Quiet Time in The Zone!
Confession: I really didn’t want to have Quiet Time this morning. Once I got to my secret place, I really didn’t want to be there. I found that it was hard to get in the zone. Just so you know, the zone is what I call the moment when you realize that God is present with you in your reading and prayer. I love the zone and long for the zone, but when I’m not there or have difficulty getting there, quiet time is difficult. One of the difficulties of getting in the zone is unconfessed sin. Confessing sin is must for being in the Another difficulty of getting in the zone is confessing sin. Sometimes I get tired of bringing my crap to Jesus! Not b/c I don’t think I should bring my crap to Jesus, but that somehow Jesus gets tired of being crapped on. Furthermore, I get tired of my crap. So, this morning I was having a pity party in prayer. Thinking things like “why do I still sin, God?” I was so consumed with this thought this morning that I wasn’t able to reach the zone. So, check this out: While I have a normally scheduled Bible reading, my prayer journal has a verse at the bottom of each page. I happened to look down and it read: Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
That’s the zone and that’s the zone. God met me right there when I was having difficulty meeting Him, which is the way God operates anyway. Furthermore, that is grace! That’s the zone! That verse challenged me to march right into the throne of grace. There was mercy or restrained judgement/punishment awaiting me. There was also unearned favor to help me.
I don’t normally like to share secret place stuff, but I kept feeling pressed that there might be some of you out there who need to know to approach the throne of grace with confidence today. God’s ready to meet with you and The Zone is awaiting your arrival today!
September 10th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
secret place stuff is sometimes the most important stuff to share… it is often the most vulnerable and honest we can be, revealing the private…
imagine if moses went into his tent of meeting with the God of the people he was given call to lead but didn’t tell them what God told him or revealed to him…
then they wouldn’t have only been lost i the desert, but just plain lost.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
“The Zone” is a fairly new thing to me. Some family recently that told me I could write a sermon while I was at their house with dozens of kids running around. I told them thanks, but preparing for a sermon isn’t like writing a book report. For me, right now, I have to be in a quiet place to get in “the zone”.
With 3 kids and just life in general, the only time of the day I can do this is after the kids have gone to bed, the kitchen is clean, and the dishes are done. And it usually doesn’t happen until sometime around midnight.
“The Zone” is an amazing place and is worth the 4 to 5 hours of sleep I typically get.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:18 am
“Sometimes” is the key word. The reason it’s a secret place is b/c it’s a secret place. Jesus spends a little bit of time talking about praying and fasting in secret. I can imagine Moses going into the tent of meeting w/ the God of the people he was given to lead and not telling them what God revealed to him b/c that’s what happens more often than not when Moses goes into the tent of meeting. A “sometimes” moment comes in Leviticus 1 when God speaks to Moses from the tent and says, “Speak to the Israelites…” Fortunately for all of us, Jesus became our high priest and mediator. Now, all people can go into the “tent of meeting.” It’s no longer dependent upon one man!
September 11th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Pay attention to early in the morning! I know this is going to sound crazy, but after a time of sleep, the hemispheres of your brain are more balanced than after you’ve been awake a while. You’d be amazed at the clarity of Scripture, the volume of the voice of God, and the creativity of application at early hours after sleep. Some early mornings, especially towards the end of a week, I’ll lay in bed just listening. I’m slow to move b/c it’s often some of the best “zone” time! Hope that helps.
Are you preaching this week?