Don't Feel Like Having Quiet Time?
I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT!
I really wanted to write a great post about how to have an amazing quiet time, like the other hundreds that have been written! I have thought about this for weeks and have not been able to write about having a quiet time. I realized it was because I am currently struggling with this very thing.
Therefore, I hope to encourage the person who knows the importance of a quiet time with God but just doesn’t feel like doing it. Yes, I know…so ‘unchristian like.’ We keep it honest on this blog!
MOUNTAINS TOPS
We have all experienced being on a spiritual mountain top with God. We have heard His voice so clearly. Our hearts have been full of love for Him to overflowing. The Bible is like food that satisfies, yet continues to be craved. We as believers love the mountain top experiences of our faith.
In this time, most of all the sermons we hear seem to be just for us. I have wondered sometimes if the pastor had read a page out of my journal. Everything seems to fuel the fire of the desire for a closer walk with Him. We are single minded and running hard after Christ!
THE DECLINE
But then, you notice some settling in the heart. Bible truths become familiar instead of like manna from Heaven. However, there is still the desire to meet with Him daily. A desire that is less fiery, but present.
Unfortunately, it has been in these moments that I have slipped and have fallen all the way down that mountain. Finding myself cold before the Lord, not even desiring to pick up the Bible. If you are a believer, you have experienced this. If you have not, you will!
It is so hard and discouraging, especially when you are the one encouraging others to love God more than anything. I can be honest and say that I have felt like a hypocrite sometimes. Not willingly of course, but telling people to do something that I felt difficult to do myself. So, what is going on with us when this happens?
TESTING
After checking your heart for obvious sin, this could be a time that God has prepared for you. He might have led you into this wilderness to test you, as the Father did Jesus (Matthew 4:1).
This is where you will have to ask for water to come out of a rock. You are going to have to cling to His promises and find all you need in Him, praying to be sustained.
If this is the case, He is enough! He will sustain you if you run to Him for your every need. Remind yourself that obedience to Him is love. Love Him in the wilderness!
FORGOTTEN LOVE
For some of us, it is a matter of love. One of my favorite books hurt me. You know when you read something and it stings, but it is so true? Yes, this was one of them. Clyde Cranford wrote that devotion time with God is about love for Him.
So, someone struggling with quiet-time is struggling with a love for God. In a section about the absence of intimacy, Clyde hurt me with this quote, “Why, then don’t we love Him? Simply because we don’t know Him.”
Okay, that might not have had the same effect on you as it did me, but I was kind of offended. How could this author tell me, I don’t know God? He argues that when a person knows God, they see how lovable and loving He is, and they can’t help but love Him in return.
Another good quote,
“It is His love that motivates us to love in return. When we first fell in love with God, it was because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). It follows that the more we see His love, the more we grow in love for Him.” The issue is a forgotten love. (For a short book review of the reference I used, click below)
WHAT TO DO
Our love for God will begin to stir in us again when we recognize and appreciate His love for us. We should look to the place where that is most clearly shown- the cross of Christ!
In our quiet times, we are focusing on knowing the God who sent His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us. He did so in love for us! As we see this loving, caring, and gracious God that killed His son for us, love will grow in our hearts again. We will be responding back to His love.
QUIET TIME
So the practical part is indeed quiet time. We can’t know God just from knowing He is near and desires us. We have to talk to him and listen to what He might have to say to us. We pray by talking to God, and He speaks primarily through His written Word.
As we spend time seeking Him in this way, He will reveal Himself to us, little by little. Then we will begin to see more and more of His love, and then we will grow more and more love for Him.
When you sit down to spend time with God, remember the overall goal. It is to know Him, simply put. This is our life’s goal. While knowing the overall goal, we need to narrow in for a daily goal.
This goal is to simply spend time with God. You may say, “But I didn’t learn anything new, I already know these truths from my morning devotion today!” Or maybe you might say, “I didn’t feel God’s presence, and I don’t feel like He actually spoke to me.”
FOCUS ON THE GOAL
All of these are valid discouragements when we lose focus of the daily goal. It is not to learn more information. It is not to 'feel' more of Him. It is not to feel that He spoke specifically to us. The daily goal is simply to spend time with Him. He may be silent, not speaking at all.
God has a purpose for all things. Your goal when you wake up in the morning (or whenever you have your quiet time) is to simply spend time with Him. When you do this, you have pleased Him. No trying of conjuring up of God will help. Know by faith that He is with you. It is not about chasing feeling. It is about____? You guessed it, spending time with Him.
SIMPLE METHOD
Quiet time should involve prayer, faith, and patience. Pray that God will speak to you “if He wants to.” If He wants to or not is His decision! If He chooses not to, you should not worry! Remember our daily goal? It is simply to spend time with God. The faith part evolves you believing that He will speak directly to you if He wants to. The patience is that you will patiently wait for Him.
Also, it is to not hurry in your quiet time. If a certain verse sticks out and you only have time to spend on that verse, it is okay! Don’t rush the Holy Spirit! Pick up where you left off, the next day.
I know it is discouraging to wake up not wanting to have a quiet time, but remember His love for you. Remember this God is the One who loved you so much to sacrifice His Son for you. Stick to your daily goal, and He will begin to fan the flame in your heart and cause you to be on fire for Him again. Until then, spend time with Him!
CHALLENGE
I have a challenge for you! Go to Him in quiet and seek to know Him, by praying, believing, and patiently waiting before the Lord.
Blessings