Many of Jesus Christ’s followers believe that God wants them to have a daily “quiet time.” It has become an unquestioned practice among evangelicals. Lately, however, I have been having doubts about it. And what I recently discovered has been liberating and fulfilling at the same time.
The term “quiet time” first came about in the late 19th century from the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement. The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship later popularized the term beginning 1945 among university students. When Billy Graham began using it in his crusades during the 1950s, a new terminology was effectively added to the evangelical lexicon.
In case you are not familiar with the term, quiet time refers to the spiritual discipline of spending time connecting with God through prayer and Bible reading. How regular? Most adherents advocate doing it daily, at the beginning of the day. And this is where the problems with having a regular quiet time begin.
In his article Rethinking “Quiet Time,” Frank Viola recognizes a few major problems with the modern concept of the practice.* First of all, the practice of quiet time has been a provenance of guilt among evangelicals. Many sincere believers feel that missing a quiet time is an obstacle standing between them and the Lord. Nina was in a small group huddle years ago as part of a conference at our former Christian organization when the speaker asked the groups to discuss what slows them down in their walk or relationship with God. Missing their quiet time was one of the leading answers. For years I have felt the same, feeling a load of guilt when I had become too inconsistent in my quiet time routine. However, I want to spend time with the Lord for the right reasons, not to assuage my guilty feelings nor to check off something from my to-do list.
But for those who are disciplined enough to have a daily quiet time, Frank Viola makes the astute observation that something happens that they are not even aware of. They begin their day with the Lord then leave Him behind in their room when their quiet time is done. They go about their day without thinking about Him again. In other words, they fail to live in His presence throughout the day.
Guilt is something that believers experience when they base their standing or worthiness before the Lord on their performance. Thankfully, our worth before God’s eyes is based on something else – namely what Jesus Christ has done on the cross for us. In other words, His work and not ours (Ephesians 2: 8.9). The irony is that after a person decides to put his faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done on the cross, evangelicals then pile on a list of to-do things and behavioral expectations on him/her. The quiet time happens to be one of them.
On the other hand, some people have taken this line of reasoning and used it to neglect the whole practice of spending time with God altogether in the name of grace and freedom. But, as Frank Viola states, this only reveals that their motivation for spending time with Him isn’t love for God. It was guilt. Hence, once the guilt is removed, they have no desire to know the Lord better.
Viola avoids both extremes and recommends something beyond the quiet time and much better: the practice of being aware of God’s presence throughout the day. Keeping our minds on Christ – for the whole day and not just during our quiet times – would impact the way we live. Imagine if Christ were with you in the flesh throughout the whole day. Wouldn’t this dramatically change how we go about our everyday lives and the way we make decisions? In reality, if we have accepted Christ as our Savior, He lives inside us (Romans 8:10, 2 Corinthians 13:5). The key is to be conscious of His presence throughout the day.
There are several verses in the Old and New Testaments that talk about keeping our minds fixed on Christ, verses that believers know so well, yet somehow miss the point. Here are some of them:
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV)
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 3:1 NIV)
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2 NIV)
Other verses: Romans 8:6, 1 Peter 2:19, Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 4:18.
It is very clear how being conscious of God’s presence is an important aspect of walking with God. We won’t turn out to be perfect Christians but the awareness of God’s presence will help equip us to tackle the challenges we face, make us more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, give us a sense of vitality and make us fruitful (this is probably what Christ meant when He admonished His disciples to abide in Him in John 15:4-5). It is great to begin our day with a quiet time but we need to go beyond that. We need to cultivate the habit of keeping our minds on Christ throughout the day, and be conscious of His presence during the routine, the mundane, and the boring. Strive to keep an ongoing inner conversation with the Lord.
Here are some practical ways of cultivating that habit. Bear in mind that not all of these may apply to your personal situation or even preference but they can be good starting points. As in other spiritual disciplines, some of these steps may even wear out over time but you can creatively replace them with other habits:
1. As soon as you wake up, say something to the Lord. Thank Him for a new day and let that thought occupy you for a while.
2. Go for a walk in a park or in nature. Carefully observe God’s creation, take the time to look at the colors and details and observe the sounds. Then go beyond merely observing them; these point to Him and are reflections of His beauty and presence. Take the time to reflect on His character and thank Him.
3. At work, when walking in your neighborhood, when driving and commuting, observe the people you see and meet along the way and quietly pray for them. Ask the Holy Spirit how you can pray for them.
4. Develop the habit of having an ongoing conversation with the Lord throughout the day. The apostle Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17). It doesn’t have to be a formal prayer the way your pastor prays at church services but just like a simple conversation the way you would talk to a friend. Talk to him while working, driving or commuting or walking, as if you are talking to a friend beside you. He is our Friend after all (John 15:15).
5. If you drink coffee everyday, get a mug with a Scripture verse or image that reminds you of the Lord. Use a screensaver on your laptop and background images on your cell phone that remind you of Him. (I use nature photos which point to God’s beauty and creativity. When I was in the hospital recovering from a near-fatal bout with Covid, bible passages posted on the wall of my hospital room always reminded me of God’s faithfulness throughout my ordeal.)
6. As Frank Viola suggests: A great deal of our thinking is speaking to ourselves. Make a switch. Instead of speaking to yourself throughout the day, develop the habit of speaking to the Lord. (Perhaps this is also what Paul meant when he exhorted the Thessalonian believers to pray without ceasing.)
7. Take time to go to a quiet place to pray and/or in silence let God speak to you. Momentarily set aside potential distractions such as cell phones and other electronic devices. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus withdrew to lonely places to commune with the Father and encouraged His disciples to do likewise (Mark 6:31-32)
8. Talk to the Lord when taking a shower or a bath, keeping in mind that water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit’s cleansing work on us.
9. Read short Bible passages, even if they are only a few verses, then talk to the Lord about it. While we need to study the Bible more carefully and in greater detail, this does not need to happen every day. Reading short Bible verses at different times during the day can keep us focused on the Lord.
10. Talk to God before you sleep. Thank Him for the day that just transpired and reflect with Him on what had happened.
These are just suggestions and it is important that you discover for yourself specific steps more suited to your situation that would enable you to live and walk in God’s presence throughout the day. Being constantly aware of God’s presence involves a process so do not set the bar too high in the beginning or you will just end up being disappointed. Take it one small step at a time.
I still have quiet times but not in the mold of the traditional practice. And what I have been discovering has allowed me to go beyond the traditional quiet time and begin to live in God’s presence throughout the day.
For years I have been asking the Lord to teach me how to really walk with Him continuously. I have often thought about the case of Enoch, the Biblical patriarch who walked with the Lord and disappeared one day, never tasting death, because God took Him away to be with Him forever (Genesis 5:24). After what God has been revealing to me, I believe I am learning more and more how to really walk in fellowship with Him.
(Leo)
*Frank Viola, Beyond Evangelical: The Blog of Frank Viola, Accessed 27 Feb. 2024. <https://www.frankviola.org/2018/03/15/rethinking-quiet-time/>
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