Before I start with the second myth, I just want to answer a couple of questions one commenter had. I'm not going to make a habit of this, as my time at the puter is limited. I encourage each and every one to study for themselves like the Bereans. Pray. Listen to what God has to say to you.
Kris, I hope you are reading this, because this is for you. :) She asked what Bible verses can I give that talk specifically about quiet time? Well, like other modern christian vernacular, you won't find the actual words "quiet time" in the Bible. We also don't find "rapture" or "trinity", by the way. How do we base our knowledge on these things? Context, and reading and studying the Bible, basing what learn. The Bible has many principles that we get from reading it cover to cover. I already listed a few verses that talk about spending time in the Word (according to John 1:1 the Word is God and was present in the beginning of creation, now that is something to meditate on!) When we are in the Word, we are indeed spending time with our Lord, sitting at His feet, if you will. To me, this seems a simple context. But just as an experiment, I asked my children (the ones who can read) why we do Bible reading each day, privately? What they didn't say was "because you and Daddy tell us to." What they did contribute was the following:
Matthew 6:6 "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Well, if being in your closet with the door shut isn't private, I don't know what is.
Romans 12:1 "I bessech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
1 Corinthians 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" My oldest son expounded on those two verses a bit. What he was getting at is that reading your Bible, praying is a good way to examine yourself and to keep your temple clean. It is also how we communicate with God. We talk to Him in prayer, and He talks to us through His Word.
Psalm 18:1 "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength." One of my dd's pointed this verse out saying that if we love God, we will want to spend time with Him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" I think this is obvious. Another dd pointed out that there is a time for everything, including time for private devotions.
Some of the discussion I had with them wandered a bit, even mentioning how the Anabaptists HAD to memorize lots of scripture because of the persecution and tribulations they were under. My 7 yo son mentioned that the reading of the Bible and praying strengthens our hearts in the Lord, prepares us for whatever comes our way in life. My dd then pointed out that we need refilling everyday to keep ourselves built up.
Some other verses that talk about God's Holy Word.. well, all of Psalm 19, Psalm 37:31, Psalm 19:7-10, 1 Timothy 4:15-16, John 15:4-5 for example.
Another question was asked about what Scripture I can use to back up the claim that if we don't have quiet time then we are letting the ball drop. I already answered that in quoting James 4:17. That is clear enough.
Another question was made asking what Scripture I can use to back up my claim that my model of quiet time is the right one? Well, I never made that claim, in fact I never said what model of quiet time we were espousing. I purposely left that area blank because of exactly that accusation. That is another part of the devotional that I will address very soon.
I pray that you will find this devotional on quiet time a blessing. Personally, I love getting into the Word, though my time is limited. It is exciting to me how something I've read many times before can suddenly jump out at me! God knows what we need to know and when we need to know it. Isn't He wonderful?
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