Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. - Mark 1:35 NKJV.

I am not sure when I first heard the term “quiet time” used in reference to spending time alone with God in prayer and reading of His Word. I have heard other terms used such as doing your “devotions” or simply spending time alone with God. We have talked about how important God’s Word and prayer are to having a “spiritual break out.” Now we need to put the two of them together and Jesus gives us a wonderful example of this. Jesus who is the living “Word of God” goes to a “solitary place” where He prays. Jesus who was and is the “Word of God” also needed to pray. We need to do the same.

My first quiet times were accomplished with the reading of a devotional booklet along with prayer. Some of those earliest quiet times were only a few minutes in length, but still God was able to speak to me during those times. As I grew consistent in my quiet times I was amazed at how God seemed to have written devotionals just for my circumstances on the day that I read them. Sometimes I would make a mistake, and read the wrong devotional for the day, and after reading it discover it was exactly what I needed at that time. It had not been a mistake after all, but the hand of God directing me.

Before I heard, and knew beyond any doubt God’s call was upon my life, I was engaged in an intensive Bible study, which included a regular and lengthy morning quiet time. I had been engaged this regular, consistent, lengthy time with God for many months and I had begun praying, and writing out those prayers concerning His call for my life. The morning God spoke to me and changed my life was a morning like so many others; I was not expecting God to speak in a dramatic way. However, God did speak using a passage of Scripture, which in the course of time I had come to in my regular reading along with a devotional that was precisely concerning what I needed to hear. God in that quiet time spoke in a way leaving no doubt about His call upon my life and I was then able to communicate that call to my wife and others.

Without a regular and consistent quiet time, I believe I would still be wondering about God’s call on my life. Was He calling me or not calling me? Without a quiet time, I would never have had the courage to share God’s call with my wife and then to make public at our church what God was doing. Without a quiet time, I would never have had the strength or courage to leave behind one career and move on to the career God had prepared for me.

The truth is, that without a regular and consistent quiet time where you spend time in God’s Word and prayer you will never see the fulfillment of God’s will for your life. It is possible to miss God’s call. It is possible to be outside of God’s will. It is possible to make well-meaning decisions that are not what God wants for your life. It is possible to spend your life doing something completely other than what God wanted for you. Having a quiet time on a regular basis will enable you to “break out” spiritually, and be in the midst of God’s will for your life.