The Importance of Quiet Time
1) When was the last time you were quiet
for 15 minutes?
2) When was the last time you were quiet
without any social media..music playing in the backgroup... people talking to
you.… or even people/kids/grandkids
around you..?
4) Are you able to just sit without the
noise of your phone or TV?
5) Does silence bother you?
These were some questions you need to ask
yourself.
Quiet
time is a time you set aside as a child of God to speak and listen to your
Father. While praying each of us
are pretty good at making requests and telling god our immediate needs.
God, Can you give me a promotion at my work place
God, pls help my child get first rank in school
or the other extreme
God, Pls somehow make my child pass this exam
And
some prayers even sounds like this
God, Don't give him promotion because you know he is a bad guy.
So
Jokes apart… my point here is…we are all
good at making request and even telling god our needs but to LISTEN to what God
has to tell you requires EFFORT. It requires effort from your side.
Have
you ever sat quietly to listen to gods voice?
Have
you asked him “ What is your opinion god
or how should I deal with this particular issue”?
NO. We
never ask him that. Instead we complain that god is not talking to us or
answering our prayers. Only if we are quiet ..only then we can HEAR what he has
to say.
This
is where QUIET TIME comes into play.
Quiet
time is the period of time which we have to deliberately set aside to pray and
communicate ALONE with God.
ALONE WITH GOD.
I stressed on the word ALONE because when we are at church or
at a prayer meeting or even during our family prayer we are praying to god as a
group …..But quiet time is something you make time for… ALONE…
It is a time you set aside as a child of God
to speak with your heavenly Father not because you have any request or
immediate need but to just be there talking to your Father in Heaven and to
listen to what he has to tell you.
For quiet time to be effective it has to be free from every
disturbance and distraction . You are making and finding time for god…its an opportunity
for god to speak to you.
In today’s world quiet
time is a foreign concept because we are living in the city. We’re used to
noise and in a strange way, we’ have become so used to this chaos. We are so used
to it that when it’s all quiet around us we feel like something is wrong.
There is always some
sort of noise in the background… whether it’s the new on the TV..cricket
match..netflix series…movies…or your phone…the social media…we are so used to
the hustle and bustle that this concept
of being quiet and listening to God speak to us in our prayers is an
uncomfortable unknown.
Anything that is
UNCOMFORTABLE AND UNKNOWN… WE FEAR IT…AND THEREFORE WE BECOME RELUCTANT TO
COMMIT TO IT…
BUT quiet time is a sign
of RESPECT to GOD.
I am showing respect
when I choose to give him time in my prayers to speak to me. When I’m quiet
before the Lord it shows that I respect his voice; I respect his Spirit. It
shows my humble submission to the Almighty God. I’m showing God that this time
is precious. Im making time for him. I’m giving him my undivided attention.
Being quiet before God is showing respect for God.
Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God;
Mark 1:35 tells us (Mark 1:35 NIV) Very early in the morning, while it was still
dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he
prayed.
He could have prayed in
the house at which he was staying but he went off to a SOLITARY place and he
prayed. Quiet time with his father.
You say you’re too busy, but you had time
for that 10-15 minute conversation with your friend. You say you didn’t have
time, but you were browsing social media for 5-10 minutes. God is asking just a
little bit of your time for him.
Matthew
6:6
says But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your
Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew
14:22-23
Immediately
he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went
up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone
So if JESUS is doing it
then shouldn’t you and I also be doing
the same?
Now the second thing
that I want to talk about is the power of words..
-------------------------------
2. WORDS
are powerful
In
Proverbs 18:21
“The
power of life and death is in the tongue.”
So the Words that come
out of our mouth is mightier than a sword! Words
have the power to help, to heal, to hurt, to harm or humiliate.
The Words we speak can produce life , it
can give hope, it can even develop confidence in a person . Words can stop wars. Words can heal a depressed soul.
Words are so powerful
that they can literally shift a person's life to the greater good or bad.
And as believers, we are not messengers
of death, but messengers of life.
Let me tell you a story
about a lady named Amy thatcher was who revently diagnosed with stage 2 breast
cancer..
So Amy Thatcher was
waiting for her turn at the oncologist office when another elderly lady
probably in her 70s came and sat next to her. This old lady sensed the anxiousness on amy’s face and without introducing herself or
even asking which stage of cancer amy is in she told the following words…
Amy remembers every word
clearly even to this day.
She said…
I am a
breast cancer survivor too.
I want
you to know things will get easier. It may feel very difficult right now, but I
promise, there will be brighter tomorrows.
When
you feel weak, remember to take one day at a time. Just try to make it through
this day. And remember no matter what -Pray everyday to jesus to give you
strength.
So amy said that
everyday from that day on she remember these words that this old women told
her. She said that her words was exactly what amy needed at that point of time.
Those words were words of healing and hope
In fact Amy also
survived breast cancer. This incident touched her so much that 2 years after this
she went to hospitals to talk to patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer
and gives them counselling too. She understood the power of words. She wanted
to reach out to others and she did.
Now words can hurt and humiliate
as well. You may or may not use these to your own friends, children or
grandchildren… It may sound something like this
1. You never
remember anything
2. You
always fail your exams
3. You never
get anything right
4. You are
so spoiled.
5. Why cant
you be like your sibling
6. Why cant
you be the topper like so and so
7. You are
not good at studies
8. You are
too sensitive
9. You are
so thin
10.
You are so fat
11.
You need to eat less
12.
You need to eat more
13.
You look dark
14.
Your dressing style is not great
15.
You are so old school
16.
You still don’t have a job?
These
words can not only humiliate and hurt but it can always destroy a person’s self
confidence.
And as I mentioned earlier as believers,
we are not messengers of death, but messengers of life.
James Chapter 3:5 to 12 …it talks about
tongue…and what comes out from the tongue…its words….So words you speak are
powerful…
In James 3:5 it says
“Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great
boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”
James 3: 8
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison.
1 peter
3: 10 says….
Whoever would love life and see good days must keep
their tongue from evil and their lips from
deceitful speech.
So before
I end this I want you all to remember the 2 things that I told you about …
1.
The Importance of Quiet time
2.
The Power of words.
Hope you will apply this in your lives and see the magnitude of difference it makes :-)
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