If you’re a typical Christian, chances are you struggle to spend regular time with God. If you’re a mature Christian, chances are you’ve prayed for God’s help to make your quiet times more of a priority; which is great.
Yet I have recently come to the conclusion that this is the WRONG prayer. Don’t hear me wrong; praying for our quiet times is not wrong. It’s HOW we pray for them. Asking for strength or diligence in our quiet times will only ever result in short-term outcomes. God might give us the stamina to be wonderfully disciplined for a week, a month, or even a year. But like anything in life, acting out of a sense of duty will only get us ‘over the line’ so many times.
If we want longevity in our quiet times, the better prayer is ‘Lord, help me ENJOY spending time with you; help me LOOK FORWARD to spending time with you each day; may I rejoice each new day, because today I get to spend time with the Lord!’
Praying for joy as opposed to duty is better in two ways. Firstly, we always make time for that which we enjoy. If we enjoy sports, craft, gaming, or Facebook, we will make time for those things. If Bible reading and prayer are the things we enjoy most, then we won’t need strength or diligence; we’ll just WANT to do it. Secondly, since ‘enjoying God forever’ is how we bring glory to God, asking to enjoy our quiet times is one of those prayers Jesus can’t wait to answer.
So let’s (i) start praying that God will help us enjoy our quiet times, (ii) make a start by setting aside 20-30 minutes each day, and (iii) see what God will accomplish in us.
Brendan McLaughlin
