In the Quiet Place
This article is part of a special series here at More Than Sundays. In this series, instead of writing a few articles on different topics under the same overarching theme, we posed the same prompt to each of our blog writers and asked them to write an article fulfilling it. For this series, the prompt is as follows: “What is a lesson you have learned about God or your walk with God that took you a while to learn or that you wish you had learned sooner?” We hope that by sharing the hard lessons God has taught us that you will be blessed in the process. Please enjoy.
I love having my quiet time. I love waking up earlier than my babies, making my favorite iced latte, and sitting on the couch that is cornered right next to the window where I can watch the sun slowly get bigger and brighter. I love opening the back doors and bringing a blanket and my Bible out to the porch swing, or farther into my backyard under the trees. I love getting to spend uninterrupted time with Jesus – no noise but the birds chirping outside my window, and the gentle flipping of my Bible pages. I’ve loved this time of my day since I was young. It sets the tone for the rest of my day, and helps me keep my priorities in line – beginning my day with Jesus. I see these quiet moments as little glimpses of Heaven. My soul comes alive in the light of Jesus’ presence and in the practice of worship.
But there are some days when I don’t want to get out of bed. There are some days where I don’t want to do anything, let alone read my Bible. There are some days where I am super busy and would rather spend my time doing something else. There are days I am upset with God or just bored, and I don’t want to spend time with Him. There are some days where my babies wake up earlier than expected, and I think that it’s too late to spend time with Jesus because I missed my morning window – I missed my preferred time. I make my coffee and let the caffeine alone fuel me (spoiler alert – not a good substitute for Jesus).
The term “quiet time” isn’t in the Bible. Rather, it’s a term coined by the Christian church. It’s essentially the time of day that you spend with God, in His Word, praying, maybe journaling or listening to worship music. It’s a set apart time, where hopefully all distractions are gone, and you are solely focused on spending intentional time with Jesus. It’s something that was modeled by Jesus in His own life. It’s normally instructed that it’s best in the morning. This spiritual discipline is widely taught and practiced within the modern-day evangelical church. If you’ve attended church within the last 25 years, you’ve probably heard about it or done it yourself.
In the past year, my quiet times have made a major shift, not in what I do during my quiet time, but rather how I see it. This is a shift more so in mindset and position of heart than action that I wish would have taken root sooner.
Growing up in youth group, there was always the question asked within small groups: “How are you doing with your quiet times?” Lots of talk such as, “Oh I missed my quiet time today” and “I need to do better at my quiet times.” It was such a widely talked about subject that it became the way I measured my relationship with God – for years. If I was having my quiet times (i.e., spending intentional alone time with Jesus reading my Bible) then my relationship with God was good, and I felt super proud of myself. If I was not consistent in having my quiet times, then my relationship with God was clearly bad, and I felt a lot of shame. I felt like I needed to shade my eyes from God, like He was up there with lips pursed together, shaking His head and waving His finger at me. I felt like He was disappointed in me; I felt like I needed to do a better job of loving Him. This wasn’t something that was necessarily taught verbatim, but the way in which it was talked about, mixed with my already anxious spirit of not wanting to disappoint God, made this the line of thinking I took on. My quiet times were a real source of shame and a sort of formula I used for being a good follower of Jesus. There were some days it was just a checkmark in a box that I thought God was keeping track of. Even knowing that I was saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), even with understanding that God’s love was free and all-consuming, I still fell into this pattern of shame that God did not intend for me (Romans 8:1) and believed lies about God – lies that He loved me less and would turn me away if I came back to Him after failing (Psalm 103:8).
Over the last year or so, God has transformed my life in the way I go about my quiet time. There is no toxic cycle of shame that follows when I don’t wake up to have my quiet time. I have realized that my relationship with Him is not the sum or lack of this practice, solely. My relationship with Him is not measured, or numbered, or some kind of method or formula. It is deep and real and relational. My quiet time is a privilege and a time of enjoying His presence. It’s a time away from the world and my life that is loud and distracting and at times harmful. It is not a source of obligation or strict practice of fundamentalism. This practice is meant to draw us into deeper intimacy with God and to learn more about Him and the way we should live. God has given us a book that tells us not only “this is the way you should live” but “this is the best and most life-giving way to live.” He created life itself, and He wants to help us out along the way. He wants us to rest in His presence, and this is what quiet time is. It’s not an addition to our already busy day, but a time in which every other part of our life can flow out of. There is so much freedom in this!
There are of course times that I’m tired and don’t want to, and this is where I try to let obedience lead my faith. God is deserving of my worship and time, so even on days I don’t want to, He still is so worthy of it. There are times where I don’t do it. Sometimes for days I won’t spend time in His Word; but that doesn’t mean that I have to hide from Him. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, they hid from God, but God called them out of hiding (Genesis 3). I can communicate and give my feelings to Him. I can pray and spend time with Him through silence and nature and worship music. Reading the Bible is so important for our walk with God, but we can’t let shame creep in on the days we don’t read it. God is still present, and His love is still there when we invite Him into those feelings of boredom, anger, complacency, or whatever it is. Pursuing God looks different in every season, and no matter what season it is, shame should not have an invitation. Life is not linear, and there are going to be times of high and low affection for God, but knowing that He is faithful through it all is what can drive us to keep going and do what we can. Psalm 36:5 (ESV) says, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”
Jesus gives us great illustrations of how to have “quiet time” with God. A few examples:
“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12 (ESV)
“And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.” Mark 6:46 (ESV)
“And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23a (ESV)
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Mark 1:35 (ESV)
“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:41-44 (ESV)
It’s interesting that in almost all examples of Jesus going to have His “quiet time,” He goes out into nature. Maybe this is where it was the quietest, apart from all the crowds that were always following him, but I also think that God’s glory and beauty is so evident in nature, and I’m sure Jesus felt this. I try to get outside every chance I get for my quiet time, and it’s always exceptionally better. I can feel the presence of God through the breeze, through the bird’s song; I see His power through the vastness of the sky, and intentionality through the colors of the sunrise. God created the universe, and there is endless beauty within it. It is much more peaceful than the little ecosystems we have created in our homes, and when you open your eyes, God will use this beautiful earth to captivate your heart and speak to you in ways you wouldn’t be able to see indoors.
Something that is consistent with Jesus’ example of getting away and being alone. Silence is medicine for the soul; it’s where we can listen. Especially with the influx of noise and information and opinions through social media and the internet these days, we are in desperate need of silence. Our souls are desperate for it.
Life with Jesus goes so far beyond our quiet times – this is part of what I was missing, too. We aren’t like cars that can be filled up with gas every now and then and drive for miles. We are living creatures and God is the oxygen in our lungs – we need to be connected to Him always. John 15:4-5 (ESV) says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We can do nothing apart from Him. Yes, quiet time is important, but let His presence seep into every moment of your life. Talk to Him while you do the dishes, listen to worship music while you drive to work, find moments of silence all through the day rather than grabbing your phone, and abide in Him. Our relationship with Him isn’t measured by a spiritual practice and how often we do it. It’s rather a deep connection with the God who created life and loves you. Quiet time has the ability to hold such a special place for you and God to meet. It doesn’t need to be driven by shame or fear but by love and commitment to our God whose love never changes.
Questions:
What is your relationship with “quiet times”?
How can you invite God into the rest of your day?
Do you need to let go of shame in any area of your relationship with God?
Resources on Quiet Time:
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
(I cannot recommend this book enough.
I read it every year.)
Podcast when you’re in a rut with your quiet times: