Quiet times

Pretty much any mature Christian will tell you that quiet times are important. Work it into your schedule, a time where you are reading the Word, praying, meditating, just being quiet before God. It's not really a disputed topic. If you want to get to know a person better, you spend time with him. The same principle applies here.

Most mature Christians also have a standpoint on what that quiet time should look like, and when it should take place. Some are staunch supporters of the morning routine, others tend more toward the reflective, end-of-day routine, and still others have found a time during the busy schedule of the day that works for them.

Two people that I respect very much in the faith have given me these words of advice:
"Give God your first, give Him your best, and then give Him more."
"[Quiet time should be] your first, best time."

I don't think there's a time that is necessarily holier than other times. I do think that in this, as in so many other things, the heart is key. Are you scheduling your time away with God first as you place things into the day's agenda, or are you putting it wherever it will fit in? Do you intend to do it at one time and then really do it whenever you happen to remember? Did you plan to have it be a reflective time at the end of the day, a time where you could go back over the day's happenings in a prayerful mindset and weigh them all against Scripture, or were you just too lazy to get it done any other time of the day?

I struggle with this. Sometimes Jesus got up early in the morning to pray (we have a lot of scriptural examples of this), sometimes he stayed up late to wrestle with God (think Gethsemane), and sometimes the idea was to take the disciples away to a quiet place and just rest in the Lord. Again, I don't think there's a time of day that is by nature holier or more conducive to spiritual thoughts for everyone, but there probably is one for you. It probably won't be all that easy to make it happen. But it's important.

All of that said, I am going to go have some quiet time. After 1 a.m. And no, this was not intentional.