Quiet Time: Why It Is Important To A Man

Introduction:

It is said that Andrew Bonar, a great man of prayer, had three rules: (1) Not to speak to any man before speaking to Jesus; (2) Not to do anything with his hands until he had been on his knees; (3) Not to read the papers until he had read his Bible.

WBTU:

In our Christian culture we hear a lot mentioned about a device called "the quiet time". A quiet time is a routine period, usually at the beginning or end of the day, in which five, fifteen, thirty minutes, an hour or more are set aside to read and study God's Word, pray, and possibly perform other spiritual disciplines. The Bible encourages continual prayer and Bible meditation. "Pray continually" (1 Thess.5:17). "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" (Eph. 6:18). "His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2).

Today is Father’s Day. 1 Timothy 2:8- I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer

Thesis: From my experience, a daily quite time will help a man deal with the challenges and struggles of life

For instances:

The challenge and struggle of a relationship with a woman

I struggled with dating relationships for several years. Didn’t get married until I was 28 years old. I struggled with the whole concept of marriage for a time.

Struggled with finding the right woman.

My wife, Crystal, and I were set up on a blind date by mutual friends in eastern NC. We were married in June 1998. What a blessing. Genesis 3:18- The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

A woman can make a man or break a man.

1. Proverbs 27:15-16- A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

2. Proverbs 18:22- He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.

However, there have been challenges along the way. Adjustments from being a bachelor.

Adjustments from having 2 sets of twin boys.

Adjustments from my wife having health concerns.

Adjustments from all of our moves. We are currently in our 5th church and uprooting family so many times has been an ongoing struggle.

Crystal and I usually pray together on the weekends for the upcoming church services and at other times about troubling situations. I find a peace in praying with her and for her.

The challenge and struggle of the workplace

A man is challenged in the workplace. A lot of a man’s identity comes from his career, his job. A man works hard for his status, his pride, his income, his identity. Can even have the same attitude when it comes to his hobbies. Must outperform everyone else.

A man has a struggle in the workplace. For a good portion of men they can get so caught up in fighting, in working hard for their job that they forget that they are head of their household and their wife and children desperately need them.

Sanctus Real song Lead Me- Oh Father, show me the way To lead them Won't You lead me? To lead them with strong hands To stand up when they can't Don't want to leave them hungry for love Chasing things that I could give up I'll show them I'm willing to fight And give them the best of my life So we can call this our home Lead me 'cause I can't do this alone Father, lead me 'cause I can't do this alone

Because we seek God’s wisdom and leading, there might come a time that we refuse that promotion (even though we really want it) because we know it will not be good for our family. There might come a time that we quit our job because the boss is demanding that we work 70 to 80 hours a week. There might come a time that we stop trying to work ourselves to death to be a great warrior, to be a great whatever, so that we can be there for our family.

A female hospice nurse said in a recent article that she has often heard dying male patients say, “I wish I hadn't worked so hard.” She goes on to say, “All of the men I have nursed deeply regret spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

III.The struggle of failure

There is going to come a time in a man’s life that he will fail, things will go bad, no matter how much talent he has or how hard he works.

Think of Job. He had it all. 7 sons and 3 daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys, large number of servants. Job 1:3- He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. In a series of events that had little to do with Job he lost it all. He even lost his health, he had painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.