An Island Within

I rise before dawn and cry out for help; I put my hope in Your word. Psalm 119:147, HCSB

Some Bible teachers say: "If you are filled with the Spirit, then you can draw from God's resources, not just at the beginning of the day, but every hour of the day. Better a fountain in the heart than a fountain by the way."This confuses two quite separate issues. It is perfectly true that by reason of the Spirit's indwelling, we can draw upon His resources moment by moment, but that does not do away with the need for a daily quiet time.
One writer puts it like this: "Those who say they can live in a state of prayer without stated times for prayer will probably find themselves without both. It is as futile as thinking that you can live in a state of physical nourishment without stated times for nourishment." I believe with all my heart that the divine Shepherd seeks daily to lead His sheep to the "still waters" of His Word, and how sad it is that so many Christians prefer to drink from the polluted pools of the world. The poet says:
What a frail soul He gave me, and a heart
Lame and unlikely for the large events.
I wonder if, more often, we haven't given ourselves "a heart lame and unlikely for the large events." God has given us infinite resources through prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. They are ours for the asking and the taking. The quiet time creates an island of quiet within us, and that becomes the atmosphere of the day.

Daily Prayer
O Father, help me come to the quiet time with quiet expectancy - expectancy that here my weakness shall become strength, my doubt become faith, my fears become courage, and my sin become redemption. I ask this for Your own dear name's sake. Amen.

This devotional is courtesy of Every Day with Jesus.