Thursday, March 7, 2013

QUIET PLEASE!!!

One of the challenges issued from Melissa Taylor's online Bible study (OBS) this week was to sit in silence and listen for God.

Silence..huh..there's a novel idea. I don't know about your world but my world is full of noise. My 6 year old has been learning new songs at school and she loves to sing them. All. The. Time. I am pretty sure that sometimes she does not even know she is singing, or humming, or whistling. But unless she is asleep there is constantly noise coming from that child. Now don't get me wrong I love to hear her voice and I love that she is learning and that she is happy. But for the sake of sanity please just a few minutes of quiet. At work there is constant noise. Patient's with a plethera of conditions that they want me to fix. Nurses and other staff with questions. If you listen to the news there is no silence at all regarding the state of our nation or our world. So where do I find silence?

Before I got married I had "quiet times" with God anytime I wanted. Most of the time before bed and sometimes when I got up as well. I was 26 and well established with my quiet time routine...then I got married. Trying to find time alone as a newlywed was difficult. A few years later when we added our first child quiet alone time was even harder to find. I found as my days got busier and louder that I needed my alone time with God even more. I have never been a morning person. I worked night shift for years because I always said it was easier to see 5 AM at the end of my day than at the beginning. But I found that 5 AM is the only time I can get alone with God. So I set my alarm (okay, okay, I hit the snooze til 5:30) and I get up, make my coffee and settle down to hear from God.

In the past 6 months I have been convicted about telling people I would pray for them but not actually following through. So I started a prayer journal. I don't pray for each person every day but usually do get them at least once a week. I pray and ask God who else needs to be on the list. I spend time reading God's Word and asking Him to speak to me. Some days I spend more time than others listening and praying. But in a world that is spinning so rapidly (and that seems to be spinning out of control some days), that early morning time when the rest of the house is sleeping is the quiet start to my day. I depend on it. How you find quiet times in the midst of your craziness? If you don't spend time alone with God I challenge you to start.

7 comments:

  1. I love the idea about the prayer journal. I know just what you mean... my son is 10 and is NEVER quiet, either. I'm so not a morning person, and have been blessed because my husband teaches at my son's school, so I can do my quiet time after they leave... but our family schedule is getting ready to change so I'm going to have to start setting the alarm a little earlier, and trying NOT to hit the snooze button. I totally agree, if I don't start my day out in quiet with God, I easily succumb to the crazy chaos of the world around me.
    Thanks for sharing, and letting me know I'm not alone!

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    1. The prayer journal is a great way to help focus. Good luck with the schedule change!

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  2. This is an awesome challenge! And, I totally get the guilt of telling others I'll pray for them but not following through. I so enjoyed this post. (I too have a singing, humming little soon-to-be-five year old bird and I find myself begging for a few precious moments of golden silence!)

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    1. Good luck finding your moments of silence!

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  3. I usually end up with my quiet time being at night anymore mainly because, since my husband retired I find if I'm up he's up and there goes my time. He usually is in bed before me so that works out, plus the phone doesn't ring at night.

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    1. My husband is just the opposite he likes to stay up late but does not like to get up in the morning. I believe God wants us to spend time with Him and does not care whether it's morning or night.

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  4. I, too, have struggled with the guilt of telling others I would pray for them and then realizing it was just words I spoke to them, but never to God. And I solved my problem with a prayer journal/list, too. I have really loved the experience of intercessory prayer for others and I'm glad I found a way to make that work. I'm so glad you found a way to carve out some quiet time for yourself--early morning quiet is just awesome, isn't it?! God bless you :)

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