The Unhurried Life / Devotional Life,Quiet Time

Devotional Life/Quiet Time

Various passages March 5, 2023

I. Introduction:

A. What I am going to talk about today is a practice that Jesus did that

I think is the one practice of Jesus that most of us already do!

1. So my goal today is not to teach something that is new to you

but hopefully be able to add some new dimension or tweak it

just a little bit so you can excel still the more at it

2. Simply raising water temperature a single degree means the

difference between just having hot water and creating energy.

At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils and you

can generate enough force to power a train, a ship or a large

machine.

3. Thus I have made one of my life values this “to excel still the

more” to take something I already have and make it even better

B. So today I want to talk about our devotional lives, many call it our

quiet time, where we set apart time on a daily or regular basis to

spend time with God.

1. My hope is to maybe help you find that one-degree

improvement or a new and different aspect of it that can move it

from being something good to something that boils and

produces the energy of the Holy Spirit in your life.

C. For years, I had time set aside to do my quiet time with God where,

if I was honest, it fell way short of what I believe God desires of us

and what we learned last week is the purpose of these practices!

1. Remember last week we learned that the purpose of these

spiritual disciplines is an intentional wholehearted seeking after

God where we connect with him resulting in a transformation

that makes us more godly!

2. That is not what happened with me.

a. Instead, I spent time studying God’s word, getting to know

the text better and more accurately but never coming a bit

closer to God or meeting God through his word.

b. Instead of talking to God through prayer, I said my list of

prayers for others, the church and myself.

c. Instead of worshipping God, I was singing or listening to

Christian songs without my heart engaging and my mindelevating

God, telling him how true those words are about

him!

3. So it is possible to have a quiet time where I get the text right,

say my prayers and sing or listen to Christian music and never

connect with God in a way that I am transformed in the core of

my being by his glory and his Spirit!

D. We learned last week that Sabbath is a day or a few hours a week

where we stop everything, we are doing to connect with God and

ourselves in a way that we can reorient our entire life around

God.

1. That is a major gift that God has given to us to address the

stronghold that busyness and hurry has on our lives.

2. In the same way, a quiet time is a daily time where we stop to

connect with God to reorient our upcoming day around him and

to be recharged by his Holy Spirit.

• So to start we need to know that this was a practice that Jesus did that

would be to our benefit to imitate.

II. Jesus’ quiet time

A. Turn to Mark 1

1. Context –

a. Jesus had just finished a very full day of ministry – he taught

in the synagogue in the morning, after church, so to say, he

cast a demon out of a man. As a result of this, immediately

news about Jesus was spreading everywhere around there

b. Then he went to Simon’s house for lunch, he healed Simon’s

mother in law of a severe fever.

c. When evening came, they described it as the whole city had

gathered at his door bringing those who were sick and

demon possessed. Jesus healed many of the sick and cast

out many of the demons.

2. Now we come to the passage I want to read – Read v35-38

a. Now the way I would have responded is look at the golden

opportunity God had given us with everyone looking for

me. Revival has broken out; we need to take advantage of

this while God is moving. Or they would have found me

still asleep in my bed from being so tired from a long day of

ministry the day before

b. But Jesus – reread v35.

B. Turn to Luke 5:15-16

1. Context – this is another time where Jesus had healed a leper

and news was spreading about him.

2. Read v15-16

3. As demands and opportunities grew, Jesus’ response was often

to slip away into the wilderness to pray.

C. We even see in Israel a similar pattern

1. Read Exodus 33:7

2. Slip away from the busyness and hurry of everyday life to be

alone with God!

D. Four foundational principles to a devotional life

1. Often or regularly

2. Busyness, hurry, opportunities and things to do should not stop

us from doing this!

3. A place that is secluded (free of distractions) from others and

the busyness and hurry of life.

4. Do it to seek God.

• So with the time I have left I want to share with you

III. How I do and recommend others quiet times!

A. The goal: to enter the presence of God without any agenda except

to build my relationship with him and enjoy him. I want to listen to him,

seek after his agenda for my life, share my heart with him and worship

him

B. The method is one that Martin Luther, the great reformer,

used. We learn of his method in a letter that he wrote to his barber

when his barber asked him how he prayed. His prayer life was built

around praying through the Scripture. I call his method WAR

C. So the first thing Martin would do is capture the heart of the

text. Before you pray through a passage, you need to know what it

is saying.

So here is the process I recommend you do before you war through

the passage.

1. Capture the heart/big idea of this passage

a. Open with prayer – Psalm 119:18

b. Read and reread the passage.

c. Watch for key turns points in passages with conjunctions

d. Ask these two key questions

• what is he talking about – subject

• what is he saying about what he is talking about –

complement

e. Summarize the heart/big idea of the passage in your own

words.

2. Anything your heart is drawn to in this passage.

3. What is God speaking to you about your life from this

passage?

4. What are you going to do about what God is speaking to you

about?

D. Next WAR/pray through the passage

1. Worship, praise, and thank God from things in the text about

him and what he has done.

2. Admit/confess sin in your life that is inconsistent with the text.

3. Request/petition/ask God to do things for you in light of the

text.

IV. Communion

A. Communion is all about remembering Jesus and his death for us.

1. In preparation for communion today, I want you to turn to

Romans 5:6-9.

2. Listen as I read this.

B. What I want you to do to prepare for communion today is to WAR

through this passage. So in light of this passage

1. Worship, praise and thank God

2. Admit/confess sin in your life (ways of thinking, attitudes, and

actions, inconsistent with God’s love for you)

3. Request/petition/ask God to do (in your life in light of his

amazing love for you)