The Quiet Time: Not a Cleansing Rite
The Quiet Time Series
1. Not a Cleansing Rite
2. Defined
3. My Failure
4. What is it Good For?
5. Advice
One of the common prayer requests I hear, and issues brought up to me as a pastor, concerns a person’s “quiet time.” This is the time a Christian spends alone with God (often in the morning) reading Scripture and praying. People call this a “quiet time,” or “devotions;” the puritans called it “private worship.” I wanted to share a few thoughts on the subject, but this turned out to be a bit longer than I thought, so I will blog on it in a few different parts.
Before we get into the common questions I get, the how-to of beginning, reclaiming and maintaining a quiet time, I want to issue a warning. Not only do many struggle with making this a consistent part of their lives, even more have an unhealthy perspective on this habit that can erode one’s walk with Christ. As important as this sort of formative discipline is, your quiet time is not the measure of your spiritual life, nor is it the measure of your standing before God. We need to be careful to avoid these false assessments by keeping the cross at the center of our lives. God loves us and accepts us because of Christ alone. Jesus is our confidence before God, not our performance. And yet, it seems that on some level, at least some of the time, we do not believe this. To put it plainly, many Christians have bought into a cleansing rite they believe washes away sin and guilt and enables them to approach God. Let me explain.
Sometimes we fall into the habit of evaluating “how we’re doing” spiritually based on the consistency of our daily devotions. It is not uncommon to place such an emphasis on this private aspect of our faith that it trumps everything else God requires of us. It’s not that we intend to view the Christian life this way, but sometimes a portion of an hour in the morning carries more weight than does a demonstrable love for neighbor, forgiving those who have sinned against us, or doing justice. For many of us our quiet time can become a point of pride that provides a false sense of confidence with which we try to approach God.
On the other end of this warped perspective I have found that many Christians (including myself) have no confidence to approach God after a time of rebellion, disobedience, inconsistency or even complacency. It is as if we think, “I have been so far from God, so cold, so selfish, so sinful I cannot now approach him. I first need to get my performance back up. ‘Get back to reading my Bible in the morning. Just give me a few days of consistency, then I will feel better about myself and then I can approach God. I just have to clean up first.” This, my friends, is not dependence on God’s grace, but trust in our own performance, in a cleansing rite. This is a form of works righteousness that insults the gift of God’s grace in Jesus.
The truth is when we find ourselves in rebellion, disobedience, or even just a place of spiritual idleness it should compel us to run to Christ not from him! Jesus himself is the measure of our spiritual life and our hope and confidence before God. Nothing more, and nothing less. Our poor performance itself should move us to returning – to repentance and faith.
This is not to say that what we do is irrelevant. Jesus calls us to love God and neighbor, to deny ourselves for others, to make peace, to serve. And yes, praying and meditating on Scripture daily is also important. All of this matters, but none of it is the measure of our spiritual life. Though such things are components of our spiritual lives, in the final analysis we fail in all of these areas. Even as we grow and are sanctified we will see more of our sin and increasingly desire our final redemption. So as we progress in godliness, we become more aware of our sinfulness and the need for Jesus only intensifies.
So let me assure you, those who regularly spend time alone with God, not just time with their Bibles, but time alone with God, will have a greater awareness of their inherent weakness and dependency on Jesus for everything. Regularly meeting with God does not promote confidence in self or create pride. Rather, it humbles a man and forces us to boast in Christ alone.
In these posts I want to flush the cleansing rite mentality while laying out what a quiet time really is, why it is important, how it fits into a Christian’s life and then give practical suggestions for beginning and maintaining this very important set of morning disciplines. Along the way, please feel free to share what you have learned, tools you use, books that have helped you in the area of spiritual disciplines.
