Why Quiet Time is an Indispensable Discipline for a Follower of Jesus.

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One of the best definitions that I’ve seen for the word discipline is that it is a training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. Honestly, though, discipline is any kind of training that perfects any part of us.  We must discipline ourselves, for instance, to keep our bodies fit. This is not always a fun process, but most people will admit that once they’ve mastered the discipline of fitness, they enjoy the benefits greatly. Every domain of our lives requires it.  If you wish to have a nice garden, you will have to be disciplined at pulling weeds.  If you want to have a functionally intimate relationship, you will have to discipline yourself to tend the garden of your spousal accord. Most people who want a decent pay check must be disciplined to go to work 5 or more days a week.

Quiet time with God is an indispensable discipline that every follower of Christ should embrace like an Olympic runner who trains daily for his greatest events – that is if they want to have the best relationship with Christ possible on earth. So important was this discipline, that Jesus unquestionably modeled it for us (Matthew 26:36, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16).

The reason for this is that quiet time, just like other disciplines, is a gentle kind of training that corrects us, molds us, and perfects our mental faculties and moral character. When we get alone with God and his word, it allows the scriptures to shine into our innermost lives and show us where we fall short and how to train ourselves to become more like Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16).  This regular, quiet training, helps us to understand God because it allows the Holy Spirit to search us, and to search God for us, and because of that searching, our bond with God, and our understanding of Him, grows in ways that it could not if we did not have the training and discipline of quiet time (1 Corinthians 2:10-13).  This quiet time helps to make us more like Christ, which is a goal God has for each of us (Romans 8:29, Philippians 1:6). To be transformed into something more like Christ will take a renewing of our mental faculties (Ephesians 4:23, Romans 12:2).  Our transformation comes through a change in our minds!  And the best way to get that transformation in its fullest is quiet time with God.  Not to mention, God’s word tells us that we ought to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6), and we know that he practiced quiet time.