When I was in college I was in a small men's discipleship group. There were three of us and we met every week and were led by our Resident Advisor in the dorms. We studied Scripture together, prayed together, memorized the Word with each other, held each other accountable for sins and spiritual disciplines, and strategized on how to reach our fellow dorm-mates for Jesus.
One evening our group leader couldn't make it to the Bible Study so he had one of the campus ministers come over and teach us instead. This was a real treat. Dan (the campus minister) was a little bit older and more experienced and we used the opportunity to ask him questions about ministry and the Christian life.
During the session we got on the topic of how important it is to spend regular one-on-one time with God (what I call a quiet time). So I asked Dan, "How long has it been since you've missed a quiet time?" I'll never forget his answer...
"I can't remember," he replied. I was confused and asked for clarification, "You mean you just can't remember the exact day or what?" And he said, "No, it's been so long I honestly can't remember the last time I went a day without having one. It has to have been a couple years at least." I was shocked. We all were.
The three of us proceeded to question him on how he could stay so disciplined as to not miss one day alone with God for such a long period of time. He told us that our question was a little misguided. He told us it wasn't so much about will-power or discipline as much as it was about realizing that he just couldn't go without it. For him it seemed like going a day without food... he just needed it so badly.
I've been a Christian for 13 years now and I still have to admit I'm not there yet. But I'm very pleased to encourage you that I can actually tell I'm getting there. When I go for a couple days without spending time with God I can feel sin crouching right at my door. I'm not as strong in resisting Satan's temptations and schemes. What I've learned is that alone I'm not strong at all. Alone I'm pathetically weak and fall easily to temptation. That's why I have to remain close to God day-by-day. When I stay close to him I'm relying on his power instead of my own. His power is what fends off the attacks of Satan.
That's what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me... For when I am weak, then I am strong." God refused to take Paul's thorn in the flesh away from him so he would learn to depend on God for strength. That's what we're doing when we have daily time with God. We're not checking it off the to-do list to make God happy with us. We're placing ourselves at the feet of him who can sanctify us, make us pure, change our hearts, and give us the strength we need to fight Satan and his demons.
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