GrowthStarts

Quite Time via "planned neglect"

We had a great GrowthStarts seminar yesterday with about 14 folks on how to have a quiet time.

I was reading something this morning that reminded me of the discipline of quiet time. John C. Maxwell writes:

A young concert violinist was asked the secret of her success. She replied, "Planned neglect." Then she explained, "When I was in school, there were many things that demanded my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, straightened the room, dusted the floor, and did whatever else came to my attention. Then I hurried to my violin practice. I found I wasn't progressing as I thought I should, so I reversed things. Until my practice period was completed, I deliberately neglected everything else. That program of planned neglect, I believe, accounts for my success."

(From Go for Gold: Inspiration to Increase Your Leadership Impact by John C. Maxwell; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008)

Maybe this is the approach you need to take to establishing a daily quiet time. Put it first in your day, and plan to intentionally neglect (or delay) other items on your long to-do list.

As promised to those of you who were at the seminar, here are the links where I talked about some of the other terms for quiet time:

• Morning watch
• Devotions
• Date with God
• Appointment with God

Enjoy your quiet time tomorrow morning!

QT: Why have one--pt. 5

Reason # 5 to have a quiet time: We cannot be healthy, growing Christians without daily fellowship with the Lord.

Have you ever gone without food for a day? If you kept it up for too long, you would get weak and possibly sick after a time. You need food daily for your body to function properly.

How many Christians try to get by on one spiritual meal a week (in church on Sunday morning)? If you go too long without spiritual food, the Bible, you will get weak and sick spiritually.

We need daily fellowship with God in the same way that we need food.

Matthew 4:4 (NIV):

"Jesus answered, 'It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."'"

Job 23:12 (NIV):

"I have not departed from the commands of his lips; 
     I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread."

Have you ever gone for some time without taking a bath (for example, on a camping trip)? The longer you go without, the dirtier you get and the more odorous you get to others. The Bible talks about the washing of the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26). Reflection on Scripture cleanses us. But how many spiritually stinky Christians are going about because they have not had that daily cleansing of the Word?

We cannot be healthy, growing Christians without daily fellowship with the Lord.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: Why have one--pt. 4

Reason # 4 to have a quiet time: Every great man or woman of God throughout history has spent much time alone with God.

Any Christian who has been used mightily by God kept regular appointments with God. They were people of the Word and of prayer.

The common denominator among Moses, David, Daniel, Paul, John Calvin, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, and all of the other great saints of history is that they all spent much time with God in personal fellowship. Their writings and ministries clearly show this.
 
Someone has said, “If you want to find out what a man is really like, find out what he is like alone with God.”

Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, once said, “I have so much to do today that I must spend at least three hours in prayer.” The busier he was, the more time he needed with God.

Every great man or woman of God throughout history has spent much time alone with God.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: Why have one--pt. 3

Reason # 3 to have a quiet time: The regular quiet time during Jesus' ministry was a source of His strength.

As you read through the gospels, you see that a big priority of Jesus was spending time with His Father in Heaven. Many times we see that Jesus went off into the wilderness to pray.

Luke 5:16 (NIV):

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Christ was never too busy for it; in fact, when His ministry was the busiest, that’s when He made certain that He kept in daily touch with the Father.

If Jesus needed this time with God, how much more we need it!

Jesus made time alone with His Father a priority and it was a source of His strength.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: Why have one--pt. 2

Reason # 2 to have a quiet time: Jesus Christ died on the cross so that fellowship could be restored.

We said yesterday that man was created to have fellowship with God, and sin and the fall cut off our ability to have a relationship with God.

This is why God had priests that went into the Holy of Holies in the Temple to meet with God…no one else could meet with Him. And all of the sinners who have followed in Adam’s footsteps cannot by nature have fellowship with a pure and holy God.

But God considered that relationship important enough to send His Son to this world to die for our sins so that man might again have the privilege of a personal relationship with Him.

