We’ve all either experienced or heard other people talk about their idea of an ‘ideal’ quiet time. For me it’s the early morning sun, quiet house, comfy chair or table, cup of coffee, an open Bible, and a highlighter/pen combo. I’ve always had the idea that early morning is the best time frame to read my Bible and pray. I could give you many reasons practically speaking why I believe that is best, but if you pressed me to give a Bible verse supporting my opinion that mornings are best, I’m not sure I can provide one.
The Psalms are full of phrases like “Evening and morning and at noon…” (Psalm 55:17), “to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:2), “I rise before dawn…” (Psalm 119:147), and “my eyes are awake before the watches of the night…” (Psalm 119:148). The writers of the Psalms seemed to cry aloud to the Lord all day long - they didn’t seem to have a ‘preferred’ time.
As I have been reflecting on the story of Daniel and the lion’s den, we see Daniel “…got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God…” (Daniel 6:10). And while there is not a biblical command that we must pray at three specific points of the day, I want to make the case that we should consider adopting a similar practice. I want to give you three reasons for doing so:
1. It centers your day around communing with God.
Most of us organize our days around mealtimes. For many of us, breakfast, lunch, and dinner happen every single day and we plan the rest of our activities accordingly around those three meals. What if we did that with our quiet time instead? What if we stopped trying to fit our daily devotions into our schedule and instead fit our schedule around our daily devotions?When you decide to set aside three points of each day for the Lord, you really begin to think about your schedule much differently.
2. It gives you three chances to reorient your heart each day.
Whenever I have my quiet time only in the morning, it often becomes something I am checking off my list so that I can go about my day. By the end of the day, I’ve forogtten all about what I read in the Bible and prayed to the Lord about. When I have three separate times a day I’m spending with the Lord, it keeps my mind fixed on Him throughout the day much more effectively. So many days, we become distracted, tempted, angry, discouraged, etc. and could really use some time alone with the Lord to recalibrate our hearts toward Him.
3. It helps to crowd out other distractions.
How many points throughout the day do you spend at least 5 minute chunks of time scrolling your phone, checking the news, looking at photos or memes, or just simply wasting time? What if you replaced at least three of those chunks of time with Bible reading and prayer? You are now not only spending that time on something that is eternally more beneficial, but you’re training yourself to go to the Lord when you have time to spare throughout the day. I’d much rather have a habit of reaching for my Bible rather than reaching for my Facebook account when I’ve got a few minutes to spare.
CONCLUSION
I’m not necessarily suggesting that you’re more spiritual if you do this. Nor do I even think it will always be practical in every circumstance. I’m simply offering this as a suggestion for those of us who struggle to make our quiet time a priority. You don’t have to spend 30 minutes at each session. As a matter of fact, I would recommend you choose one of the three times that is a little longer than the other two. Sometimes, just 5 minutes of reading a few verses and a short prayer is all you are able to do. In the end, the goal here is more time with Jesus throughout our day - don’t we all want that?