How’s Your Chair Time?

John Osborne

As we navigate all that is going on in our own lives, our families, and the world around us, life can be rather unsettling at times. We can feel anxious about decisions that have to be made. We can feel frustrated, and often we feel overwhelmed by situations that are beyond our control.

Recently, I was made aware of a tiny book called Chair Time by Dan Southerland. In it the author introduces a principle rooted in Ephesians 2:6 where Paul writes, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus.” The idea is that all of us have a chair that sits before Christ and His throne.

For most of us our prayer time consists primarily of the traditional laundry list of requests that we present to God. Nothing wrong with casting our burdens before Him. We are actually encouraged to do so in I Peter 5:7. God is more than willing and able to intervene in our lives. The problem, is that we can often find our prayer times to be one sided, where we do most of the talking, and listening to God is not given much time. We must remember that our relationship with God flourishes best with two-way communication.

Here is something to think about. Since God is all-powerful and all-knowing, would it not make sense to allocate a good amount of time quietly listening to Him speak to us? Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still, and know that I am God.” That can be done best while quietly sitting in a chair and thus the term “Chair Time.” What I have found is that as I have increased my chair time, the peace within my heart and soul has increased. As Dan Southerland has so eloquently stated, “The issue is not that we are stressed out, burned out or wore out. The issue is that we are not getting enough chair time.” If you have not tried some intentional chair time, I would encourage you to find a quiet place, be still before the Lord, and listen for his voice.