A few years ago I read a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss called
A Place of Quiet Rest: Finding Intimacy with God Through a Daily Devotional Life. It
completely changed the way I viewed my time alone with God, and showed me why I
don’t have time to not take time to spend with God daily. Here is a short summary of what I took away
from that book, and I encourage you to read it for yourself as well!
First off, I had a misconception that the quality of my
daily alone time was a function of the quantity of that time. That is simply not true and quite honestly
unattainable. The quality of time spent
with God is directly correlated to the condition of my heart during that
time. Am I open to sincerely receive
instruction from the Lord or are you performing out of duty? If my heart is sincerely open, it can receive
more in a few minutes than if when I perform out of duty can receive in hours,
so I now always search my heart prior to entering into time with Him.
This time is to have intimate union and communion with God. Communion can also be seen as face to face friendship
with God. If I earnestly seek Him, I
desire that friendship with Him. Searching my heart to see if I am earnestly
seeking Him is the litmus test I can perform to see if I am in communion with
someone or not. If there is trouble in
any relationship, face to face communication is not desired. It is the same with my relationship with God,
so I then pray for reconciliation in order to pursue communion with Him. Psalm 139:23-24 tells us:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me
and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way
in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
My dedicated time with God each day allows for a time of
purification and restoration. The Word
cleans up my heart and life and can restore me as well. We all come across hard times, and digging
into God’s Word can restore our strength and faith. We should want to be like Peter ultimately
was when Jesus washed his feet, he wanted him to wash his hands and face too
(John 13:9). Just give me a complete
wash because Psalm 19:12 tells us that I have secret faults – things about my
own life I don’t even see! It makes me
think of a car wash here in town. I don’t
want the express, Lord, give me the ultimate.
I need your mercies daily, and God’s Word tells us we have it! Lamentations 3:22-23 says:
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
because His compassions
they fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your
faithfulness.
Wow! That should make
our hearts leap for joy! Mine sure did!
Dedicated devotional time also allows God to instruct me and
direct my life. God loves one-on-one
time with us! It allows me to learn to
listen to God and discover the different ways He speaks to me. Let’s take a look at Psalm 25:4-5
Show me Your ways O Lord; teach me your
paths. Lead me in Your
truth and teach me, for You are the
God of my salvation; on You
I wait all the day.
Giving time daily shows submission to God. It allows me to regularly relinquish control
because it is my tendency sometimes to want to take it back or do it myself. Bringing myself to God daily reminds me that
He is the One that is in control. My
need for God to take the wheel of my life reminds me of Psalm 63:1
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.
This life has no water to quench my thirst, but He is the
water that will cause me to never thirst! (John 4:13-15)
Time with God allows for a dedicated time for intercessory
prayer. Have I really
prayed about it? Who do I need to pray
for today? Who is lost and needs
found? Who is hurting and needs His
strength right now? This time allows me
not only to focus on God and me, but God and others.
And finally, as I linger in His presence, I am transformed
into His likeness. This is also a litmus
test for the condition of my heart toward God.
In my life, am I seeing a metamorphosis or a masquerade? I should be seeing a metamorphosis. If not, I start back at step one and search my
heart again. This process is
continual. We all hit stale spots or
challenges in our lives that really test our faith to the point where we are
masquerading. The greatness of God,
though, is that He is always willing to start the transformation process
again. We need only ask.
As I am transformed into his likeness, others should see
this in my life. I should be like Moses
when he came down from Mount Sinai after spending time there with the
Lord. He did not notice it, but others
noticed that his face shone with the presence of the Lord! (Exodus 34:29)
So, as we strive daily to spend time with Him, take also
this little poem with you. It was
written by William D. Longstaff in the 1800’s but is still pertinent today.
Take time to be
holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him
always, and feed on His Word…
Take time to be
holy, the world rushes on;
Much time spend in
secret with Jesus alone;
By looking to
Jesus, like Him thou wilt be;
Thy friends in thy
conduct His likeness shall see.
-William D.
Longstaff (1822 – 1894)
