Keeping a Quiet Heart in Disquieting Times
I.
Your Top Priority
II. Your time in the Word
III. Your Trials
IV. Your Trust
V. Your Talk
VI. Your Territory
VII. Your Testimony
Today more than ever a woman is challenged with keeping her heart and habits
aligned with God's Word so she can remain grounded in faith and be a sound example to
others. The purpose of this study is to encourage and help women pursue a quiet spirit
and proper focus, especially during unsettling circumstances. The expected benefit from
participating in this study is to develop Godly patterns of thinking and behavior that will
help you to maintain a quiet spirit and positive influence on family, church family and
community. Like the ripples of one small pebble tossed in a pond, one quiet spirit can
have a far-reaching effect.
This study is designed for individual or small group use. The study is divided into
seven lessons. Each lesson begins with studying the scripture and answering several
questions. An “On your Own” section at the end of each lesson gives suggestions for
application of the lesson throughout the week.
Memory Verse:
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Pro 4:23
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I. Your Top Priority
A. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls. Mat 11:29
B. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Pro 4:23
diligence - with haste; earnestness in accomplishing or striving after anything
C. Let your adorning be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of
God of great price. 1Pe 3:4
1. Definition of a meek and quiet spirit.
a. mildness of disposition (not needing to get your own way)
b. gentleness of spirit
c. tranquility that comes from within
2. A meek and quiet spirit is imperishable.
a. will not decay like physical beauty
b. is not dependent on outside conditions
c. has eternal value--it goes beyond this life
3. God sees a meek and quiet spirit as a very costly jewel.
D. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts; Col 3:15
rule - to be an umpire, to decide, determine, to direct, control
1. Jesus is meek and lowly in heart, and desires that for your heart, too. It is helpful to
understand what meekness looks like, and the importance of being meek. Using a
concordance, look up a number of verses in the Bible about meekness and being meek.
Record what you learned and how it can be applied to your life.
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2. Are you looking to Jesus Christ to find rest and quietness in your heart? Where are other
places one might look for relief from the stresses of life?
3. What are you earnestly striving to accomplish? What fills your schedule?
4. Busyness is one thing that can rob you of a meek and quiet spirit. What are other things
that affect your spirit? How is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart concerning areas
that need pruned in your life?
5. What is currently ruling in your heart? Practice letting the peace of God control and
direct your thoughts.
On Your Own
A. When you are feeling pressured from the stresses of life, slide your shoulders right
into Jesus' yoke and let Him give you the rest for your soul that you are longing for.
B. With the Lord looking over your shoulder, prayerfully review the past several
months of your calendar. Ask Him to reveal to you what He sees you diligently
striving to accomplish.
Ask the Lord to expose one area of your heart that needs attention.
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C. Be especially aware of your interactions with others. What is your response when
your will is crossed? Is this response honoring to Christ? If not, confess your failings,
seek forgiveness, and look to Jesus to create a new heart in you.
Reflect on the importance of how you present yourself physically to others. Place a
reminder note on your mirror to check if your inner self is also properly adorned.
D. Give yourself permission to disregard disquieting thoughts.
Write out four or five Bible verses to review when you need to replace disquieting
thoughts with the peace of God.
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II. Your Time in the Word
A. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Col 3:16
B. ___________,____________, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
but one thing is needful --to sit at Jesus' feet and hear his word. Luke 10: 39-42
C. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Psalm 119:165
1. What actions are you taking to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly?
2. What things are keeping you from sitting at Jesus' feet?
3. Is something offending you and robbing you of peace?
On Your Own
A. On your calendar, schedule a specific time each day this week to spend time in
God's word.
B. Quiet your heart before the Lord and listen for His voice. Journal what you hear
Him speaking to you.
C. In Psalm 119:165, offend means to cause to stumble or fall. Is there an area
where you are stumbling? Pray that God will give you a great love for His law.
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III. Your Trials
tribulation - a pressing, pressure; anything which burdens the spirit.
A. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as
though some strange thing happened unto you. 1Pe 4:12
B. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the
world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
C. [The righteous] shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid. Psalm 112:7-8
D. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it
cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being
taken. Pro 3:25-26
E. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen,
settle you. 1Pe 5:10
1. What is your biggest challenge(trial) at this time?
2. In the midst of your trial, have you been thinking that some strange thing has happened
to you? Do you have to wait until you have no trials to have a quiet heart? What is Jesus
saying directly to you?
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3. According to John 14-16, what are some of "these things" that Jesus has spoken to you,
that in Him you might have peace? What does it mean to be at peace with God?
4. Thank God that you can place your confidence in Him, and He will make you perfect
(complete), and will stablish, strengthen and settle your heart. We trust and obey, He
perfects us. What does it mean that God perfects us? Have you experienced this?