That’s why you read that, when Jesus died on the cross, the heavy veil that was the entrance to the Holy of Holies ripped in two, from top to bottom (God tore it!), symbolizing that anyone could now enter and have fellowship with God because of the blood of Jesus (Matthew 27:51). And now God has called us to have fellowship with Him.

Jesus Christ died on the cross so that fellowship could be restored.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: Why have one--pt. 1

Continuing our ongoing series on "quiet time," let's look this week at why we need to make the effort to have one. (These points are courtesy Rick Warren.)

Reason # 1 to have a quiet time: We were created to have fellowship with God.

In Genesis 2 we see how God created Adam and Eve and had fellowship with them in the garden. God walked with and talked to Adam. Adam had no sin and no shame. His relationship with God was open and perfect.

God created man to have fellowship with him. In fact, man is the only creation God made that has the capacity to have fellowship with God.

Of course, sin and the fall changed all this. But God still today desires to have fellowship with us, which is made possible by the blood of Christ.

We were created to have fellowship with our Creator.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: "Appointment with God"

Another term for a quiet time is a daily "appointment with God." This one is my favorite.

Imagine if you will a very important person that you would be thrilled to meet. Maybe it's the president of the United States...or maybe Billy Graham...or perhaps some famous celebrity or athlete. Got that person in your mind? Great.

Now imagine that this VIP's assistant calls and tells you that this person you look up to and respect wants to meet with you! How thrilled you are! You can't believe it!

"Can you meet with him at 7 a.m. tomorrow? He can come to your house then."

"Ummm... I'm sorry, I'll be asleep then. My sleep is way more important to me than anything else."

Pretty lame reason, huh? In fact, just about any reason you could think of would be a pretty lame reason to not meet with your VIP.

The crazy thing is, God's not just available at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. He's available 24-7. And yet we still make excuses.

Your heavenly Father stands ready to meet with you...right here...right now. What are you waiting for?

Set an appointment every day to meet with Him. He longs to meet with you.

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: "Date with God"

Another term for a quiet time is a "date with God."

When you schedule a date with someone, it's because you want to get to know that person more intimately and enjoy each other's company. And to do that, you must spend quality time with that person and communicate meaningfully with that person.

This obviously applies to our relationship to God as well. Remember, it's hard to have a love affair in a crowd. You need time alone with that person.

In fact, the Bible speaks of our relationship with Christ as a love relationship. Christ is referred to as the Bridegroom and we the church are the Bride.

Christ longs to build and deepen the relationship between you and Him. He stands ready to communicate meaningfully with you. Are you ready? Like an earthly date, you need to set a date, a time, and a place. And then show up ready. Don't stand up God!

QT: "Devotions"

Another word for quiet time is "devotions."

This term speaks of our devotion to God, being dedicated to Him.

Our devotion to the Lord causes us to devote--to set aside--the first of each day to Him, for Him to speak to us through His Word and to set the tone and direction for the rest of the day.

We devote, or set aside, or make holy, these few moments with our Savior and Lord. We do it to show our devotion to God, to set ourselves apart as holy unto the Lord.

Would you say you are devoted to Christ? Are you devoted enough to devote a small portion of each day to Him?

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.

QT: "Morning Watch"

Let's look at some other terms for "quiet time" that will give us a fuller understanding of the concept. I am grateful to Jean Fleming's excellent book Feeding Your Soul: A Quiet Time Handbook (Colorado Springs, Colorado: NavPress, 1999) for some of the thoughts discussed here.

The first one is an old-fashioned one: "morning watch." It comes from Psalm 130:6 (NIV): "My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."

Think of a watchman waiting at his post high on a wall early in the morning. There is a quietness that only comes in the early morning hours. Nothing and no one stirs. The watchman is all alone with only his thoughts. He is watchful and alert as he waits for the sun to rise.

Is your quiet time marked by this alertness, this watchfulness for God? Is there an eagerness to find God?

In the late 19th century there was a revival that broke out among British college students. Their rallying cry was, "Remember the Morning Watch!" They knew that without that scheduled time every morning of their busy days, their faith would wane. They needed that time with God in the morning watch!

To catch up on our series on quiet time, click here and read from the bottom post up.