Many years ago, when I was teaching a lot of young mothers, one of the persistent questions was, “How do I fit a daily quiet time into my schedule?” If it was in one of the group discussions there was always “that” woman who would talk about how she did it. Of course, she sounded like she had it so together that you think you heard that she never missed a day. And the envy would begin.
Recently “Quiet Time” came up in a conversation with some truly godly women with whom I study. It got slowly defined (for me) as a consistent, daily, undistracted time that we set aside to read our Bibles, pray, and draw closer to the Lord. For many this might seem like a fantasy.
For the record, this group agreed that there is no command in the Bible that says, “You shall set aside undistracted time daily to read your Bible, pray, and draw closer to the Lord.” When a child is sick or our husbands or roommates, or co-workers need something done, we serve the Lord by considering others more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). A Quiet Time cannot always be the top priority though, it is a great discipline.
The greatest issue in these conversations seemed to be the expression of guilt that many women have because they fail at setting aside a daily time to sit, read, listen, and pray every day.
If a person lives in a busy household just the word “undistracted” may make her shudder! But, I think that our efforts to learn God’s Word and obey it, to let it be the consistent truth that we take time to digest every day, will grow us in faith, knowledge and understanding, and into a closer relationship with the Lord.
Look at these verses and see if they might provide some motivation to make reading or listening to God’s Word and praying regularly (even without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 4:17) more appealing:
- Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2
- He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
- How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. Psalm 119:9
- I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
- I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. Psalm 77:12
- But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ Luke 4:4
- So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
Certainly, if we understand that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), then we must consider the times He went away from the crowd to pray (Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35). Interestingly, there were times He prayed all night long (Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12) but there were also times when the crowds went looking for Jesus when He was praying. They found Him and his prayer time was interrupted (Matthew 14:13-14;Luke 4:42).
It requires a certain amount of discipline to do a serious dive into God’s Word and to set aside time to pray. It can “feel” like a huge requirement unless we consider that God not only hears our “Quiet Time” prayers, but He hears those prayers of thanksgiving we pray when we have something happen in a day that brings us joy or hope. He also hears our prayers of repentance when we are convicted of sin and admit it to Him in the moment. And He hears our songs of praise as we live in the joy of the Lord.
We need time in God’s Word, times of prayer, and repentance. For those who feel guilty because there are so many more days that God barely gets a second thought than there are days where a Quiet Time is accomplished, is that guilt based more on a lack of desire for God and His word than it is a lack of time?
If so, it is time to read the Word of God and learn what it says so you know the benefits. It takes discipline, a gift of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Pray, and the Holy Spirit will provide it. But, there is no guilt necessary because we fail from time to time, to get to an undistracted time to sit down with the Word of God. Through His Holy Spirit, He will be there the rest of the day.
