What is a quiet time loser?
A loser is defined as “a person who fails frequently or is generally
unsuccessful.” I have struggled in the
past with having some kind of a quiet time.
It has been hard for me to set aside a regular time when I could be
alone with God. The more I struggled the
guiltier I felt. They guiltier I felt
the more pressure I put on myself. The
more pressure I put on myself the sooner I failed.
I really wanted to be like David to focus my heart and soul
on the Lord day and night. To be able to
...delight in the LORD’s perfections
and meditate on Him Ps. 27.4. But I had
no idea how to do that.
I had been told all “godly Christians” have a “daily” quiet
time. So when I tried and then failed I
felt discouraged and defeated. Please
understand I wanted to spend time with God.
But nothing I tried seemed to work.
I tried all kinds of tricks and all kinds of programs. I tried booklets that had questions to
answer. I tried reading through the
Bible in a year. Everything program I
tried eventually ended up in defeat and I felt like a quiet time loser.
At one point I was convinced that all I needed to do was
read 20 chapters a day. It went really well for the 1st week and
then fairly well for the 2nd week but the third week was very, very
difficult. Finally I realized I could
not sustain it and I gave up in utter defeat.
Finally someone encouraged me to read LESS rather than
more. They suggested that I read through
a book of the Bible but to only read a small portion. I was encouraged to read with the goal of
hearing from God NOT with the goal of getting through the chapter or the
book. I also learned to take whatever I
had learned or heard from God and turn it into a prayer asking God to make that
truth a reality in my life.
I set my sites on having a quiet time with God 4-5 days a
week. I kept a record of the days I read
to hold me accountable to me. Over time
this became something that I enjoyed and really looked forward to. Not because I “had to” but because I was wanted
to.
If you can identify with this struggle - let me encourage
you. You are not a loser. That is the
voice of the enemy. Do NOT Give up keep on seeking after the Lord.
I also want to encourage you to consider trying one of our Quiet Time Journals. You can see the descriptions of them on our Facebook page: Walking Together With Jesus. If you have any questions please send me a
private Facebook message and I will be happy to reply.
