Being Still
Gen 1:27, Rev 3:20, 1 Cor 1:9, Mark 1:35, Mat 4:4, Job 23:12, Psa 119:9, Psa 29:2, Psa 25:4
Pro 4:26, 3:6, Psa 37:4, 16:11, 2 Pet 1:3-4, Luke 22:39, Mark 1:35, Psa 119:18, John 7:17,
Gal 6:9,
November 14, 2003
I. I have been preaching about habits that we need to form. Jose preached about seeking God first last week and that walks right into what I am going to preach about this week. And, I didn’t tell him what to preach about. When Jose asked me what he should preach about I told him to ask God, so God lined it all up.
A. Another habit that we need to develop is having quiet time, and if you are like me that is one of the hardest things to do. There is not much quiet time in my life. Something always seems to be happening, or needs to be done.
B. But, that doesn’t make having a quiet time any less important. It is something that we have to learn to do. If we are too busy for God then we are too busy, so I want to go over some things that we can learn about having a quiet time.
C. HOW TO HAVE A QUIET TIME.
D. The first thing might be to learn what a quiet time is. A quiet time is a daily time I set aside to be alone with God, to get to know Him through the Bible and prayer. Your time alone with God should be the top priority in your schedule for five reasons.
E. WE WERE CREATED TO HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
1. The Bible says in (Gen 1:27 NIV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
2. There was nothing else created that was given the privilege that human beings have given of being able to fellowship, talk to, and communicate with the creator of the universe. And, its what we were created for.
3. (Rev 3:20 NIV) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
4. God s desire always has been and always will be to have fellowship and communion with human beings. That s why we were created, and if we don’t do that we are missing out on our greatest purpose in life.
F. Next, JESUS DIED TO MAKE THE RELATIONSHIP POSSIBLE.
1. (1 Cor 1:9 NIV) God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. When Adam and Eve sinned, the fellowship that God created us for was broken. God had to send His son, Jesus, to earth to make that fellowship possible again by taking away our sins.
2. God didn’t send Jesus to die only to make our going to heaven possible. He did it because He wants a relationship with us and fellowship with us.
3. For us to accept His gift of salvation that costs Him so much, and not make fellowship with Him a major part of it is one of the most selfish things that we could ever do.
4. A quiet time is important first of all because God created us that way originally and then because Jesus died to restore it after it was broken by sin.
G. Third, PERSONAL TIME ALONE WITH GOD WAS JESUS SOURCE OF STRENGTH.
1. Mark 1:35 tells us (Mark 1:35 NIV) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
2. If Jesus knew the need for constant communication with God and He was the son of God, how much more do we need that constant, everyday time where we re together with the Lord, telling Him how much we love Him.
H. Fourth, EVERY PERSON WHO HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE IN SERVICE FOR GOD DEVELOPED THIS HABIT.
1. All through the Bible we re given stories of David and Abraham, Moses and great men and women of God. If you study the verses carefully, you ll see that each of them spent a lot of time alone with the Lord and they were effective in serving Him for that very reason.
2. You can’t be a healthy, growing Christian unless you spend time with God.
3. It s not just a good idea. It s a necessity. Two verses talk about how it s a necessity for us spiritually. (Mat 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.’"
4. That doesn’t say that spending time with God is necessary for existence, but it does say that it is necessary for LIVING!
5. Physical food is not enough for you to be healthy. You ve got to have spiritual food from the Word of God.
6. (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.
7. What happens if you go a long time physically without food? You get sick. You ll die eventually. It s a necessity. The same is true of spiritual food.
8. Intake of the Word of God will keep you healthy and strong spiritually.
9. (Psa 119:9 NIV) How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. How can a young man cleanse his ways?" Psalm 119:9 says, "By keeping to God’s Word." and it doesn’t just apply to young men it applies to older men, women and children.
10. So our time with God in a quiet time is vital to spiritual growth and living life in the way that we were intended to live it.
I. If you don t have a quiet time, you re missing out on the privilege that you re created for. You re rejecting the thing that Jesus died to make possible. And, you’ll never be like Jesus and experience the same power and will never be used greatly by God and you will remain a weak and sickly Christian. That should give you motivation to have a quiet time.
