm of Daily Quiet Times using the 5Rs. Record one main truth and a MAP response rather than completing a separate worksheet.
- Demonstrate one part of the 5Rs to a fellow participant or another Christian; practice together if possible.
- Bring one insight or question and one experience of applying the passage. Share only what you choose.