August 2003 pt.1 letter to small group leaders from
Bill Christensen,Small
Groups Pastor
Dear Small Group Leaders,
I wanted to follow-up my last letter to you with
an article that I asked Rhodie Shreve, my administrative
assistant/women’s group leader, to write after
we shared with each other some of our thoughts on
quiet times. Remember in my last letter to you I
mentioned that one of the significant determining
factors of a healthy small group that emerged from
the workshop I attended at The Vineyard, USA conference
was whether or not the leader was spending time with
the Lord in “quiet time”. I hope Rhodie’s
writing encourages you to press into Jesus more intimately.
Many of us are busy. It is a dis-ease of our culture.
If you do not have “time” for this in
your life, my words to you would be start small
but start somewhere. Begin with 10 minutes if that
is all you have. And remember you trying to
find time to be with someone who loves you deeply.
Don’t be driven by guilt or see this as another
task. Maybe you can carve out some time at lunch,
when your kids take a nap, before you go to sleep,
or before you start your day…and don’t
always look for “results”…just
come into the presence of God and be there consistently
even if there is silence. Silence is not bad. It
can often clear away the stuff that sits on us. It
can also bubble it up so that God can begin to interact
with us about it. It can also begin to make it quiet
enough to hear God calling us….
Recently
the Sunday Dispatch carried an article on the
value of reflection and silence. Robert Mahler
wrote his book, Stillness: Daily Gifts of Solitude,
after “he stumbled into the joy of silence
in 1998, when he spent 97 days working as a
caretaker for a secluded mountain ranch with
no electricity in New Mexico.” He noted
that “the absence of distraction and
multitasking developed my powers of observation
and ability to concentrate” and that
he “became more efficient, productive
and easier to get along with.” He also
made the observation that “the clamor
of commercialism and the demand for productivity
dominates a culture that equates silence with
failure, self-indulgence and death.”
The Christian church for centuries has recognized
the value of silence and meditation as pathways
to cultivating a depth and intimacy with God.
The evangelical tradition that I was a part
of as a young Christian called this a “quiet
time” and it became the catch phrase
for a daily, disciplined time of prayer and
Bible reading. That may not sound too exciting
in our world of constant stimulation and activity
but a time of quiet set apart for God allows
us to connect with Him during the day. It can
become an oasis of living water to our souls
if we give it time and practice it routinely.
Bill has a lot of challenges that present themselves
to him as soon as he walks in the door of the church
and it has been important for him to take time in
the morning before he even enters the building to
read the Scriptures and pray over his day. A couple
years ago, Rich made it mandatory for the pastoral
staff to take a prayer day once a month with one
other pastor just to get away and have the time to
be alone with God. Bill does this regularly with
Craig Heselton and it has been invaluable in terms
of discerning God’s will for the direction
of his ministry, his family and his personal life.
Prayer and Bible reading are foundational
to our walk with God yet so often when we talk
with leaders, it is an area they often struggle
to maintain. Here are some basics for having
a quiet time that might restart yours.
how do you begin
to develop quiet time?
Find a quiet place with no (or minimal)
distractions
Try to start the day with God. You are
more likely to live for Him during the rest
of the day. But don’t limit yourself
if that is not a good time. Find a time.
Be Creative.
Choose a posture that won’t cause
you to fall asleep.
Pray for peace: “Father, I come
to meet with you this morning. Please send
your peace to my mind and this place as I
focus my attention and my heart on you. In
Jesus name, Amen.”
· Be flexible. Don’t feel you have to
do the same thing every quiet time. Allow the Lord
to lead you and show you what he wants you to do each
day but don't be afraid to build in a regular discipline
of Scripture reading.
what can you
make a part of your quiet time?
Praise and worship of God - You
can do this through thanksgiving, through
reading the word of God aloud, through your
bodily posture like raising your hands, singing,
playing and instrument, etc. or using worship
music that helps you enter into His presence.
Prayer - Prayer connects
us with God. Confess your sins and ask God’s
forgiveness, submit your requests to God,
ask for God’s will in your life, pray
for others, pray for you family and personal
needs. Don’t feel like you have to
talk the whole time! Listen for His voice.
Allow silent time in case God wants to speak
to you!
Scripture reading - Pray
for God to open your eyes and your heart
to his word. Read a chapter from the Bible
or use a scripture guide. Pick out a theme
or character to read about. Follow a word
through the Bible and see how it is used.
Hide God’s word in your heart through
Scripture memorization. Eugene Peterson wrote
this about reading the Scriptures:
“The reading style employed more often than not
by contemporary Christians is fast, reductive, information-gathering
and above all, practical. We read for what we can get
out of it, what we can put to use, what we think we
can use-and right now. “We..we..we..we..” all
the way home. If we are serious about following Jesus
and living out the gift of his life in detail on our
bodies and circumstances, we must swim against this ‘Whitewater
River We’ and familiarize ourselves with the
world in which Jesus and his gift of life are revealed
to us. We do it by reading our Scriptures slowly, imaginatively,
prayerfully and obediently. Each adverb is important.”
Make a personal application -
Take a moment to write a brief self-assessment
of your quiet times with God. Learn to journal,
reflecting your thoughts on paper while having
a “prayerful dialogue” with God.
Is he leading you to take action to accomplish
something, does He want you to speak to or
pray for someone, has he convicted you about
an area of sin in your life that needs to
change, has He demonstrated His love for
you in some special way or convicted you
or challenged you. Try to walk away with
something from your time together with God
for that day.
Excerpts taken from Perspective: What
are Quiet Times? by Winston Tay
As a follow-up to this letter, I have asked
Jeff Baker to put together a display in the
bookstore of some quiet time materials that
might be aids to your Bible reading. Watch
for that shortly. If you don’t know where
to begin each day, Bill has sometimes personally
used Inter Varsity’s Search the Scriptures
for his quiet time. This book allows you to
work through the entire Bible by using a short
Bible study format. There are questions for
a particular daily passage that you can answer
and then use as a springboard for personal
meditation and reflection. (These are even
great for small group Bible study questions).
For just straightforward Scripture reading,
you might try Tyndale House Publisher’s
The NIV One Year Bible. There are 365 daily
readings from the OT and NT already arranged
for you. I have recently been using Tyndale's
One Year Through the Bible that has 365 short
daily devotionals and a corresponding printed
text of daily Scripture reading. We have also
used the Bible study questions that are on
the back of the sermon outline each week or
have found a devotional series to work through
that might be dealing with a particular area
in which we desire to grow. InterVarsity has
two very small pamphlets called Quiet Time
and My Heart, Christ’s Home that might
also be good to read. Remember to use your
heart and your mind to connect with God! Ask
the Holy Spirit to teach and guide you into
God's perspective and truth.
So, take some time to be with God as we head
into what we know will become a busy season
of activity. We cannot just live on mountain
top experiences, do “ministry” non-stop
or take care of all the personal and family
responsibilities and tasks that loom before
us and expect these things alone to define
us or our relationship with God. Turn off the
TV. Turn off the radio. Get up a bit earlier,
stay up for an extra half hour or take some
time during the day when you can. Just a simple
decision to turn over one portion of your day
for “quiet time” can become spiritually
significant. Don’t be intimidated by
what might feel like “ unproductive” time.
Stick with it because without it, we will eventually
wither and lose the very thing we need the
most, a deep connection with the God we say
we love, serve and seek to glorify.
