My dear readers,

What is “Quiet Time”?

Origin of the term – “Quiet time, also stated as heart-to-heart time, or one-on-one time with the creator, is a regular individual session of Christian spiritual activities, such as prayer, private meditation, contemplation, worship of God or study of the Bible. The term ‘quiet time’ or ‘sacred time’ is used by 20th-century Protestants, mostly evangelical Christians. It is also called ‘personal Bible study’ or ‘personal devotions’. . . The first mention of the term ‘quiet time’ was in the late nineteenth century. By the 1940s, the quiet time had supplanted the Keswick concept of the morning watch as the most widely promoted pattern for private prayer among evangelical Protestants in England and North America. The concept of the morning watch had viewed prayer primarily as petitionary prayer or prayer requests. The quiet time, in contrast, brought Bible study and meditation into the practice and placed the emphasis on listening to God. There was still time for requests, but they now were accompanied by Bible reading, prayers of praise, confession of sin, prayers of thanksgiving and listening to God. The quiet time was therefore quieter, hence the name.” [https://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Quiet_time]

Quiet Time in the Morning -- Mark 1:35-39: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.”

The Bible teaches us that even the Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus Christ, always prayed. We know that to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17) is God’s way of teaching His children the invaluable practice of complete and total dependence the moment they are awake from their sleep. The evil one and his minions never stop seducing God’s children with temptations and threats to lure them into sin. To stop praying is to stop depending on God to battle against spiritual enemies, thus using the arm of the flesh instead! There is no way any child of God can win because the weapons of the arm of the flesh are useless in spiritual warfare. Goliath, the mighty giant, is a prime example of a great defeat, who fought a spiritual battle with weapons of the flesh. The same defeat will result if God’s children foolishly use the weapons of the flesh to fight a spiritual battle.

The command to “pray without ceasing” is one aspect of the doctrine of prayer, whereas Quiet Time (QT) is another. Prayer is one part of QT, whereas praying without ceasing focuses on a non-stop prayer frequency.

Jesus prayed in the morning for a reason. The reason surely included committing the rest of the day’s activities to His Holy Father’s care! Every step, thought, motive, word spoken and deed must perfectly align with God’s will. He could not afford to sin! “He was fully God and man when He walked on earth, and therefore He did not need to depend on God to be perfect!” may be someone’s notion. If this notion is true, then the conclusion would be that whenever Jesus prayed, He was putting on a show and did not really mean to pray. He would be charged with pretending, for man’s sake! Is this not the sin of hypocrisy?

But Christ’s prayers were genuine and sincere; God revealed not a few of Christ’s prayers, notably John 17, known as Christ's high priestly prayer. Christ prayed and communed with His Heavenly Father for strength before His persecution and crucifixion and, on another occasion, for His disciples. Believers must keep their QT in the morning for the same reason as Christ, committing their day to their Heavenly Father. Those who work night shifts must also begin their “day” with God by keeping their QT. The biblical principle is to commit the day’s events to God. It is the believer’s way of reminding himself how much he needs God’s help to go through the day without sinning. And if he does fall into sin, then he will repent immediately since he has committed his day to God.

When facing adversities or calamities on that day, he will not panic, murmur, or cry in despair as if he is fighting the world alone. Troubles will abound in every believer’s life. How can he face them without God’s help as he begins every new day? But if he has committed his day to God, he knows God will permit whatever happens throughout that day. If God permits it, he will accept it as from God and not man, that it did not happen by accident. His trust in God will deepen as he experiences the presence of God in his life. He becomes very conscious of his heavenly Father’s provision and protection.

Without spending time with God via QT, troubles will still come to pass, but the believer will deal with them with his own devices. The outcome might be a success because of his past experiences or ingenuity, but the glory will not be given to God since he did not depend on God to overcome them. His colleagues might praise him for a job well done, and he will happily receive all the praises of man. His ego will be inflated. Self-confidence will swell in his heart like a tidal wave; God-confidence is thrown out the window because his “pride room” is fully occupied.

Every believer’s heart should have room only for God-confidence. Self-confidence and God-confidence cannot co-exist in the heart! If he fails when facing troubles, he should know the reason why. When he began his day, he failed to prepare and strengthen himself with God’s help. He stepped out of the house in self-confidence. If only he had kept his QT, communed with God, and sought His guidance, he would have been more discerning, prayerful, and careful before taking every step. Many mistakes could have been avoided if he had kept his the many fiery darts that seek to pierce through his weakened spiritual armour. He fought and struggled alone and failed miserably because he failed to begin the day with God in Christ.

Having QT in the morning also reflects his love for God and Christ. It is usually the voice of the one we love that we desire to hear first thing in the morning, is it not? Conversely, is it not true that if we do not long to hear God’s voice, it is due to a lack of love? When we read the Bible, we hear God speak. When we pray, we speak to God. Therefore, a loving dialogue and sweet fellowship occur when QT is observed longingly and excitedly.

The primary focus of keeping our QT is not to seek God’s help and spiritual protection to face the day. God’s help received is a by-product of a precious and loving relationship between a child and his heavenly Father, whom he adores and loves with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Enjoy your QT, dear child of God. Enjoy your time with your heavenly Father before you begin the day, every day. Next week, God willing, we shall learn “How to keep our QT”. God bless.

QT. His holy witness for Christ would be spared