II. Now I want to look quickly at PURPOSE OF A DAILY QUIET TIME.
A. TO GIVE DEVOTION TO GOD.
1. (Psa 29:2 NIV) Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
2. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness." The first purpose is for me to come and give to God, not to get from Him. It s time when I start out by saying, "Lord I love You. I want to give You my entire life. I belong to You and I want to thank You for all that You ve ever done for me.
3. A quiet time is to give devotion to God.
B. It is also TO GET DIRECTION FROM GOD.
1. (Psa 25:4 NIV) Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;. How can God show us His ways, if we don’t spend any time with Him.
2. When you come to the Lord in a quiet time, after you ve told Him that you love Him, start asking God what direction do I need to be headed? What goals do I need to be reaching toward?"
3. WE NEED TO CONSIDER OUR WAY. (Prov 4:26 NIV) Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Take time to be quiet and look at your life. "
4. (Prov 3:6 NIV) says. Look at your life. in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
C. The next thing that we need to do in a quiet time is COMMIT OUR DAY TO HIM. So after you ve told the Lord you love Him and you ve spent a little time looking over the goals you have for that day, commit your schedule to Him.
1. We need to look at it this way. Lord, I have this plan. This is what I think I m supposed to be doing today. But really only You know where I m supposed to be this morning.
2. These are the people I have on my list that I m supposed to be with and talk to today. But you know the people that You ve intended for me to be with."
3. When you commit your schedule to the Lord like that, it helps you be more flexible and not get all bent out of shape when things don t go the way you think they should.
D. The next purpose of a quiet time is to GAIN DELIGHT IN GOD.
1. (Psa 37:4 NIV) Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psa 16:11 NIV) You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
2. The source of our joy is found in the Lord s presence. If you are experiencing very little joy in your life, stop and think, "How much time am I spending in His presence?"
3. The closer you get to Him the better He looks and the more you fall in love with Him. The more you fall in love with Him and spend time with Him, the more you experience the joy of living.
4. The objective of our quiet time is not to study about Jesus but to actually spend time with Him and learn to know him. That s why you have two separate times: Bible study and quiet time. Quiet time is just to spend time with God. Bible study a time is to learn about Him.
E. The next Purpose of a quiet time, is TO GROW DAILY TO BE LIKE GOD.
1. (2 Pet 1:3-4 NIV) His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2. God s purpose for our life has always been to make us like His son. He says He uses all things for our ultimate good and for His glory. So when you come and you spend a daily quiet time with the Lord, you re going to grow more like Him. As you spend time with Him and you re going to be conformed into His image.
3. We become like those we spend time with. If you want to become like the people on the soap operas watch soap operas, but if you want to become like the Lord, then you spend time with Him.
III. Now let s look at HOW TO BEGIN A QUIET TIME.
A. PICK A SPECIFIC TIME.
1. THE BEST TIME TO HAVE A QUIET TIME IS WHEN I M AT MY BEST. That s the rule. I ought to give the best part of my day to God. Pick a time when you re most alert and give that time to God.
2. I think that in the morning is the best time, and there are some reason for that.
3. Every Bible character that was a great saint in the Bible rose early to meet with God. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Hannah, Job, Hezekiah, David, Daniel, and Jesus. It was Jesus habit to rise up in the morning and go out and have time alone with the Father.
4. Another reason is just seems logical to begin the day with it. Hudson Taylor said, "The best time to tune up your instrument is before you play the concert, not afterwards!" When you have a quiet time you re putting on the spiritual armor that Ephesians 6 talks about and getting ready for battle. Some people put on their spiritual armor and climb into bed.
5. Having a quiet time in the morning demonstrates that meeting with God is your first priority. You give Him the first part of your day. You say "You re first in my life."
6. Also your mind will be more rested, your mind is less cluttered and often it s the quietest time early in the morning.
7. Once I get going, my life is so busy that I don t stop until the end of the day. So I find it s good to spend time with God when it s quiet and uncluttered.
8. Whatever time you choose be consistent. Have you ever been stood up on a date? It s not a pleasant thing. Jesus doesn’t like to be stood up either. Make a date with Jesus and then keep it on a regular basis.
B. HOW LONG SHOULD A QUIET TIME BE?
1. START WITH 15 MINUTES A DAY. Anybody can give 15 minutes a day. Don t start with a two hour quiet time because you ll get two hours the first day, a hour the second day, the third day you ll give up because you don t have time for it. It s better to spend 15 minutes every day than it is to spend an hour every other week. So, start with 15 minutes and then let it grow.
