We are all people of habits. To some degree, we are always battling to establish good habits while battling to supplant bad ones. This is true of us in many different areas of life and most certainly true in our spiritual lives. In fact, some have argued that when we describe the way we relate to God and participate in his means of grace it makes more sense to talk about “spiritual habits” than “spiritual disciplines.”
Of course, there is an important difference between exercise habits and productivity habits when compared to spiritual habits. That’s because spiritual habits are not a task to accomplish or an item to strike off a list, but an ongoing conversation with the Creator of the universe. Yet even then, having a quiet time or doing personal devotions is still a habit, a discipline that must be established, built, and fostered.
Rachel Jones has written a book that is meant to help new Christians—or long-term Christians who have never quite gotten going—to kick-start their quiet time. She compares The Quiet Time Kickstart to a “couch to 5k” program that slowly but incrementally leads people from rarely exercising to being able to complete a full 5-kilometer run. “As with running, it’s getting going with reading the Bible that’s often the hard part; once you’re in the habit, it will feel much more natural. And as with running, it can be helpful to start small and build up.”
Her methodology, then, is to begin with relatively brief and simple quiet times and then slowly increase them. “We’ll begin with just a couple of verses and a single thought—a three-minute devotional that anyone can make time and headspace for. Then we’ll build up gradually to something a little closer to a ‘5k quiet time’—a comfortable level of Bible fitness that is going to nourish your spiritual health and wellbeing. Along the way you’ll pick up some simple Bible-reading skills that will help you make sure you’re listening carefully to what God has to say.”
There is not only one right way to relate to the Lord through Word and prayer, so what she lays out is merely a guide and one way to establish this habit. But it is a tried, proven, and effective one. She offers five sessions a week for six weeks that begin brief and simple and then grow in both length and breadth. For day one of week one there is just one verse to read and just a few simple questions to ponder; by day five of week six there is a longer passage of Scripture and some more advanced questions to consider. In that way, it is a program that helps beginners learn, grow, and progress until they have established a habit that can be with them for life.
The Quiet Time Kickstart is a simple book but one with a clear and important purpose. It’s just the kind of book a church may do well to keep on hand to distribute to those who are new Christians or who may be flagging in their habits. It’s just the kind of book a mentor may wish to go through with a friend to help them better understand how to relate to God in a way that will help them for life. It’s just the kind of book that I love to recommend.
