One Thing I Seek

Before You Begin

Learning to Meet with God in His Word and Prayer

A daily quiet time is a deliberate opportunity to attend to God’s Word and respond to him in faith, worship, and prayer. It is not a way to earn his welcome. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the forgiveness he secured through his death for us. Our sins no longer stand against us: we are reconciled to God, welcomed as his children, and given his Spirit. This is the joy of belonging to God under his new covenant of grace.

One Thing I Seek helps you turn that privilege into a sustainable practice. Whether you are beginning after D3DStart, returning after a difficult season, or learning to encourage another believer, bring a Bible, a notebook, and a teachable heart. You do not need an impressive vocabulary, a long spiritual history, or a particular emotional experience.

Our Biblical Foundation

In Colossians 1:9–14, Paul prays for spiritual wisdom and understanding that lead to a life pleasing to the Lord: fruit in good deeds, growing knowledge of God, strength for patient endurance, and joyful thanksgiving. The foundation is what God has done: the Father has qualified and rescued his people, bringing them into his beloved Son’s kingdom, where they have redemption and forgiveness. We seek understanding as people dependent on this grace. Psalm 27:4 gives us the language of desire; 1 Peter 2:1–3 calls us to turn from sin and long for nourishment because we have experienced the Lord’s kindness.

A Simple Rhythm to Learn and Share

Begin with a brief prayer and, when helpful, five to seven minutes of worship. Then review Scripture you are memorizing, mingling praise and thanksgiving with your review. An established review might include about twelve familiar verses; a beginner can start with one or two. Music and a large memory collection are not prerequisites for meeting with God.

1. Request: ask God to open your eyes to understand his Word, surrendering yourself to him and his will.
2. Read: attend carefully to the passage, expecting God to teach you through what he has actually said.
3. Reflect: meditate on its words and meaning in context, turning your observations into prayer.
4. Restate: write its meaning in your own words without changing its message.
5. Respond: answer with faith, prayer, and obedience. Where appropriate, make your application MAP: Measurable, Attainable, and Personal.

Prayer runs through the whole time. PTCIP offers helpful prompts: Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession, and Petition. These are aids to relationship, not boxes that must all be checked before God will hear you. Journaling helps you remember what you have understood, what remains a question, and how you intend to respond.

The Eight-Session Path

1. One Thing I Seek: receive God’s welcome and experience a guided quiet time.
2. Prepare to Meet with God: understand the spiritual battle and make a realistic plan.
3. Hear His Word: read attentively and understand the passage in context.
4. Let His Word Dwell in You: practice meditation, Scripture memory, and review.
5. Walk in His Ways: respond with faith and personal, attainable obedience.
6. Draw Near in Prayer: learn Scripture-shaped prayer with PTCIP.
7. Keep Seeking Together: persevere through distraction, dryness, and missed days with encouragement.
8. Help Someone Else Begin: demonstrate, practice together, and help another person develop a sustainable rhythm.

Practice, Not Performance

Each session combines biblical teaching, a worked example, practice, reflection, and a manageable next step. Allow approximately 45–60 minutes to study and practice a session; your ordinary daily quiet time may be shorter. The aim is not to reproduce someone else’s schedule but to grow in knowing Christ, becoming like him, and making him known.

Choose one of the two suggested songs in each session, or worship without a recording. The selections support the lesson’s biblical theme; they are not endorsements of everything associated with an artist or ministry. Links open recordings on YouTube. No song lyrics or recordings are reproduced here.

Share what you are learning without requiring anyone to reveal private journal entries or personal confessions. From the beginning, keep a simple pattern in mind: someone demonstrates, you practice together, you practice with encouragement, and then you help someone else begin. Your quiet time belongs within life with Christ’s church, not in place of gathered worship, fellowship, or service.