That Ubiquitous Quiet Time
If you’re evangelical, you know about the “quiet time,” that daily time of worship and “hearing from God” that is all-but a spiritual requirement for those who would be godly evangelicals. It is usually first thing in the morning, requires a Bible, a worship song, a journal, a scheduled time (an “appointment with God”), and a quiet place away from others.
The evangelical website GotQuestions says, “Every believer needs a quiet time with the Lord. If Jesus Himself needed it, how much more do we?.”[1] This kind of thinking is prevalent in almost every corner of evangelicalism.
Even though the “Quiet Time” is almost eleventh commandment status in evangelicalism, outside of that many Christians have never heard of it. Protestants largely never speak of it, and Fundamentalists have often never heard of it. This is truly an evangelical doctrine. But is it helpful? More importantly, is it Biblical?
The Quiet Time is not just praying, and not just reading the Bible. It is designed to position you to hear a personal word from God. And therein lies the problem.
A History Of the Quiet Time
The practice of encouraging daily prayer goes back to the earliest recorded Christian writings, but this encouragement was not at all the “quiet time” as it has been taught in recent generations. It was simply a time to let your requests be made known unto God (Phil 4:6). By virtual necessity, the “daily personal Bible study and prayer” concept did not come about until well after the invention of the printing press, when owning a personal Bible came into reach of the common man.
A search of Newspapers.com for the term “quiet time” did not show a religious reference until 1908, but that was in reference to what seemed to be a 15-minute devotional at a Sunday School convention. After 1950, almost every reference to “quiet time” in Newspapers.com has a personal spiritual connotation.
In 1950, E. Stanley Jones had a newspaper column in which he referred to the “quiet time” as a seemingly time-honored tradition and taught it much like we hear it today. However, Jones was a Christian mystic who started what he called the “Christian Ashram,” a contemplative gathering of Christians. He was also part of the so-called Asbury Revival of 1905. I think it is almost certain that a thorough research of the history of the evangelical quiet time would bring it to charismatic and mystical roots that went mainstream among evangelicals.
Today, “spiritual formation” and “spiritual disciplines” is an always-mystical field of study that is the seedbed of Quiet Time teaching. No student of an accredited seminary can graduate without taking a Spiritual Formations class.
What’s Wrong With The Way We Learned It?
A time of focus on the things of the Lord and His Word is certainly not harmful. However, the Quiet Time as we’ve come to know it has been, I believe, more harmful than good. Here are some of the evils that have come into Christianity as a result of the encouragement to go into Quiet Time.
Mysticism is rampant in the Quiet Time. “Sensing God’s presence,” “listening for the voice of God,” and other mystical experiences are not a by-product, but the main dish of Quiet Time instruction. This can cause a believer to think they’ve heard from God when they have only heard from themselves, through their psyche and emotions.
Guilt is heavy in Quiet Time circles. Did you keep your appointment with God? I believe this guilt is church-created rather than God-ordained.
False Threats and Promises are often found in Quiet Time teaching. Back in 1950, E. Stanley Jones, in the news article previously mentioned, spoke of a couple that did not have a quiet time. “No wonder the husband had a nervous break[down]” Jones said. Then later, “Those sincere but defeated souls found release and victory when they set up a real Quiet Time in which they took the resources of the living God.” This kind of “threat and promise” teaching did not go away in the 1950s. It is strong today.
Pride can come from modern Quiet Time teaching. This is true with almost every legalism of Christian behavior.
Let’s close this section with a word to Pastors. The Pastor is often taught that he is supposed to be studying the Word of God professionally, but he is not who he is supposed to be if he does not spend time in the Word devotionally. This teaching comes right to the core of the problem with Quiet Time teaching. Please understand that the Bible does not speak to anyone “devotionally” versus “professionally.” The Bible simply says what it says, regardless of the intent, location, time, or manner of reading.
Is There A Formula To Christian Growth?
The Quiet Time teaching almost always contains some kind of formula. But is there a formula to Christian living? I don’t think so, any more than a formula for marriage, parenting, or career success. There are certainly habits that help, but those habits almost always have exceptions.
What if, in our Christian life we just decided to live each day to the best of our ability, trying to be a good, honest, honorable individual whose actions and thoughts bring glory to God? That, it seems to me, would be a walk of grace…and such a walk encourages people to be equipped by His Word.
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1. What Is A Quiet_ Time. https://www.gotquestions.org/quiet-time.html. Accessed April 15, 2023.
