The Student Leader's Time Alone with God

Written by Richard Barnes

Every student ministry leader experiences highs and lows. Recently, two of our student Sunday School teachers told me about personal notes of appreciation they received from teenagers in their department. Just one letter like this goes a long way to recharge a struggling leader's spiritual batteries!

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But what do you do when the letters or words of affirmation don't come? What do you do when a student rejects what you are teaching? To teach like the Master Teacher, you have to do what Jesus did as a normal pattern of His life: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there." (Mark 1:35, HCSB®). In this case, Jesus prayed early in the morning and out-of-doors. When and where you get alone with God is up to you, but you must carve out time alone with the Father if you are going to teach like Jesus taught.

The simple truth is "The leader is the lesson," especially in this matter of helping students develop a personal time of daily devotions. Teenagers will imitate our devotional life, whether we invite them to or not. So, let's set a good example - let's pray! Here are some practical ideas to help you find consistency and depth in your time alone with God:

Make sure the Bible is your primary resource for your time alone with God.
Devotional resources are tools that can give direction and purpose. Personally, I like using ec: Essential Connection because it reminds me of the struggles teenagers are facing. Also, I like to divide up the lesson commentary in the leader guide into five devotional readings to let God's Word speak to me before I try to teach it to the students. Hopefully, I can then teach from the "overflow" of what God says to me daily.

Other books may have a place in your devotional time as well. Just be careful that you do not become overly-dependent on someone else's experiences with God and neglect your own. It can be easy to set aside time in God's Word when we are entrenched in a good book from a Christian author. Learning from others is a part of the journey, but nothing can take the foundational place of God's Word in our lives.

Follow a consistent process (without making it ritualistic) and record your thoughts in a journal as often as you can.
Here's a seven-step process you can use which you might find helpful:

1. Pray. Ask God to speak to you.
2. Read God's Word.
3. Write down what God says to you through His Word.
4. Pray again, reflecting on His Word.
5. Write an application statement of what God is saying to you, such as an attitude change or action to take.
6. Read the devotional thought.
7. Pray, confess, and surrender your life to obey Him.

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, a group that is noted for its effective training in personal evangelism and discipleship, lived by the principle of "HWLW: His Word, Last Word." He tried to make it a daily practice to read God's Word as the last exercise before he fell asleep each night. What a wonderful way to walk with God - start each day in His Word and end each day with His Word.

Strive for consistency, not perfection.
Spending time alone with God is about investing in a relationship with the Creator, not about measuring up to some legalistic bar. You don't invest time in your other relationships - with your spouse, senior pastor, friends & other family - for the sake of "checking it off" your list of things you're supposed to do. Neither should you approach your devotional time that way. Being consistent in your personal time with God is more important than checking off your quiet time on your daily task list. It might be better for you to spend 30 minutes with God every other day than a rushed 5-15 minutes on a daily basis.