The Spiritual Quiet Time “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalms 63:1) “Prayer is preceded by quiet time, and quiet time can be practiced prayerfully. From both we get the love for God; for there are in both motivation for loving him, as love is the fruit of prayer.” (Saint Isaac) Suppose you see a fruitful, lush tree and want to know the secret of its lushness and fruitfulness. The first thing that will probably occur to you is the fertile soil that nourishes the roots. So it is with the believer; he won’t have a fruitful, mature life without a fertile chamber that nourishes within its walls his deep roots, which will absorb the nutrients necessary for his growth and fruition. Because of that the Lord commanded every believer, “Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6) This book “Spiritual Quiet Time” concerns itself mainly with the prayer-chamber, where you can have a blessed opportunity in the Lord’s presence, with such an impact on your daily life. All I hope is that you won’t read this book just to gain knowledge or pass the time, but read it one time entirely to acquaint yourself with its contents, then place it in your bedroom to use it as a guide for your quiet time with the Lord every morning. You are advised to read the chapter titled “The program of quiet time” and apply it step by step. This way you will get the best benefit out of it. Now I leave you in the hands of the Holy Spirit to guide you, both in your quiet time and life. I pray that he would use this book for your edification. The Lord be with you. I pray from the depth of my heart that the Lord would bless you. Be in good health. Quiet time is the time you spend alone with the Lord Jesus, far away from the hubbub of the world and the business of life. During it you listen to God as he speaks to you through the Bible scriptures, and God, too, listens to you as you speak to him in prayer. This is how His Eminence the Bishop Yo’annas put it, “In prayer we speak to God, and in Bible study he speaks to us.” The bride of the Song of Songs enjoyed such quite times since this was her perpetual desire. As a result we can hear her say, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.” (Song of Songs 2:3) She left everyone else to sit under the shade of the Beloved, finding delight in the sweet words of his mouth. Brother, don’t you know that a seat at the Lord’s feet is the greatest portion a believer may have in this life? The Lord made this abundantly clear as he said to Martha, “You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” The reason the Lord told her this was that Mary had “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” (Luke 10:39-42) What a blessed privilege a believer has: just to sit in the presence of the Lord and commune with him! This prompted Saint John Chrysostom to exclaim, “As you pray, are you not speaking with God? What a privilege!” This is what quiet time is all about. Would you like to enjoy this privilege? You can recognize the importance of the quiet time in the life Jesus, the Lord of glory, who left us an example, that we should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21). He constantly got up very early in the morning and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35). He also spent many nights in prayer (Luke 6:12), as well as withdrawing often into the wilderness to pray (Luke 5: 16). But was Jesus in need of prayer? No doubt the inherent and essential fellowship between the Persons of the Trinity is unbreakable. For this reason the Son could say to the Father, “O Father,… all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine … You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…” (John 17) The Lord Jesus Christ did this as an illustration of the importance of intimacy with God for everybody who follows his steps. When we look into the lives of the men of God in the Bible, we can recognize the significance of quiet time for their spiritual lives. Here are a few examples: 1. The prophet David: As busy as he was, being king, leader, and judge, he always made time to be alone with the Lord early in the morning. “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” (Psalms 5:3) 2. Daniel: It was his habit to spend time alone with the Lord and pray. Even when the king prohibited it, he did not care. This is what he did: “He went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened … he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” (Daniel 6:10) Pay close attention to this remarkable statement: “…just as he had done before.” Spending quiet time was a constant habit in his life. 3. The Apostle Peter: In addition to his participation in public prayer with the church, who assembled daily with one accord (Acts 2:46), we see him retire to pray. The Bible records, “About noon … Peter went up on the roof to pray.” (Acts 10:9) Based on these examples, as well as a whole lot more, you can realize the importance of prayer and quiet time with God. Intimacy with God is a powerful tool for the Spirit-filled life. Let it be known that a quiet time is not a time of Bible study, in the theological or doctrinal sense. That type of study has its own time. The goal of quiet time, however, is to have fellowship with the Lord, and be in his presence to listen to his voice, instructions, and directions for the day. Make Samuel’s declaration your own: “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9) Fellowship with the Lord also means communing, uniting, and being filled with him in the Spirit, that he may lead your life all day long, and take control of your actions, thoughts, and dealings. Make sure that your quiet time with the Lord has achieved its goal; to sit with the Lord and listen to him, share your life with him and turn over your whole life and day to him, that he is now with you, reigning in you, controlling you, guiding your steps, and protecting your soul. Numerous and blessed are the benefits you can gain from retiring with the Lord daily. These benefits include: First, spiritual nutrition: Just as the body requires food to grow, so does the human spirit require the word of God and prayer as food for spiritual growth. For this reason, the Lord of glory said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) So much for the word of God as nourishment, but prayer is another means of spiritual nutrition. Saint Augustine wrote out of experience, “The body can’t survive without food, and likewise prayer is the food of soul, and its lifeblood.” It’s a fact that spiritual food is essential for spiritual growth. The believer is obliged to grow constantly as fulfillment of the commandment: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) So he needs spiritual food, just as the Apostle Peter indicated, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk [i.e. God’s word], so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2) In fact, any believer who yearns for God’s words, must practically demonstrate that he is growing spiritually. Saint John Chrysostom pointed this fact in these words, “When I see the fervency of your desire and longing for spiritual bread, which is the word of God, it becomes clear to me that you are growing in virtue. Because just as we judge the body to be in good health when we see it nourished by