Quiet time

Quiet time

 

Thought- If Jesus needed it, we all need to find quiet time alone to pray and meditate on God’s word.

Scripture- “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.” –Matthew 14:23

Insight: Sometimes if we are not careful, we can let the busyness and noise of the world drown out the still, small voice of God who is trying to speak with us (1 Kings 19:12 NKJV) but are we too busy to hear? Do we seek solitude to sharpen our ability to hear or do we mindlessly run from task to task all the while thinking our busyness is a sign of productivity, instead of the burnout it is leading to? In this always “on” world of communication and noise, if we are not careful, we can find ourselves cut off from real communication with God, which requires us to be in a posture to hear Him when He speaks. It is easy to be like a kid trying to run up a descending escalator that at first seems fun, but then over times leads to peril and fear as we need to run faster and faster just to remain in the same place until we eventually collapse from exhaustion.

Jesus often retreated to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16) so He could renew His energy and restore His strength. Obviously if He needed to then how much more do we? Don’t let the busyness of the world keep you from an intimate conversation with God. Instead, find a quiet place for you to go and pray where you can take in the wonder and amazement of all that God has done and is about to do in your life. Let the awe of it all transform you from deep inside you so that the chaos of the world is overwhelmed by the peace and the beauty and tranquility that God intended us to live in, and which can be felt deep in your soul. Make sure amidst the swirling chaos that you don’t miss it. Find alone time and invite Him in to be present with you and to give you the peace we all so desperately need. 

Prayer: Father God, give us the desire and the discipline to carve out quiet time alone with you so that we can hear your beautiful, sweet, still small voice that we all need to hear. Help us to find the alone time, the quiet time we need with just us and you Lord. Help us to make room for you in the deepest part of our hearts and in our souls. We need you just as much today as ever before. We pray in Jesus name. Amen!