Speak, Lord, in the stillness,
While I wait on Thee;
Hushed my heart to listen,
In expectancy.
Speak, O blessed Master,
In this quiet hour;
Let me see Thy face, Lord,
Feel Thy touch of power.
For the words Thou speakest,
They are life indeed;
Living bread of heaven,
Now my spirit feed!
All to Thee is yielded,
I am not my own;
Blissful, glad surrender,
I am Thine alone.
Speak, Thy servant heareth,
Be not silent, Lord;
Waits my soul upon Thee
For the quickening word.
Fill me with the knowledge
Of Thy glorious will;
All Thine own good pleasure
In Thy child fulfill.
Like a watered garden,
Full of fragrance rare,
Lingering in Thy presence,
Let my life appear.
Emily May Grimes (1868-1927)
And rising early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed. Mark 1:35
Jesus had been up late the night before, concluding a long, intense day of ministry. People were clamoring for His attention; desperate needs pressed in on Him endlessly, as word spread of His supernatural power over demons and disease. Yet at the break of day, our Savior was found in a quiet place, away from the crowds, seeking and enjoying fellowship with His heavenly Father. This was not something He "had" to do - it was His supreme delight.
By comparison, many believers I've known approach their "quiet time" with a sense of obligation; they dutifully go through the routine but have little sense of actually meeting with God. Others struggle with consistency; they've failed so many times, they're tempted to give up - or already have. Still others have no personal devotional life at all, and have no idea what they are missing.
And then there are those few whose lives evidence the sweet, rich fruit of meeting with God on a consistent basis. The fragrance of their lives makes me long to know Him in a deeper way.
You see, more than a duty of the Christian life, a daily devotional habit is an incredible opportunity to know the God of the universe. Amazingly, He has issued to you and me an invitation to draw near to Him, to walk humbly and confidently into the Holy of Holies, to enter into a growing love relationship with Him.
Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37).
Let us come and drink deeply. Let Him quench our thirst, day after day. And then experience the rivers of water flowing out through each of us to quench the thirst of those around us.
Pastor Dale