2. DON T WATCH THE CLOCK. That will ruin your quiet time faster than almost anything. You re not going to have much of a relationship with God if you re doing that.
3. THEN, EMPHASIZE QUALITY NOT QUANTITY. It s what you do with your time that counts not how long you spend.
C. Next, CHOOSE A SPECIAL PLACE.
1. (Luke 22:39 NIV) Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. Notice that it says "as usual". That means, it was his habit. It was an habitual place, a special place.
2. There s really only one important factor that you need here. Solitude. You need to find a place where you can be alone.
3. Notice it says (Mark 1:35 NIV) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
4. Pick a special place. It might be a room in the house or somewhere away from the house.
D. GATHER THE RESOURCES YOU RE GOING TO NEED
1. GET A BIBLE.
2. YOU NEED A NOTEBOOK TO WRITE DOWN WHAT THE LORD SPEAKS TO YOU.
E. Then, BEGIN WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE.
1. REVERENCE. You need reverence for the Lord. The Bible says, in Psa 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God." You don t rush into God s presence. You prepare your heart. You don t come into a quiet time like you re going to a football game. Have reverence.
2. Another thing we need is EXPECTANCY. The Bible says in, (Psa 119:18 NIV) Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. When you come to your quiet time, say, "Lord, I expect You to talk to me today. I expect to meet with You. I expect you to say something to me out of Your word."
3. The next thing is WILLINGNESS TO OBEY.(John 7:17 NIV) If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Be willing in advance. "Lord, before I even open this book, the Bible, I want You to know that I m willing in advance to do what You want me to do. I m saying ‘Yes in advance."
F. Then, FOLLOW A SIMPLE PLAN.
1. DON T COMPLICATE YOUR QUIET TIME.
2. RELAX. That takes about a minute. Be still. Be quiet. Show down. Prepare your heart. Take two or three deep breaths. Especially in the morning, if you just got up, maybe you don t want to relax too long because you might go back to sleep. But don’t barge into the presence of God
3. READ A SECTION OF SCRIPTURE. Spend about four minutes just reading. Remember we said read it systematically, aloud, in a modern translation, in a Bible without notes. Begin where you left off the day before. Read until you feel God s taught you something. If He doesn t speak in one chapter just keep reading. Sometimes it might only be eight or nine verses or one verse. That s ok. It s not how much you cover but what does God say to you? When God speaks to you, you stop and you think about it.
4. REFLECT. MEDITATE ON THE SCRIPTURE. Picture it, Pronounce it,Paraphrase it, Probe it. Think about what the passage means to your life and then write down your thoughts. Part of reflecting is memorizing verses that speak to you in a special way.
5. RECORD FOR ABOUT TWO MINUTES. WRITE OUT A PERSONAL APPLICATION STATEMENT. Write an application that is personal, practical and measurable. If I can t say it and I can t write it down, I haven t really thought about it. But If can write it down, what am I going to do about this verse, then I ve clearly thought it through -- I m becoming a doer of the word.
6. REQUEST. THIS IS YOUR PRAYER TIME. Make your requests. Conclude your quiet time by talking to God about what He has shown you and making your requests from your prayer list.
IV. But there are problems that we have to deal with. So we need to talk about HOW TO OVERCOME THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS IN YOUR QUIET TIME.
A. THE PROBLEM OF DISCIPLINE
1. This is the battle of the blankets. Billy Hanks tells the story about a young man who tries to offer an excuse to God for not having his quiet time. He said, "Oh, Lord. I m really sorry. I wanted to meet with You this morning but something came up." God said, "Yeah, I know. I saw it. It s called a sheet."
2. Your first problem you’ll face in establishing a quiet time will be when you wake up in the morning -- "Am I going to get out of bed? Am I going to get out of bed that fifteen minutes earlier or am I going to lay in bed?" The devil will always exaggerate how tired you are. When the devil and your flesh team up, you ve got a potent combo that are trying to keep you from having a quiet time.
3. GO TO BED ON TIME. YOU CAN T GET UP EARLY IF YOU RE GOING TO STAY UP LATE.
4. GET UP IMMEDIATELY. I have found that the battle is usually won or lost in the first few seconds.
5. BE AWARE OF QUIET TIME ROBBERS. Be alert to things that are going to keep you from having a quiet time. Ninety percent of those things happen the night before.
