On The Quiet Time

 

In my particular tribe of evangelicalism in my lifetime, there has been an enormous emphasis on The Quiet Time. That is, that each day one should read the Bible and pray.

 

We could say there’s no precise specific commandment in the Bible to do that. And we could talk about legalism and guilt-trips and magical views of The Quiet Time, and more. But on the whole, I would say this is excellent advice: most days, if you can, at least for a few minutes, try to read or listen to the Bible and pray.

 

And, if you can, I would suggest doing so often even if you don’t feel like it. You never know how God will use this. He might call to your mind in years to come something you read tomorrow.

 

There are no laws here and there are all sorts of notes, resources and plans designed to help. Explore! Have fun! Mix it up. Give it a go. Start small. Do something.

 

You might like to explore Morning and or Evening Prayer (e.g. The Book of Common Prayer or Common Worship) either in a book, online, or in audio form. These tried and tested forms might have you read something from the Psalms, The Old Testament and the New Testament each day. I find Morning Prayer outload normally takes less than 20 minutes, maybe with a bit of getting ready and tidying up afterwards!

 

Maybe this might be done in your family or household or somehow with others from church or online.

 

The form doesn’t really matter. Bible. Pray. Repeat.

 

But I do have one word of advice:

 

Don’t rush. It is brilliant to read several chapters of the Bible a day if you can and if you want to. I am all for The Bible in a Year, or whatever. But equally it might be wonderful just to read one verse and to dwell on it, maybe even to try to memorise it.

 

I would say this: however much you read, don’t just read it, tick it off and rush on to the next thing. Just pause for a moment. Reflect. Think about what you’ve read. Is there something you can hang on to? Something that can sink in and maybe stay with you? Something to turn into praise or prayer? Maybe even something to jot down.

 

In our Quiet Times we are not doing a good work we feel we ought to do. However briefly, we actually want to meet with God and to do business in our souls / hearts. So SLOW DOWN.

 

God’s word is a great treasure. God’s presence is our highest delight. What a joy to contemplate the glory face of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures and a pleasure to be with our Heavenly Father who is pleased to hear us.

 

Psalm 27v7f