Quiet Time

Definition and Meaning

Kyuti is the Korean pronunciation of QT, the abbreviation for "Quiet Time." It is also called "devotional time." It is a personal spiritual discipline in which one sets aside a quiet period during the day to read an assigned passage of the Bible, reflect on its meaning (meditation), identify ways to apply it to one's life, and close in prayer. Among Korean church members, the term is used both as a verb and as a noun, as in "doing QT" or "today's QT passage."

A commonly used sequence is as follows:

• A short prayer to prepare the heart
• Reading and observing the passage (What does it say?)
• Interpretation and meditation (What does it mean?)
• Application (What will I do in my life?)
• Resolution and prayer

Biblical and Historical Background

Those who practice Quiet Time cite as its basis passages such as Psalm 1:2, which calls blessed the one whose "delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night"; Joshua 1:8; and Mark 1:35, which records that Jesus rose early in the morning and prayed in a solitary place.

The tradition of reading Scripture slowly and meditating on it is ancient. Medieval monasteries practiced lectio divina ("divine reading"), which continues today in the Catholic Church. After the Reformation, this tradition was carried forward in Protestantism through Puritan disciplines of meditation and the rules for devotional living of figures such as John Wesley. The practice reportedly took standardized form under the name "Quiet Time" through the student mission movements and mission organizations of the English-speaking world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korea, Quiet Time was spread widely by campus mission organizations such as Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship Korea (IVF) and Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). It subsequently became established as a basic discipline in the discipleship training and small group programs of local churches. Monthly QT guides containing daily passages and commentary are published by various publishers and organizations, and many churches use them regardless of denomination. Some churches base the sermon at the early morning prayer meeting on the day's QT passage, and members may share their week's QT reflections in district or cell group meetings. Today many people also do their Quiet Time using smartphone apps.

Quiet Time is not an institution of any particular denomination but a personal devotional habit practiced across many denominations. Accordingly, denominations do not have their own official regulations governing it. There are, however, differences in emphasis:

• Presbyterians of a Reformed orientation stress the context and sound interpretation of the passage.
• Methodist and Holiness churches in the Wesleyan tradition often connect it with devotional discipline aimed at sanctification.
• The Anglican Church of Korea maintains, alongside personal Quiet Time, the tradition of daily prayer following the church calendar.

The practice has also drawn criticism. The most common concern is that reading a passage apart from its context, according to one's personal feelings, can lead to subjective interpretation. In response, proponents of Quiet Time recommend balancing it with Bible study and reading through the Bible. In addition, because of the word "meditation," Quiet Time is sometimes mentioned in connection with debates over contemplative prayer; however, typical Quiet Time differs from contemplative prayer in that it centers on reading and applying the biblical text.