Spending Time With God
Luke 5:16
Primary Purpose: To encourage the congregation to set aside daily time with
God.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and
saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening
he decided to find out whether anyone was paying attention to what he was
saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that
big smile and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would
automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely!” or “Just
continue with your great work.” Nobody was listening to what he was saying,
except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my
grandmother this morning, the diplomat replied softly, “I’m sure she had it
coming to her.”
I would if he sometimes treat God the same way. He’s talking, but are
we listening. I want to encourage you this morning to set aside time with
God daily to listen to His voice.
I heard a 21st Century version of Psalm 23 today. It goes something
like this:
The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me into deep depression.
It hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy, for activities sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task, I will never get it all
done.
For my ideal is with me.
Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.
They anoint my head with migraines,
My in-basket overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration, Forever.
There are several good reasons to have a quiet time with God.
1. Because God created you to know Him and to have fellowship with Him.
Jesus aid in John 15:14-15 that he no longer calls us slaves or servants, but
friends. We are no longer in darkness but in privilege. In the Old Testament
God was approached once a year in the Holy of Holies. It was a fearful thing
that you might not live through. It was also very dark. Inside the veil where
the ark of the covenant was was complete darkness. You couldn’t see your
hand in front of your face. God was fully of mystery and hard to know. God
is not like that for you and me. He wants you to know Him.
I heard a pray from a man named Ken Gire that I want you to think
about:
Help me to realize that it was not the healthy who reached out to you.
They bunched up in crowds, but it was those who suffered greatly who
reached out to grasp you. It was the people in the streets, not in the sitting
rooms of society that groped for your garment. It was needy people. People
with outstretched arms. People with empty hands. people who had nothing
to offer but the faith that you could make them whole. I confess, O Lord,
how often I have followed in the crowd pressed around you. Yet how few
times have those brushed with you changed my life? I have touched you, but
only in the rush hour of religious activity. Sunday after Sunday I take my part
in the crowd as i sit through the service. I sing the hymns, hear the sermon. I
read my Bible, say my prayers, give my money. I attend the right seminars,
tune in to the right programs, read the right books. How could I be so close
your presence yet so far from your power? Could it be that my arms are
folded? Could it be that my hands are full? I pray that if my arms are
complacent, you would unfold them in outstretched longing for you. And if
my hands are full, I pray that you would empty them so that I might cling to
you.
In Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities there is a story about how much
God wants to have a friendship with us. Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton
are two people who become close friends. Darney happens to be thrown into
a dungeon and faces the guillotine the next morning. Carton, on the other
hand,is a lawyer by profession, has piddled away his life through loose living.
Carton hears of Darnay’s predicament and through a series of circumstances
gets himself inside the prison. There he switches clothings with Darnay and
the next morning faces the guillotine while his friend escapes to freedom.
This is a picture of what Christ did for us. Jesus said, “Greater love has no
man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends!” (John 15:13)
2. God desires to transforms you and give you victories in your life. We are
in a very real struggle with our flesh and with the world and many influences
that want our attention. Paul described the struggle to walk as Christ did by
saying “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I
do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on
doing.” Rom 7:18-19
Scripture indicates that the only way that I can have victory is by
abiding in Christ. Only then am I fruitful. Only then am I experiencing
victory. The goal is to walk in close communion with our Lord, to spend time
with Him and to then to begin to reflect Him to a lost and dying world.
When Peter and John were before the Sanhedrin and were defending the
gospel it says of the Pharisees “When they saw the courage of Peter and John
and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished
and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
3. God wants you to know His ways, purposes and plan for your life. John
6:12 Jesus compared himself to a shepherd. He said “I am the gate; whoever
enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find
pasture.. . . I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John
10:9-10
But, you may ask “How do I start having a quiet time?” I would like to
make several suggestions.
1. Make the commitment. Understand that this is something that God desires
of you and commit yourself to make that sacrifice. A million things will creep
in to try to steal away your time with God. Make the choice to make this
time a priority or it won’t last a week.
2. Set aside a time and place. Many think only mornings are good. I don’t
think this is the case myself. Jesus seemed to do this regularly. He also
prayed all night at times also. It doesn’t matter when. Just do it.
3. Pray expectantly. Read with anticipation. The worst thing about this is it
can become routine and expected. Pray before you read that God will reveal
something to you. Think about how your going to apply what you read.
Read it with a pen and paper nearby so you can jot any thoughts down.
Meitate on what your read. Meditating isn’t something only monks do.
Meditate means to dwell on. Dwell on what you read and think about what it
means to you.
4. Share yourself completely. You are coming before the one who knows you
better than you know yourself. There is no point in trying to be fake. If your
hurting, tell God. If your filled with joy, doubt, fear or worry, share that with
God. He wants to be your friend.
