Friday night.
It's not the night to go clubbing, nor partying.

It's YF!
Youth Fellowship!

Throughout the whole week before YF, I occasionally pause and consider not going...
Somehow my brain comes up with pathetic excuses:

i need to study
i'll be too tired after school
it's too far


But then somehow I manage to go.
Somehow. ^_^

It's been three weeks already since I started attending,
and each week either Will/Keene have offered to fetch me there.
Transportation, check.

Judith also recently posted a wake-up call on Facebook that stated the importance of God in our lives:
why stay at home and procrastinate for 5 hours about doing homework,
when you could be sitting in God' House learning more about him? ^_^

And each time after YF I just feel so...
Comforted?
Relieved?
Haha... Like I was just really glad that I decided to go.

Today's message really struck me though!

"QT Habits"

How do non-Christians even cope with life without God ahhh
It's like who do you turn to when you feel down???

Anyway the message was gooood.
It's been way too long since i did QT (Quiet Time)!

QT = reading the bible and learning lessons, a few verses at a time.
 and also TALKING TO GOD!

It's AN APPOINTMENT WITH GOD

Sigh i felt so bad for ditching QT ever so often, just for more sleep or more gaming time...
Kinda like your friend arranged to eat dinner with you but then just stood you up...

(except that this Friend is the CREATOR OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE)

Also I was advised to ♪SING♫ before starting to read the Bible
[to prep my heart to worship God]
It's a novel idea! I think I'll try it. :)

***

Sing, Pray, Read, Pray.
Notice how they're all verbs: this means you have to put in EFFORT when doing QT!
Prayer is repeated because it's important!

***
Cleansing ourselves with the Word using SOAP:

Scripture       [reading the scripture]
Observation  [what lesson can you learn from this portion of scripture?]
Application   [apply it to your life!]
Prayer           [ahbuden]

 ***
And Prayer consists of...

Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

***

We have to ensure that we keep this appointment with God!

1) we need to DESIRE God.
Just like how we want to meet up with friends, we must also want to meet with God!
God > anything

2) pick your PEAK time to do QT!
Why should we meet God at our lowest energy level, after sports and homework?
We ought to go to Him at our peak!

3) find a good place to do QT
Somewhere where you can be still, and concentrate on the Word.

4) we need the right tools!
e.g daily devotionals (Daily Manna, RPG)
AND also the right ATTITUDE.
don't be a grouchypants when doing QT~

***

Lastly, some tips →
Don't be overly ambitious in doing QT! You don't have to finish a whole chapter in one session if your stamina's not that good.
slow and steady wins the race...

Go at your own pace of QT, you don't have to compare with others!
After all what's important is IMPROVEMENT.

NOW GO DO SOME QT