Why Your Daily Quiet Time Feels Stale—and How to Bring it Back to Life
Perhaps you, like me, have a daily quiet time in the Bible. Hopefully it’s become a habit for you. I do it first thing in the morning. Recently I came up with an idea to infuse new life into it. I gave that dedicated time a tone-setting name… entering the truth zone. That’s what the Bible is, you know.
Getting into that truth zone can be the challenge. We come fresh off distractions, attitudes, random thoughts and busyness. Just put a big truth zone label on your spot, and then open that book with anticipation for what you are going to read, see, discover and believe.
So as you read, you’re not in the speculation zone, imagination zone, or me zone. We already spend enough of the day in those zones. This is the truth zone. His word is truth, (John 17:17) and Jesus is the truth. (John 1:14; 14:6)
In John 8, while the Jews were talking with Jesus, they were swirling all around the truth zone, but many didn’t have a heart to believe — only to question. And there’s a lesson for today. You do not enter the truth zone with a heart that questions the validity of what you are reading. You come with a heart that says, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth,” like young Samuel finally did when Eli told him how to respond to God’s voice. (1 Sam. 3:8–10)
But back to John 8. Some of the Jews actually did believe what Jesus was telling them. Look what He said to them: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31–32)
The key there is “continue in my word.” That’s what you are doing when you develop this daily habit of sitting at His feet with anticipation. You are continuing in His word with an open heart that says, “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.” You commit to examining His words and learning what He is saying in context.
Then what happens? You are being a disciple. And guess what — you shall know the truth (because you’re reading and studying it in your truth zone), and the truth shall make you free!
Continue to read, listen, believe, seek and obey the truth you have entered into. Then you will be free. Free from what? Let’s name a few things: free from whatever sin you’re battling; bondage that holds you captive; and the vanity that swirls around you in the news, social media and every other stream of worldly noise.
It becomes much easier to go from zero to sixty in your time with the Lord when you begin with the settled mindset that this is the truth — the only source of soul-anchoring truth.
In closing, two things. Make sure you’re reading the King James Version of the Bible and not a watered-down version. Learn more about that here. And other truth-zone sources include a good Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church, Bible study and online sermons from teachers centered on Scripture.
But it’s a jungle out there, and we’re in the last days when there is a famine for hearing the words of the Lord. (Amos 8:11) Comparing scripture with scripture in your personal truth zone reading and study time will be your most reliable option.
Jody Shee