On Your Own
A. Journal all that is pressing on your heart and burdening your spirit.
B. Be of good cheer and accept the peace that Jesus offers you.
C. Memorize one or more of the verses from Section III. Recite the verse(s)
whenever you feel afraid.
D. Meditate on Jeremiah 32:27 (Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there
any thing too hard for me?)
E. 1 Peter 5:10 says that God will make you perfect, stablish, strengthen and settle
you. Find at least three other verses in the Bible that tell what God will do for you.
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IV. Your Trust
A. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1Pe 5:7
Do you recollect the delicious sense of rest with which you have
sometimes gone to bed at night after a day of great exertion and weariness?
How delightful was the sensation of relaxing every muscle, and letting your body
go in a perfect abandonment of ease and comfort! The strain of the day had
ceased, for a few hours at least, and the work of the day had been laid off. You
no longer had to hold up an aching head or a weary back. You trusted yourself to
the bed in an absolute confidence, and it held you up, without effort, or strain,
or even thought, on your part. You rested!
But suppose you had doubted the strength or the stability of your bed,
and had dreaded each moment to find it giving way beneath you and landing you
on the floor; could you have rested then? Would not every muscle have been
strained in a fruitless effort to hold yourself up, and would not the weariness
have been greater than if you had not gone to bed at all?
Let this analogy teach you what it means to rest in the Lord. Let your
souls lie down upon the couch of His sweet will, as your bodies lie down in their
beds at night. Relax every strain, and lay off every burden. Let yourself go in a
perfect abandonment of ease and comfort, sure that, since he holds you up, you
are perfectly safe. Your part is simply to rest. His part is to sustain you; and He
cannot fail. Hannah Whitall Smith
B. Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the
clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great
deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy
lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the
shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy
house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee
is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. Psalm 36:5-9
1. Whom are you casting your care upon? Do you need to make any changes? If so, what
are you going to do differently?
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2. If you compare resting in perfect abandonment vs. dreading a collapsing bed, what
does your trust look like?
3. What hinders you from completely trusting in the Lord?
4. From which character trait(s) of God can you draw strength for your current trials?
On Your Own
A. Can you simply rest in the Lord, lying down upon the couch of His sweet will? If
not, what exactly can't you trust God with? Where does your will not match with His
sweet will? Can you really do a better job than God can? Journal your conflict.
Surrender your will.
ALL your cares, every last one--cast them on Jesus. Now fill your journal with praise
and thanksgiving.
B. Daily seek out God's character in His word. (Ex 34:6, Ps 86:15, Ps 116:5, Ps
145:8&9) Measure what you find against your current image of God. Journal how
your trust can grow from what you are learning about God's character.
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V. Your Talk
A. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45
B. Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Col 3:16
C. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how
ye ought to answer every man. Col 4:6
D. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not
false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; Titus 2:3
E. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly
array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
1Tim 2:9-10
1. Listening to your own talk, what does this expose about the condition of your heart?
2. What steps can you take to help you implement these instructions for speaking words
of grace to others?
3. We really need to be careful with our speech. From Titus 2:3, what do you need to
actively guard against, and what should you actively incorporate into your speech?
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4. Women like to wear clothing that is becoming on them. What kind of behavior is
becoming to a woman of God? What does shamefacedness and sobriety look like? What
are some examples of good works?
On Your Own
A. Ask God to help you hear what comes out of your mouth--and how it sounds to
others.
B. In Colossians 3:16, what is the prerequisite for teaching (instructing) and
admonishing (warning, exhorting) one another? Are you fulfilling that particular
instruction?
Sing psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs as part of your devotions this week.
C. Think about all the areas of your life that affect your speech. Are you taking care
of your physical body by getting sufficient rest, exercise, and proper nutrition?
D. A woman who exhibits behavior as becomes holiness is not given to much wine.
What are some activities (done to excess) that you may be using to avoid
responsibilities or relationships? Pray for an opportunity to teach good things to
someone this week.
E. Stand in--or in front of--your closet and ask God to speak to you about your
wardrobe.
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VI. Your Territory
busybody - busy about trifles and neglectful of important matters; inquisitive about others' affairs
A. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not
only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I
will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give
none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 1Tim 5:13-14
B. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to
love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to
their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Titus 2:4-5
C. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman
careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit:
but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her
husband. 1Co 7:34
1. What are you busy about? What are your thoughts busy about?
2. Whether we are single or married, God gives us something to focus upon, something to
DO. What assignment have you been given for this time of your life?
3. What are the most important matters that you should not neglect if you are married?
What are ways you can focus on and bless your family if you are single? What are some
things of the Lord you should be caring about?
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4. What affairs are you inquisitive about that are outside of your God-given territory?
5. What does it look like today to "wander about from house to house speaking things you
ought not"?
6. For married women, what could happen if your main focus is away from your husband,
children, and home? For single women, why is it important to be, holy in body and spirit
and honor your parents?
