Importance of Quiet Time

We usually remember certain events for many years. One of the events which I will not forget took place when I stayed with my friend in a mission field in Odisha. My friend was the leader in his institution. He had a big team which worked under him and he carried heavy responsibilities throughout the day. But one thing that challenged me, when I stayed with him was the time that spent with the Lord everyday. When I stayed with him, I found that he woke up at 5:00 am in the morning everyday. He read the Word of God systematically and took time to meditate on the passage. He also had a prayer diary and prayed daily for others. He spent about one hour each day in prayer and meditation of the Word of God.
Desiring to know when he took the decision to observe systematic quiet time I asked him, “When did you take a decision to observe systematic quiet time? What motivated you to spend one hour each day in prayer and Bible reading in the morning?” He narrated an incident that took place when he worked in a college. At that time, he organized a retreat for college students and invited a special speaker for the retreat. The speaker reached his house by 4:30 am in the morning. He received the speaker, put him in his guest room in his house and went to his bed room. He could not sleep for some time. He heard the speaker who travelled by bus throughout the night praying in his room. My friend was taken aback because he never had the habit of waking up early in the morning and praying.
The Lord spoke to him, “Look at this speaker. He travelled throughout the night. He is now praying. It is no wonder that I use him in My ministry. Why don’t you ‘model’ this speaker and spend time with Me regularly every day?” On that day, my friend took a decision to wake up early in the morning and spend one hour every day in prayer and Bible study.
He practiced quiet time regularly and this habit of observing his daily quiet time revolutionalised his life. The Lord used him as a blessing to thousands of missionaries and their children. Later I asked him, “Do you think that quiet time is very important for every believer and leader?” He told me, “It is a must for all believers.” Then he told me about the status of mission leaders and pastors of churches who attended a national conference the previous year. “I attended one missionary conference last year. I was happy to meet many leaders from all over India. To my dismay, I found that nearly all of them did not observe quiet time. I observed that nearly all of them woke up very late, took bath and went to the meeting without spending time with the Lord. I do not know how they are able to do ministry and wonder how the Lord will bless their ministry?” The Bible says that believers must meditate on the Word of God daily, and gives many examples of people who spent time alone with the Lord. Let us study the Bible to know how Jesus Christ and others gave importance to spending their time with the
Lord.

1. Jesus woke up very early in the morning and prayed in a solitary place:

The Bible says that Jesus Christ rose very early in the morning went to a solitary place and prayed. ”Now in the morning, having risen a long while before day light, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35), even when many people were pressing to meet Him and He had a very busy preaching schedule ahead of Him (Mark 1:38,39).

2.Jesus Prayed before He selected his disciples:

Before selecting His disciples, Jesus Christ prayed all night (Luke 6: 12-19) and He prayed alone before He revealed Himself to His disciples that He was Christ (Luke 9:18-22).

3.Jesus Had a specific place to pray:

A mountain was often His usual place of prayer (Mark 6:46). He chose to pray in mountains. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles” (Luke 6: 12, 13). “After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone” (Matt. 14:23).

4. Prayer had become a custom for Jesus Christ:

Prayer became one of His customs and Jesus used to pray in a particular place again and again. Jesus Christ and His disciples had a custom to go and pray regularly in the Mount of Olives. “And coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him” (Luke 22:39).

5.Jesus Prayed While His disciples slept: 

Jesus prayed while His disciples slept. At that time an angel of the Lord appeared to Jesus Christ and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43). Before He was betrayed, He went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives and said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation (Luke. 22:39, 40). Then He went alone and prayed earnestly in agony. But the disciples slept. When Jesus Christ came back He found Peter sleeping. So He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?” (Mark 14:38, 39)

6.Peter Prayed at a specific time and in an upper room: 

Peter went to the• upper room and prayed. “Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour” (Acts 10:9). At that time, he received a vision to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. As a result of his preaching, Gentiles were added to the church for the first time (Acts 10: 10-48).

7.Paul Prayed for three days without eating any food :

Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus. When he went to Damascus, he prayed alone for three days without eating and drinking (Acts 9:9,11). At that time, he saw a vision, received a call, was filled with the Holy Spirit and preached in the synagogues that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts. 9: 10-20).

8.Abraham used to stand in a particular place early in the morning before God:
Abraham used to stand in a particular place early in the morning before God. “And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord” (Gen. 19:27). The Lord remembered Abraham and saved Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen.19:29).

9.King David sought the Lord early in the morning in the sanctury:

David’s prayer was, “O God, you are my God; early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you, in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Ps. 63: 1 ). When he sought the Lord, David saw God’s power and glory (Ps. 63:2). David longed to spend time with the Lord and he experienced God’s power and glory when he spent time with the Lord.

10.Daniel Prayed on his kness in his upper room three times a day:

The king sent a decree that no one should pray to any other God and those who violate this creed will be put in lion’s den. Daniel knew that the decree was signed and he will be put in lion’s den if he violated this decree. But he decided that the time with the Lord should not be disrupted. So he went to the upper room in his house, kept the windows opened and prayed to the Lord three times. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Dan. 6: 10). God sent His angel and shut the mouth of the lions from hurting him (Dan. 6:22). Men of God used mightily by the Lord were those who spent time with the Lord. If prayer was so important for the believers who lived in this world, how much is it more important for those who are involved in the ministry? W.Duewel wrote on ministers, “Greatly used people of God have often found it necessary to get alone with Him for a longer time for a new anointing, new spiritual refreshing for their own soul, or God’s special guidance concerning their ministry or their people.”
(Dr. C. Barnabas, taken from True Discipleship, Jan-Feb 2