You probably have been told like me that one is supposed to as a committed Christian, have a "quiet time" before you leave for work in the morning or start on your activities for the day. This involves reading the Bible and praying on your own in the "presence of God."
I had done this for many years but it was hard work because I am not a morning person so getting my brain into gear at that time of day is a challenge. I am more awake at 10 o'clock at night.
Despite my devotion to this ritual, I doubt if much was accomplished.
And them one day something happened that changed everything for me. I was asking myself why Jesus did not sin and the answer I was given by the Holy Spirit was because he had a perfect relationship with his Father.
Wow!
That opened up an entirely new vista for me. Rather than ritual, the key was relationship. The sort of thing that is ongoing and operational all the time, not just at a particular time of the day.
I dropped the so-called "quiet time" which was not my thing anyway, and started developing a "relationship time" which meant any time of the day or night. During all this I learnt what it meant to pray without ceasing.
I was now in touch with God all the time. If I was doing something and I hit a roadblock (not literally), pray (talk). If I was trying to work something out and it wasn't gelling, pray (talk). If I was making plans for something to ensure I had it right, pray (talk). If I saw something that wasn't quite right, pray (talk). If I had some time on my hands, perhaps when I was driving somewhere, pray (talk).
Just to make this come alive a bit more, the best praying (talk) I ever did was in the shower one day. I was praying for the abortion situation and all those lovely little babies that would never see the light of day. My heart broke for them and then next thing I knew I was taken up to heaven into the presence of God. Of course, I could not see him as no one can stand in the presence of God because of his holiness, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was him sitting on his throne. He allowed me to approach him and we hugged each other and I noticed he was crying so I asked him why he was crying.
He said, " Because I have been waiting for this for a long time." At that moment of time, I knew that he was mad about me. The next moment I was back in the shower again.
Now to hypothesise (I think that is the word) what if God had said that I had used up my quota that morning in my quiet time so I could not have another slice of the cake? Go figure.
What if an earthly Dad took his son in the car to tennis practice in the afternoon and whilst in the car together they never said a word to each other because the son had talked to his Dad at breakfast so had used up his quota for the day?
Need I say any more?
P.S. I am not knocking the morning quiet time. If it works for you go for it but it seems a bit passe if as research shows that the average American man watches five hours of TV every day. Shouldn't that be the average American Christian man meets with God five hours a day on average and watches TV for one hour?
I had done this for many years but it was hard work because I am not a morning person so getting my brain into gear at that time of day is a challenge. I am more awake at 10 o'clock at night.
Despite my devotion to this ritual, I doubt if much was accomplished.
And them one day something happened that changed everything for me. I was asking myself why Jesus did not sin and the answer I was given by the Holy Spirit was because he had a perfect relationship with his Father.
Wow!
That opened up an entirely new vista for me. Rather than ritual, the key was relationship. The sort of thing that is ongoing and operational all the time, not just at a particular time of the day.
I dropped the so-called "quiet time" which was not my thing anyway, and started developing a "relationship time" which meant any time of the day or night. During all this I learnt what it meant to pray without ceasing.
I was now in touch with God all the time. If I was doing something and I hit a roadblock (not literally), pray (talk). If I was trying to work something out and it wasn't gelling, pray (talk). If I was making plans for something to ensure I had it right, pray (talk). If I saw something that wasn't quite right, pray (talk). If I had some time on my hands, perhaps when I was driving somewhere, pray (talk).
Just to make this come alive a bit more, the best praying (talk) I ever did was in the shower one day. I was praying for the abortion situation and all those lovely little babies that would never see the light of day. My heart broke for them and then next thing I knew I was taken up to heaven into the presence of God. Of course, I could not see him as no one can stand in the presence of God because of his holiness, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was him sitting on his throne. He allowed me to approach him and we hugged each other and I noticed he was crying so I asked him why he was crying.
He said, " Because I have been waiting for this for a long time." At that moment of time, I knew that he was mad about me. The next moment I was back in the shower again.
Now to hypothesise (I think that is the word) what if God had said that I had used up my quota that morning in my quiet time so I could not have another slice of the cake? Go figure.
What if an earthly Dad took his son in the car to tennis practice in the afternoon and whilst in the car together they never said a word to each other because the son had talked to his Dad at breakfast so had used up his quota for the day?
Need I say any more?
P.S. I am not knocking the morning quiet time. If it works for you go for it but it seems a bit passe if as research shows that the average American man watches five hours of TV every day. Shouldn't that be the average American Christian man meets with God five hours a day on average and watches TV for one hour?