On Your Own
A. Spend time meditating on 1Tim 5:13-14 and 1Co 7:34. Pray that the Holy Spirit
will work in your heart, exposing any of these areas that might need attention.
B. It IS our territory to take an active role in guiding younger women in godly
behavior. Study Titus 2:4&5 in depth and pray that you can truly grasp the
teachings of these verses and truly grasp your responsibility to teach these
principles to younger women.
Pray that God will lay on your heart specific relationships with other women that
He wants you to invest in.
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VII. Your Testimony
A. Why should you pursue a quiet heart?
"It is no abstract thing--the state of your heart is the state of your home."
Rachel Janhovic
B. How do you pursue a quiet heart?
Colossians 3 provides direction to guide our thinking and our interaction with
others. When your heart is not quiet, check it against Colossians 3. We trust and
obey; Christ transforms our heart.
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remember you are risen with Christ
seek those things which are above (that is where Christ is)
set your affection (mind) on things above
do not set your affection (mind) on things on the earth
remember you are dead (this is not about you) and your life is hid with Christ in
God
mortify (put to death) lusts of the flesh
put off (cast away) anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy (speech injurious to
another's good name), foul speaking
lie not one to another
remember you are the elect of God, holy and beloved
put on bowels of mercies (a heart of compassion)
show kindness to others
have a humble opinion of yourself
be gentle and mild
do not hastily retaliate a wrong
bear with one another (make allowances for others' faults)
forgive one another
if you have a quarrel against anyone, forgive them as Christ forgave you
most importantly, show charity (agape love) to others
let the peace of God rule in your heart
be thankful
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom
teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
sing with grace in your heart to the Lord
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 whatever you say or do, do all in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God and
the Father by him.
 submit yourselves unto your own husband, as it is fit in the Lord
 whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men
C. How do you remain diligent in pursuing a quiet heart?
1. Accountability
2. Discipleship
The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.
1. The condition of a woman's heart reaches far beyond the confines of her own self. A
quiet heart in one woman can transform an entire household. In turn, that transformed
household can influence extended family, church family, community, and beyond. Are you
willing to pursue a quiet heart? Can you think of an example where one person's
demeanor influenced (positively or negatively) an entire group of people?
2. List three directives given in Colossians 3 that would help improve your current
disquieting circumstances.
3. Who would be a good person to keep you accountable in the areas covered in this Bible
study?
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On Your Own
A. Consider the state (atmosphere) of your home. What does it say about the
state of your heart?
B. Laminate the Colossians 3 calendar on the next page (or put it in a page
protector) so the "verse-of-the-day" can be marked with a sticker or dry erase
marker. Hang the calendar in a place where you will look at it frequently.
Continue to review Colossians 3 (a verse per day) and put effort into
implementing the instructions, beginning first in your own home, and then to
extended family, church family, community, and beyond.
C. Can you commit to speaking to others about what you are learning? Pray that
God will place someone specific on your heart who could use encouragement.
We pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all
the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess 1:11-12
Resources:
KJV Bible
Strong's concordance
Vine's Dictionary
blueletterbible.org
A Christian's Secret to a Happy Life, by Hannah Whitall Smith.
Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Janhovic
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Do not hastily
retaliate a wrong
Colossians 3
Sunday
Bear with one
another (make
allowances for
others' faults)
Lie not one to
another
Remember you
are risen with
Christ
Monday
Whatever you say
or do, do all in the Submit yourselves
Sing with grace in
name of Jesus,
unto your own
your heart to the
giving thanks to
husband, as it is
Lord
God and the
fit in the Lord*
Father by him
Forgive one
another
Remember you
are the elect of
God, holy and
beloved
Seek those things
which are above
(that is where
Christ is)
Tuesday
If you have a
quarrel against
anyone, forgive
them as Christ
forgave you
Put on bowels of
mercies (a heart
of compassion)
Set your affection
(mind) on things
above
Wednesday
Most importantly,
show charity
(agape love) to
others
Thursday
Let the peace of
God rule in your
heart
Remember you
are dead (this is
not about you)
and your life is
hid with Christ in
God
Friday
Be thankful
Show kindness to
Have a humble
Be gentle and mild
others
opinion of yourself
Do not set your
affection (mind)
on things on the
earth
Whatever you do,
do it heartily, as
to the Lord, and
not unto men
Know that you are
serving Christ: you will
be rewarded for doing
right; he that does
wrong will receive for
the wrong he has done;
there is no respect of
persons
Mortify (put to
death) lusts of the
flesh
Saturday
Put off (cast away)
anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy
(speech injurious to
another's good
name), foul
speaking
Let the word of
Christ dwell in you
richly in all
wisdom
Teach and
admonish one
another in
psalms, hymns,
and spiritual
songs
*Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as
menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.