BP118
The Importance of Spending Time with Jesus
A unique feature of people who have come to know Jesus Christ personally as their Lord, Savior, and friend, is the practice of spending time with Him as one would with a dear human friend. However, this habit known by such descriptors as a Quiet Time, Devotions, or Practicing the Presence of God often does not come easy even though its importance is so often touted by giants of the faith. Listen to what some lovers of God have said:
“I ought to pray before seeing any one…Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’…I feel it is far better to begin with God–to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another” ~ Robert Murray M’Cheyne
“If we don’t maintain a quiet time each day, it’s not really because we are too busy; it’s because we do not feel it is important enough… Late nights kill the quiet time… Quiet time is not just a helpful idea, it is absolutely necessary to spiritual growth” ~ George Sweeting
“Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails” ~ Watchman Nee
“Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude; an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God” ~ Arthur W. Pink
“Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees” ~ Corrie ten Boom
Those who have a personal relationship with Jesus will whole-heartedly agree with these quotes about the importance of spending time with Jesus. As believers in the God who died for us and now lives in our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, we naturally have a hunger within us to know Him by spending time with Him. So, what is it that interferes with the habit of seeking His face? There are many reasons. A few are listed below.
What Interferes with Seeking the Face of Jesus?
- Humans are born with a natural resistance to the pursuit of God due to our fallen nature that is enslaved to sin and death. Even when we are born again and our hearts of stone are turned to flesh, we still have the old man or woman within us who continues to hunger for the desires of the flesh instead of a desire to seek God.
- Related to the reason above, you may (will) love something more than God. We all have that wandering spirit within us that seeks idols instead of God, the creature instead of the Creator.
- Hidden sin will dull our hunger for God. If we feed the sinful desires in us, we will hunger more for fleshly things and less for God. Many of you remember the example of the two dogs in every believer, namely, the Spirit dog and the flesh dog. Whichever dog we feed more will become bigger, stronger, hungrier. Men can certainly relate to the truth that watching more pornography or practicing sexual sin of any type does not satisfy and decrease the appetite for sin—it feeds it and grows it. So, be mindful which dog you’re feeding.
- Lack of discipline will impact our time with God. Some individuals simply are not very disciplined. They might even have the attitude that life should be easy. They desire to do something but do not have the self-control to do what they desire. Their discipline muscles are weak. They go with the flow. They prefer to go with the current of life instead of swim upstream against it. Spending time with God is clearly an upstream practice in a world that loves water slides.
- Bitterness/anger toward God can interfere with practicing His presence. People can be bitter for many different reasons such as the death of a loved one, “unanswered prayer”, ongoing experiences with the daily difficulties of life, chronic physical pain or injuries like the one Joni Eareckson Tada experienced, depression and anxiety, or the belief that God should be more interested in what He does for us instead of what He does in us.
- Some individuals transfer unresolved emotions or dynamics from a parent onto God. For example, Kathy’s father left her when she was young so she has an unspoken, subconscious belief that everyone she loves will leave her, even God. Accordingly, she does not let herself pursue God too much because the pain will be too torturous when He eventually leaves her as her rigid childhood belief maintains.
- Similar to the reason above is a lack of trust in God. Some people do not have devotions because even though they are saved and their names are written in the book of life, they ultimately do not trust God as much as they trust themselves and their power to control their lives.
- Breathing the oxygen of the culture can interfere with the practice of devotions. We live in a culture that positively values choice and individual rights. The mantra is, I get to control my life. I am the boss of me. Negatively, the position of the culture is defiance against authority. You can’t tell me what to do, you don’t own my body, is the common mantra.
- Maybe a few people are a bit schizoid in their personality. No, not schizophrenic, schizoid. Schizoid individuals have a personality that is more aloof emotionally and usually prefer solitude more than a lot of social activity. Personal connection is not an eight-lane freeway for these individuals. They need to go out of their comfort zone to be around others and possibly even to be with God. Another less intense word that someone might mention is introverted. However, I wonder if some introverted individuals might have amazing times with God because they are less distracted from devotions as more extroverted people might be who are much more apt to want to hang out with other people.
- You might be easily distractable. You might even have a diagnosis like ADD or OCD. Your mind is like a wild stallion running where it wants, always avoiding the corral or the paddock where it can be contained and locked in on one thing. How difficult it might be for you to sit and focus on God and His word or even to listen quietly for Him to speak to you.
- Possibly some of you are so fed up with being pressured by parents and pastors over the years that you have developed a nagging resistance to having devotions with God. Not developing the habit to spend time with God is a passive-aggressive practice where you do not actively say no to devotions, but you passively rebel against the pressure to do so by doing nothing or by quietly doing the opposite of what others want you to do.
- I believe that Satan vehemently opposes those who seek to pursue God and spend time with Him. The prince of darkness will usually oppose you subtly. If he is too obvious, you will recognize his fingerprints all over your resistance to spending time alone with Jesus and oppose him who opposes you. Satan can work quietly through fatigue, distractions (even ones that seem blessed and critical to daily life), and rationalizations.
- Spending time with Jesus (the Light of the world) exposes our sin and ‘badness’ which many wish to avoid.
- Related to a few of the reasons mentioned above, you might find quiet time with God as tedious because it is an obligation you should do instead of a desire to spend time with someone you love deeply.
One Reason to Practice God’s Presence
So, what is a good thing to do if you find time with Jesus extremely difficult to practice? There are many habits you could pursue like having a consistent time and place for your devotions, using a notebook or computer to write down what God says to you, making arrangements with a friend to keep you accountable, starting with five-minute increments to be with Jesus, praying for the desire to pray, and so on.
Today, I am only going to leave you with one thought in this battle for a consistent time with Jesus. The source of my thought begins with Isaiah 26:3 where it says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
With all the anxiety, fear, unrest, even dread in this current world, how amazing to experience perfect peace! How do we acquire such peace? Isaiah says it is by keeping our minds “stayed” on God.
A similar concept to “stayed” appears in Hebrews 12:1,2 where it mentions that we must “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” In addition to our minds being stayed on God in Isaiah 26, here in Hebrews our gaze is fixed on Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 also refers to amazing peace when it says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
So, there you have it. Isaiah, Hebrews, and Philippians all point to the truth that as you spend time with Jesus through prayer, thanksgiving, setting your mind on Him, and looking at Him as you run the race of life, you will have “perfect peace” and a peace “that surpasses understanding.”
Does this deep peace come overnight or in a few weeks? No, this deep experience of peace comes as you consistently look at Him and keep your mind “stayed” on Him over weeks, months, years, and decades.
I have recognized in my own life that my devotions over the years have not always been exciting. In fact, spending time with Jesus has sometimes felt like work—not always motivated by excitement but by disciplined practice. I have found, however, that as I spend decade after decade practicing God’s presence, I have a growing peace that sometimes does feel perfect and amazing. Spending time with Jesus is indeed like making small deposits in a bank account that do not seem that impressive individually but that over time grow into a huge investment of peace and joy and love.
In summary, one motivation to make it a habit to spend time with God is that, over time, you will see that the small seeds of regular devotions will eventually grow up into a towering tree of perfect peace. As the old line goes, Know Jesus and know peace. No Jesus and no peace.
In addition to receiving God’s peace organically, you might also save yourself years in therapy!
So, seek Him with all your heart consistently and you will have a peace that passes understanding!
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you ~ Isaiah 26:3