Quiet Time...What Does that Mean to you?

You hear it all the time, "What do you do for your Quiet Time," "I didn't have my Quiet Time today," "How long is your Quiet Time because I can't seem to find time in my day to have one." A girlfriend and I were talking last night about Quiet Times. There is such a pressure to have the expected 30 minutes to an hour of QT every day, and it must consist of reading your Bible and then you can call it a done deal. For many, having a QT and even going to church or serving in the church, has become nothing more than something you do incase anyone asks you about it. If we are not careful, it can be legalistic and habitual.

So what is Quiet Time for you? For years, Quiet Time for me was something I was supposed to do, so I did. I was very dependant on the accountability Ladies Bible Studies offered. So, if there was no LBS, I had very inconsistent and most often no "diggin deep" QT. Many times not having any time.

Over the course of 2008, as I mentioned in the beginning, I allowed my days to become so busy that Me Time, which included QT with God, fell to the last place on my To Do List of the day, often not getting done...very often, to be honest. My prayer time has never suffered, but time in the Word had.

So, we were sharing last night what QT was for each of us. For me, it used to be something I felt I had to do and I did want to do to learn more about Him, but it was more out of getting it into my head for head-knowledge. As I mentioned earlier, God crossed my path with a beautiful Sister in Christ who encouraged me and mentored me about stress in my life, fear and panic, more importantly, she asked me about my walk with the Lord. She encouraged me to read the Word, memorize scriptures, practice being still before Him and rest in Him, trusting and knowing Him with my heart. It was through her that I learned how to worship God again, how to rest in Him, acknowledge how great, mighty and loving He is. These years before I had put QT with God in a little box: It was study the Bible and pray.

This new way of seeing QT was different. I learned not to be legalistic, but to go where God is waiting for me. I learned to rest in Him. I poured over scriptures every morning over my cup of coffee then I meditated on them, accepting them and claiming them for me and others. I began to understand God's warm love in my spirit not just in my head. I have learned true, heart-felt, spirit-led adoration and praise. My QT now consist of facing Him and loving Him, allowing Him to love me back. Like marriage, there is not one facet to the relationship. We are One on so many levels and we communicate differently each day. We are partners, lovers, parents, friends, recreational buddies, etc. We say I love you in multiple ways.

My relationship with the Lord is the same way, multi-faceted. I get to know Him and display my love for Him by studying His Word daily, lifting my voice singing praise, bended knee, smiling, crying, asking, seeking, interceding, hands up, hands down. One moment standing still before Him in the car before leaving the HEB parking lot can be just as beautiful and refreshing as 45 minutes in His Word studying with pen and paper.

I would like to encourage you, daily to be in His Word, not because you have to or because you need to but because you desire to deepen your love for Him and from Him, to know His character, and His heart better. Read devotionals, go to bible study groups, listen to the radio, watch DVD's, listen to CD's, sing a new song of praise and worship Him, talk with another brother or sister in Christ. Do it all all the time. Stilling yourself before Him often, to listen.
Take God out of your God Box..see Him in every moment and tell Him "I love You" and listen as He replies back, "I LOVE YOU MORE!"