6. FALL ASLEEP THINKING SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS. Have you ever gone to bed at night singing a song and you wake up the next morning and it s still on your mind? Why not go to bed with the last thing you re thinking about, being "Lord, I ll see You in the morning."
B. THE PROBLEM OF DISTRACTIONS. Satan will try to use anything he can to get your mind to wander during a quiet time.
1. GET OUT OF BED. Never try to have a quiet time in bed.
2. GET THOROUGHLY AWAKE. Move around.
3. READ AND PRAY ALOUD. That keeps your concentration.
4. WALK DURING YOUR PRAYER TIME. That s a good thing to do. You will never fall asleep while you re walking. How many times did Jesus teach or pray while He was walking.
5. KEEP A NOTEPAD NEARBY. Have you ever been praying along and all of a sudden the devil reminds you of something you can’t forget. He will gladly cause you to remember all kinds of things just to keep you from praying. Keep a note pad to write them down.
C. THE PROBLEM OF Spiritual DRYNESS. Sometimes you re going to feel like you re not getting anything out of your quiet time. Never judge your quiet time by your feelings. Don t depend on your emotions. Emotions come and go. They could be just because you had a bad pizza or something. I have found that if the only time I have a quiet time is when I feel like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. In fact, when I don t feel like it, is usually when I need it the most.
1. Some things that contribute to spiritual dryness are:
2. Maybe your physical condition. Maybe you re not getting enough rest. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed.
3. Disobedience to God. Sin in your life. God is not going to show you something new until you ve acted on what He s already shown you.
4. Rushing your quiet time. Samuel Chadwick said."Hurry is the death of prayer."
5. Getting in a rut. Doing the same thing, the same way, at the same time. When your quiet time becomes a rut change something.
6. Not sharing insights with others. If you don t give out what God is giving to you you re going to dry up spiritually. Water that is not allowed to keep moving stagnates.
D. THE PROBLEM OF DILIGENCE.
1. Your greatest problem is going to be your struggle to stay consistent.
2. MAKE A VOW TO GOD THAT YOU RE GOING TO SPEND FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY.
3. SCHEDULE IT ON YOUR CALENDAR.
4. BE PREPARED FOR SATAN S EXCUSES. Satan knows if he can keep you out of the Word, he s got you defeated. Be prepared for it and realize it and plan to fight it.
5. LEAVE YOUR BIBLE OPEN AT NIGHT THE NIGHT BEFORE TO THE PASSAGE YOU RE READING.
6. Well, WHAT IF I MISS A DAY? THREE THINGS: DON T GET ON A GUILT TRIP. DON T BE LEGALISTIC. DON T GIVE UP.
a. Don t get on a guilt trip. When the devil comes to you and says, "You didn t have your quiet time today?" Say, "Well, Satan, have you had your quiet time?" He hasn t! When he comes to condemn you, don t be put down by it.
b. Don t get legalistic. Just because you’ve missed a quiet time doesn t mean your whole day has to flop. You live by grace. Confess it and go on living.
c. Don t give up. How many of you have ever missed a meal? What did you do afterwards? "Oh, poor me! I m such a lousy excuse for humanity. I can t be consistent. I m just not going to eat anymore! No. When you miss a meal, eat a little bit more the next time.
d. It takes a three weeks for you to become familiar with a new task. Then it takes another three weeks for you to make it a comfortable habit. Most people have never made it past the six week barrier of having a quiet time every day. So no wonder they aren t consistent.
e. (Gal 6:9 NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
E. I hope that you will take having a quiet time with God seriously. That you will slow down enough to give God a chance to make himself real in your life, and realize that the fellowship that you have with God is something that Jesus died to make possible, and that makes it something that should have the highest importance in your life.
F. I am going to ask you to make a commitment today to having a daily quiet time.
G. I am even going to do something that I don’t do much, and that is ask you to pray a prayer with me. If you don’t mean it don’t pray it, but I hope you will.
H. Father, I realize I was created to have fellowship with You. Thank You for making this privilege possible through Jesus death. I know that daily fellowship with You is the most important thing in my life. I now want to commit myself to spending at least some time everyday with You in a quiet time of Bible reading and prayer. I m trusting in Your strength to help me be consistent. In Jesus name. Amen.
