Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.
(Luke 5:16)
Take four minutes and say this verse one hundred times until you have memorized it.

We are looking here at Jesus' lifestyle of having a quiet time. This is not something He thought about casually—that now and then He might pray a little bit. This is an absolute lifestyle. There is no way He could live without it. He demanded it of Himself.

The Bible says that he would often get away to pray. The disciples could not count the number of times. It was not something He did once in a while; it was something that happened so often that they depended on it.

He went to places where He could be alone. Our lives are so busy and so full of activities that we spend very little time alone. We are with a lot of other people or with our video toys, high-tech games, and stuff. Our minds are busy, busy, busy.

I believe that the devil uses all these things—music, movies, and everything else—as distractions to keep us from thinking about God and really getting deep into Him.

So, quiet time is when you separate yourself from the world and get plugged in all over again. The Bible says, "Look at Jesus, He was the Son of God, and He got away to pray all the time."
Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night there
(Luke 6:12)
Jesus would spend the whole night sometimes just praying to God, getting God to pour Himself out, and getting filled up with God. He shared His heart with God.

This whole idea of quiet times is not an option. If you want to change the world, you have to be filled with God. You can't go on what you were filled with yesterday. You can't rely on what happened at camp last summer or at church last Sunday. You have to get filled up again today, every day.

God has given you the ability to hear from Him. You have to let Him into you right now. It cannot just be today; it has to be a lifestyle. It has to be so common that even your own family living with you would say the same thing about you that you just read about Jesus: "He always got up and went somewhere to be alone and pray."

If somebody saw everything that you did, he would see your lifestyle habits. He would see that you always sneak away and find God. Some days you have to be desperate to accomplish it.

When I was going to college, I had roommates, I had to get up very quietly and sneak out of the room because I didn't want to wake anybody up. I didn't want anyone to know that I was praying. Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, "When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you."

I wanted to get the reward that only the Father could give. I just wanted to go off and get more of God in my life. I would stay out late at night just praying and walking around campus and looking at the stars. I wanted so much to hear the voice of God and know His heart and His ways.

It is like a hungering and a yearning from the bottom of your soul. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).

If you feel empty you need to hunger and thirst for righteousness as you get up and have your quiet times. Cultivate a longing and a yearning for more of God, for purity, for life. Desire to hear His voice so clearly that He begins to fill you with more and more of Himself.

Too many Christians are empty. They have prayed, but they're empty because they're not hungering and thirsting for righteousness. As you seek God in your quiet times, you need to be hungry. Open up your Bible and say, "God, feed me today."

As you look at His Word, He will begin to fill you, and your life will get richer and fuller than you ever imagined possible.

I present to you a challenge this week. If you want to be a world changer, keep your relationship with Jesus alive. Cut off the dead, old, petrified non-relationship you've had until now. Commit to having a living, exciting time with Jesus every day.

I would like you to commit to doing this: keep your relationship with Jesus alive by keeping your quiet times. From this time all the way through the rest of your teen years, if you do nothing else, stay in the Word. Keep your walk with God alive by having your quiet times.

Source: 10 Challenges Of A WorldChanger by Ron Luce.
Excerpt permission granted by Teen Mania Ministries