What’s a quiet time?

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Inside Saddleback: What’s a quiet time?
by Todd Wendorff



Every relationship takes time to develop. You have to spend time with someone to take that relationship deeper. It’s no different with our relationship with the Lord. Spend time with Him. There is just no other way.

That’s why we encourage every believer to develop the habit of a daily time with God. As simply as I know how to put it, a quiet time is time alone with Lord. If we do not spend time cultivating that one-on-one relationship with Him, we will eventually feel spiritually disconnected from Him, out of touch, restless, dissatisfied and unfulfilled. After a while we will begin drifting away and no longer be influenced by His presence in our lives.

The fact is we all desire a closeness with God but often aren’t experiencing it simply because we aren’t spending time with Him. After a while we say to ourselves, “I’m the same old person I’ve always been.” “I’m not changing.” “My relationship with the Lord is stale and stagnant.”

That’s why each day we need to set aside time to spend with the Lord in Bible reading and prayer in order to deepen our knowledge and love for Him that will result in real life change.

When I find myself worrying, it’s an indication that I am not spending time with the Lord.

When I find my mind wandering or my heart hardening to the things of God, it’s again, an indication that I am not spending time with the Lord.

The primary goal as growing Christians is to become “conformed to His likeness” (Rom. 8:29). Another word for conformed is “transformation” which means “life change from the inside out.” We can change a behavior or an attitude on the outside, but to change on the inside takes inner transformation. Whatever is going on in your heart will be mirrored by your actions. No one can fake it for long. To change the inside takes a deeper relationship with the Lord. What we also desire for is congruence. We don’t want to live one way in public and another way in private. It takes time with the Lord to bring these two into more alignment and consistency.

Roman 12:1-2 reveals that the only way to be transformed is to read, study and reflect on the word of God. The two primary elements that are used to accomplish this are Bible reading and prayer. I have written the following guide to help motivate you and give you the tools you need to begin implementing a quiet time into your daily schedule.

One author says, “In practice we often find ourselves to be “thirsty” Christians: either because we are failing to drink or because God is stretching our capacity for Himself and we need to drink more deeply.”

If you find yourself restless, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled, it’s because you are not regularly drinking in God’s word or you are not going deep enough in the well. So I encourage you to use this guide and begin to spend regular time with God and drink deeply.

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:14 (NASB-U)

“My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.” Ps 62:1-2 (NASU)

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Ps 42:1 (NIV)

"The one who looks steadily at God´s perfect law…and makes that law his HABIT - not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice will be happy in all that he does." James 1:25 (Ph)

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." Ps 1:2 (NIV)