foodstuffs with gusto and vigor, likewise your hunger to God’s words makes abundantly clear to us that your souls are well-prepared and thoroughly healthy.” Second, The Lord’s fellowship: What a great privilege of the believer that sets him above the rest of creation: God himself shares his life with him, walks with him, faces his challenges, guides him, and advises him. The prophet Moses shed light upon this glorious privilege as he said, “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:16) During quiet time, the believer lays open all his thoughts, preoccupations, and circumstances to God and allows him to take part in them, so that he may guide him in his wisdom. Isn’t that what David sought as he pleaded, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love…for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalms 143:8)? Since this was David’s attitude when he pleaded with the Lord, the Lord’s answer to him was, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Psalms 32:8) Third, Arming oneself against the devil’s attacks: No doubt the believer is weak in himself, as the prophet David said, “Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint.” (Psalms 6:2) The Apostle Paul made this also clear, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 11:30) There is no doubt either that our enemy is a strong deceiver, for that’s what the Apostle Peter meant as he wrote, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The believer, therefore, desperately needs to stick to the Lord in order to receive from him inner power and be armed against the onslaughts of the devil. For this reason the Apostle Paul said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Christ’s power resides in the inner man through prayer to assist the believer (Ephesians 3:16), who girds himself with the sharp sword of the word of God “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) This is the same sword the Lord used to deliver immense stabs to Satan’s heart on the battlefield of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11), and thereby taught us how to win! These are only some benefits of quiet time: it’s spiritual food for growth, an opportunity for fellowship with the Lord, and a means of arming oneself against the enemy. What’s the best part of the day to spend quiet time with God? Some may prefer to do that right before they go to sleep, other may opt for the middle of the day, yet the best part of the day for spending a quite is, no doubt, the early morning, when the brain is clear, the mind is free of preoccupations, and the body is energetic. In addition, when you meet with the Lord alone at the beginning of the day, you can hand him over all the events of the day, consult with him on the jobs you’ll be doing, and receive power to face the circumstances of your life. In short: the Lord will be with you the whole day. You will appreciate the preference of the morning time as a time of solitude once you have a look at the lives of Bible characters and the statements of the experienced, saintly Church Fathers. Here are some examples; 1. The Lord Jesus: The Lord Jesus took his daily quiet time in the early morning, as recoded by the Apostle Mark in the gospel, “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.” (Mark 1:35) 2. The prophet David: In the Psalms David repeatedly mentions that he applied himself to daily quiet time early in the morning, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” (Psalms 5:3) 3. The prophet Ezekiel: He pointed out that he met the Lord in the morning to listen to him and to his word. He recorded this fact in his book, “In the morning the word of the LORD came to me:…” (Ezekiel 12:8) 4. Saint Basil The Great: He advised the believer on the basis of his own personal experience, saying “Is it daybreak? Rise and give thanks to the One who gave us sunlight at daytime in order to perform our daily work.” He showed us through this how important it is to communicate with the Lord at daybreak. 5. The late Bishop Yo’annas of Al-Gharbiyya governorate: In his writing he pointed out the importance of giving to the Lord the firstfruit of the day, “Disciples must have fixed hours to meet their Teacher, the Lord Jesus, whose word must be paramount in our thoughts. We must give the Lord the firstfruits of our time; i.e., the first hours of the day, because it’s difficult to pay attention to holy thoughts after we have already got involved with our daily chores.” His Eminence goes on to say, “The Israelites of old had to gather Manna in the wilderness before the sun rose and the dew disappeared- or else it would melt and be lost. In much the same way ought we to spend a considerable amount of time before breakfast in a good Bible study- alone. During this time we can collect the spiritual Manna, the nourishment of our spirits, as we walk in the wilderness of this world.” Dear friends, you must now be able to recognize the precedence of the morning for quiet time. At first you may find it difficult to get up early. Perhaps you should go to bed early in order to get up early next morning and have time alone with God. Quiet time should preferably be spent in a permanent, fixed, known place; maybe alone in the parlor or any such quiet place, in order to focus and not be distracted. If no place at home is available, look for a place in a church nearest to your home, or seek a quiet, solitary place, just as the Lord Jesus Christ preferred to go off “to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35) The scholar Origen dealt with the issue of the place of quiet time. His advice was, “As to place, it’s obvious that any place fits to be a place for sacred prayer, for ‘“In every place incense shall be offered to My name…” Says the LORD of hosts.’ ‘I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere.’ If a person desires to pray in peace and without disturbance, he must elect a fixed spot in his home, if there is any, and turn it into a sanctum or a sanctuary, where he may offer his adoration and prayers.” Saint Theophanes The Confessor highlighted the impact of spending quiet time in a secluded place, so that the senses could rest. He wrote, “It is preferable to have a secluded place with little light, so that the senses could have rest and at least be rid of outer influences. But if you can get rid of these influences while still in their midst, then remain where you are.” So as far as the place of quiet time is concerned, it is preferable to be secluded, quiet, and permanent. As to the necessity of its being fixed and permanent, this is to protect against disturbance and wasting time, which will happen if you choose a place that disrupts your quiet time. Although some people are persuaded of the quiet time and how important it is, they still don’t know how to practice it. So they neglect having it on a regular basis or don’t draw any benefit from it. Yet if the believer knows how to spend this quiet time with God, he will no doubt be encouraged and eagerly wait for this intimacy with the Lord. Quiet time has four parts. They are: First : Preparation of the heart Second : Biblical Meditation Third : Prayers Fourth : The conclusion of quiet time
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 22:22:21 +0000
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