Problem Solved!

Oh, the guilt!  For years {years!} I beat myself up because I couldn’t make early morning quiet time work.  I haven’t slept well in, oh... ever.  So dragging myself out of bed to have quiet time when I’d just gone to sleep? You guessed it.  It was just so... quiet, that I kept dozing off!  And then, I’d not only be exhausted, I’d have a major battle with guilt.

So, some years ago, after much prayer, I’m pretty sure God said it was OK for me to have my set-apart time later in the day. :)  No, my day isn’t ruined because I’m not in His word at 5 a.m.  I talk with Him and listen for His voice all day long.  And He’s there with me every moment of every grace-filled day.

OK, quiet-time problem #1... Solved

Now, on to quiet-time problem #2.

For a long time {far longer than I care to admit}, I’d get comfortable in my cozy chair with my journal, devotional, and Bible in hand.  I’d whip out my prayer journal and pray through the written requests, add new requests and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d read my daily devotional, pray the prayer at the close of the devotion and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d open my Bible and jump to the scripture of the day.  Read a few chapters and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d stack my journal, devotional, and Bible on the little table by my comfy chair, get up and go on to do the next thing on my mental list... Check.   

And then, do it all again the next day... Check.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?    

That’s right!  I was doing ‘good’ things, but they’d become 
chores to be checked off a list, and not a passion springing from 
the depths of my soul.   

Somewhere along the line, my passion had begun to look a lot like an agenda.

Well, it evidently didn’t sit well with our Abba Father because, 
by His immeasurable grace, I began to be extremely dissatisfied with 
my quiet time.   I knew something was very wrong...  I’d become as the Pharisees.  
 Doing what, from the outside looked good, but in my inner-most being?  
 I found myself empty and desperate for... something.

So, I began to pray; asking our Abba Father what He wanted my quiet-time to look like.   

This is what I got...

It’s a sacred time... set apart for and by Him.

It’s about relationship, not agenda.

It’s about passionate praise and prayer. {Psalm 99:3, Philippians 4:6}

It’s about reading/experiencing/living His word.  {2 Timothy 3:16}
It’s about singing and music.  {Psalm 146:2}
It’s about sitting and listening and hearing... {Psalm 46:10}
It’s about reading a book... maybe a devotional and maybe not.

It’s about asking Him each day what He wants our time to look like. {James 1:5}
It’s about allowing Him to change it up. :)

It’s about inviting Him to sanctify me... from the inside out. {I Thessalonians. 5:23}

 

I wouldn’t for a minute, tell you that getting up early and having a set pattern in your quiet time isn’t wonderful.  Actually, it may be the very best thing for you.  And that’s great!

But God knows my prone-to-be-like-a-Pharisee heart and has designed something a little different for my set-apart time.

Who knows, maybe someday I'll be up at 5 a.m., sitting in my chair, wide awake, and having a quiet time that looks very different.  

But for now... 

With my whole heart I seek you; 

let me not wander from your commandments! 

I have stored up your word in my heart, 

that I might not sin against you. 

Psalm 119:10-11  ESV

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 NLT

 

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true 

worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, 

for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 

God is spirit, and those who worship him 

must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24 ESV 

I’d love to hear what your quiet-time looks like.

Or perhaps you don't have a set-apart time.  

I'd like to hear about that too! 
Leave a Comment!

Living in His grace,

  Mary  
Pictures 1, 2, 3

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