Life can be really noisy! God understands that and knows what’s good for us, so he asks us to come away from all that noise and have ‘quiet time’ with him.
Saved quite young, and still young when I decided to get baptized, I had a lot of growing up to do both spiritually and physically! Looking back I am deeply thankful for good advice that helped me back then and still helps me to stay on track today.
My Grandmother’s last letter she wrote to me before she died encouraged me to know God as my hiding place where He promises this:
‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will guide you with My eye.’ (Ps. 32:8)
My experience is that if I start my day with quiet time with God, my day runs a lot more smoothly than those days I’ve rushed right into things on my own. Yes, I have tried and tested the ‘Take time to pray’ poem (see below).
I’ve learned that the best way for me to keep the habit of a daily quiet time is to keep a notebook/journal with my Bible. That way, every morning, as I read my Bible, I write down what I learn and what God is challenging me with. This has become like a journal between me and my God. It is private; not between me and the whole world, like Facebook! On a Saturday I can look back over the week and see where God has led me. It also helps me to prepare for Sunday morning worship and to gather up precious thoughts of my Saviour. It shows me clearly when I haven’t spent time with him. I’ve kept a lot of these notebooks and sometimes I look back at landmarks in my life and can see what God was teaching me at the time.
It’s a privilege to spend some quiet time daily with the great God of Heaven and Earth!
Jess Williamson, The Church of God in Trinidad
Take Time To Pray
I got up early one morning,
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish,
That I didn’t have time to pray.
Troubles just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task.
‘Why doesn’t God help me?’ I wondered.
He answered, ‘You didn’t ask.’
I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
‘Why, child, you didn’t knock.’
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on grey and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, ‘You didn’t seek.’
I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.
Author unknown
