What’s the Point of a Quiet Time?

I feel the need to confess something … my mornings have been utter chaos this summer. Camps and vacation and the urgent need for catching up on laundry in between finds me struggling to get into a good routine. I have great intentions. But in the clash between reality and intentions, well, reality typically wins. This summer has been full of hit and miss morning quiet times.  More misses than hits, since I’m confessing. Maybe you deal with the same thing?

Perhaps you have a baby or toddler who is not an awesome sleeper? Or maybe your kids have been involved in several activities this summer all of which are in the mornings? Or could it be that you, like me, relish the slower pace of summer days at home and somehow find the days passed without a moment in the Word {but lots of time spent with your kids!}? But the question that keeps coming back to my mind is this: what is the point of a quiet time?

A couple of years ago I wrote a series, Starting Well in 2012, and the first area of focus was time in the Word. One of those posts, 10 Tips for a Great Quiet Time, is the most viewed post on my blog. In one of those posts I wrote this,

God is not interested in your quiet time or devotions or personal Bible study … His interest is YOU. 

I had to remind myself of that truth recently as the guilt weighed heavy on my heart. I am not saying it isn’t important to spend time in Scripture and prayer. It is. But I am convinced of this, God isn’t looking for a checked-off list.  He is looking for women who are passionate about knowing Him.

And sometimes knowing Him looks like snuggling with our babies and reminding them {and ourselves} how much God loves us. There are days when knowing Him is less about reading a chapter of Ezekiel and more about slowing down to listen to a friend.

I don’t know what today looks like for you. I barely know what today looks like for me. But I do know this, knowing God is about spending time with Him and living in response to what we know. If you read the Bible all the time and do every Bible study that comes across your Facebook or Twitter stream but you never actually live what you’ve learned, you’ve missed the point entirely.

James says,

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

If you are not living what you’ve already learned, you’re missing the whole point of Bible study. My challenge to you is this — do what you know.

xo,

Teri Lynne