In My Quiet Time: Going Deeper

By Pete Prescott

When I truly surrendered my life to the Lord in 1992, I promised the Lord that I would read His Word daily for the rest of my life. I made a covenant with Him to spend time with Him first and foremost every day. My quiet time with Him daily has changed my life and is still is changing my life to this very day. The devotions that you will read are not mine, but His. Every day I go to my office, think of a verse, and He shares with me what to write. I was not satisfied with where I was in knowing Him, so I keep going deeper each and every day. He has been so faithful to teach me the deep truths that are hidden on each page of my Bible. My prayer is that everyone who reads these devotions will come to know Him more and keep going deeper with Him. "In this world we are like Jesus" (1 John 4:17b).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886443561

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Focus on Jesus

Forgive or Else

Yield to the Spirit

Narrow Gate or Broad?

Remain in Him

The Lie and the Entertaining

Will We Believe the Red Letters?

Keep Hoping

Surrender to Jesus

Do We Have Faith?

Is He My Portion?

We Cannot Make People Grow

Let This Be Us

Where Do We Hide?

Lives Worthy of God

The Work and Purpose of Christ

Love and Jesus

Give Him Our Best

Jesus Prayed for Us

Choose Wisely

Are We Truly Blessed?

Crucify Worldly Desires

Let the Peace of God In

Are We Talkers or Doers?

Sin Separates Us from God

Acknowledge Jesus to All

Are We Called?

Always Moving Forward

Do We Truly Believe This?

We Must Die and It Will Be Good

Are We Pure?

Forgive or Else

Are We New?

Walk Blamelessly

Only One Master

The Invitation

The Wisdom of Job

Do We Hunger and Thirst?

A Win-Win Irony

A Great Incentive and Promise

We Must Do

Separation from God

The Word Is Alive and Active

For All People

Do We Love?

Jesus Knows Who Loves Him

The Last Days and Us

How to Change Ourselves and the World around Us

What Did They Have That We Don't Have?

Are We Devoted and Productive?

He Listens and Knows

The Importance of Righteousness

Brought from Death to Life

Jesus, Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment

A Promise and Encouragement

We Must Choose Daily

David, Goliath, and Us

Out of the Mouth

Mercy, Truth, and Witness

Do We Love Him Perfectly?

Up to Us!

How We Know That We Are Christians

Sad but True

Strong Warning for All

Study or Fellowship?

We Were Not Born Sinners and Our Names Were Not Written in His Book

Hear My Voice

A Living Sacrifice

Glorify God and Give Thanks

Are We Resurrected?

Do We Believe the Scriptures?

Are We Good Examples?

He Is There

Do What We Say/Do Not Be a Fool'

We Are All Teachers

Stand Firm

Our Choice

Are We Committed?

Jesus Is Not Kidding

Are We Washed Clean?

Jesus Prays for Us

Do We Understand?

Choose Only the Light

Who and What Are We Living For?

Scoffer or Follower

Rock, Salvation, Fortress, and Not Shaken

Pharisee or Disciple?

Walk in Obedience

This Is Our God

Realm of the Spirit

About the Author

cover.jpg

In My Quiet Time

Going Deeper

Pete Prescott

ISBN 979-8-88644-355-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88644-356-1 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Pete Prescott

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Focus on Jesus

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

—1 Corinthians 9:24–25

The first thing any great runner learns is, Do not look back or to either side, but keep your eyes on the finish line, or else it will slow you down. This is exactly what we all need to hear today, right now! We live in a fallen world with every form of attraction around us. We live in a world that can be like a circus, which is full of chaos and worldly people. If we are not totally focused on Jesus and the calling in which we are called to, then we are not going to make it.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (1 Cor. 9:25).

To all who have heard the gospel need to focus on this scripture. Are we in strict training? Christianity is a race, and eternity is getting nearer and nearer to us all. The crown is the prize of eternity with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should be reading our Bibles daily (not just devotionals), attending Bible studies, and active in our church. We are called to make disciples, take care of the widows and orphans, pray without ceasing, and, above all, share the gospel. This is all part of running the race. It is a long-distance race, but we are called to sprint, not walk. Today is a new day. Today is a day in which we should all slip on our track shoes and run as only one will win the prize. Will we?

Forgive or Else

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

—Matthew 6:14–15

It is extremely easy to overlook the importance of forgiveness. Jesus spells out the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy to do especially when someone has hurt us, wounded us, or have broken our trust. God forgives us when we have sinned against Him, so how can we not forgive others when they have sinned against us?

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus is no longer suggesting that we forgive, but He is letting us know that if we do not, then the outcome will result in God not forgiving us. If God does not forgive us, then we, too, will suffer the fate of an unbeliever.

What we choose to do will have everything to do with our relationship with Him. If we continue to sin, then we will be separated from Him. If we do not show mercy, we will not receive mercy. If we choose to not forgive, then it will cost us our eternity. Not forgiving someone basically is saying, I am God and I can do as I please! Think twice, my friends, on what we choose. Choose to forgive no matter what, then we will receive forgiveness and live eternally.

Yield to the Spirit

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

—Romans 8:12–13

If we want to belong to Jesus, then we must yield to His spirit from now on. There has to be a total change, not a partial one.

Our flesh and its desires always lead us to spiritual death. It led us to do things that pleased ourselves instead of God. The flesh led us to separation from God (Isaiah 59:2).

When we surrendered our lives to Jesus, repented, and were brought into right standing with Him, the Holy Spirit came into our lives in order to lead us and guide us to a life pleasing to God always. The Holy Spirit warns us about the misdeeds of our body, and we have to choose not to do so. It is our obligation to choose the right way because Jesus died for us.

Take time right now to examine what we think is of God or opposed to God in our lives. If there is anything in our lives that is not pleasing to God, we must realize that it is our flesh and we must put it away for good by repenting of it. Now, allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us from this moment forward. Contrary to what we have been taught, we must realize that if we remain in the flesh, we will die rather than live. What will we choose?

Narrow Gate or Broad?

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

—Matthew 7:13–14

Jesus is not kidding or suggesting; He is stating a fact. Unfortunately for most, they have been taught that the narrow gate is actually a wide gate. They have been taught that no one can be holy or righteous, but as long as we have accepted Jesus, how we live now is not important. Sin remains rampant in their lives, and the world still has grip on their lives.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus makes it clear that only few will find it. Those who truly are entering the small gate are those who spend time in the Word, pray without ceasing, share Christ with others, are making disciples, and have died to self. They are those who are devoted and committed to Him before themselves. They no longer entertain or make excuses for their sin; they crucify it.

Which gate are we truly going through right now? Are we living a lie or walking in truth? I thought that I was walking through the small gate for years until the Word revealed to me that I was still walking through