Very important topic. Thanks for bringing it up. I think that there is not enough allowance for individual differences in people when it comes to the quiet time. You are right when you say that people use the quiet time as a spiritual barometer, and this should not be. When I was in college, trying to learn to walk with God, I tried to pattern my life after those who rose early, spent an hour or so with God, then went about their day. I would rise early, go to a quiet place, and start praying and reading, and fall asleep for two hours. I felt like a miserable failure! The fact is that time with God can take different shapes for different people. Some of my most intimate times with God have been in the mountains, away from the distractions of television and work and newspapers. Or alone on a long stretch of highway on my bicycle. Sometimes I sense God’s presence when I have my guitar in my hand. But still to this day, twenty years after college, I still cannot easily just sit down and read devotions or scripture passages. As far as I’m concerned, that is the message people need to hear. We are all wired up differently, and that relates directly to how you spend time with God. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Great job Joe.
Just wanted to say thanks for writing on this. I thought what you articulated is a much needed reminder for us.
Good stuff, Look forward to seeing the rest of your thoughts here.
Something that really struck me in this area was actually a previous post you did, quoting Daniel Montgomery from sojourn about the gospel being the center of our lives.
Yeah, I really think Daniel has a beautiful way of teaching the Gospel’s centrality.
Good word! I frequently fall into a legalistic mindset in this regard. If I don’t have a ‘quiet time’ in the morning, I feel guilty until it is taken care of. That is not cross-centered living. It is a battle I will continue to battle, as Luther put it, to believe the gospel every day.
Two books:
Living the Cross-Centered Life – Mahanney
and
The Discipline of Grace – Bridges
Why these books? They address what you have addressed in your post, Joe. Our standing with God is based on the cross and gospel alone. Mahanney does a good job of encouraging this. Bridges does a good job as well, but then provides some practical pointers on “spiritual discipline.”
Thanks Joe.
This is something we all (i.e. – “I”) need to hear. Keep up the good writing!!
See you tonight.
Scott – great book recommendations. Pat – see you tonight brother.
I look forward to the rest of the series! A consistent quiet time is something that has eluded me during my whole walk with Christ. One thing I have read was a pamphlet from the Navigators called “7 minutes with God”.
I’ve missed your posts recently. Welcome back. Great words on Jesus being the measure of our status before God, not our “quiet” times. Wish I had been wise enough to blog on this first.
Here I thought your “QT” was something about not blogging.
You should not not blog because it throws us who read your blog off for several days … sort of like not having a QT. Okay, seriously I do read your blog and appreciate your thoughts on this matter. I confess I have allowed myself to be trapped in such work oriented thinking. Thanks for the reminding that out QT … “is not the measure of your spiritual life, nor is it the measure of your standing before God.” Right on!
Thanks guys. I have just been overwhelmed with other matters, but should be able to blog a bit more regularly.
The truth is when we find ourselves in rebellion, disobedience, or even just a place of spiritual idleness it should compel us to run to Christ not from him!
Are any of us ever not in a state of rebellion and disobedience? Sin is bound up in us, and we all have hidden sins we’ll never recognize see until we pass on. The variations, the ups and downs in our spiritual walk may seem major to us, but from God’s view point they must look very small.
Conversely, do any of us ever perform well enough to approach the throne of the Living God? Our filthy rags may be a little less filthy than the next guys, but they’re all too nasty to wear into the King’s court.
I constantly feel that I am short on devotion time, and while I understand your point (I think), I do think that my failure to squeeze in time for scripture/prayer/meditation deeply affects my walk. I don’t see quiet time as a duty that must be fulfilled, but as a time to re-energize my focus on the Gospel. It’s very easy for me to be deafened by the noise of the world, to be distracted and take God for granted. The way I fight this tendency is devotion time. A daily passage of scripture, a daily time to pray, a daily time to meditate helps me keep the Word in front of me. It’s not a matter of cleansing or working, it’s a matter of receiving fuel for daily life, and when I go long stretches withour re-fueling, I lose my focus. Re-fueling is not a penance, it’s a re-orientation.
I’m looking forward to your other posts on this subject. See ya tomorrow, bro’!
The other night I asked some couples whom I meet regularly with what they thought the quiet time of those in the early church looked like. It was interesting to watch them ponder and bounce it around. They could not read their Bibles was one of the more interesting comments.
P.S. Scott Eaton!!! Dude… You make the craziest connections on blogs… WHAT ARE YOU DOING… email me craigREMOVEatREMOVEcraigkendallDOTcomREMOVE