The Quiet Place

11/22/2025

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
- Colossians 4:2 (NIV)

A few months ago, a pastor friend of mine told me about an experience he had while on a trip in the mountains. He said that he stepped into a small coffee shop in the center of town. It was nothing fancy, a handful of worn wooden tables, the scent of freshly ground beans and an old man sitting  at a  corner table that looked out onto the town square.

While waiting for his order, he couldn’t help but watch this man. An open journal lay on the table in front of him, but the man wasn’t writing. He wasn’t reading either. He simply sat in stillness, hands resting lightly on the table’s edge. Every few minutes he would lift his gaze to the street outside, close his eyes for a moment, whisper something too soft to hear, and then, a gentle, private smile would cross his face, as if he had just heard good news from an old friend.

When the older man finally rose to leave, their eyes met, and my pastor friend smiled at the man and said, “That must’ve been a good cup of coffee.”
The old man laughed, his eyes twinkling, he replied, “son this is my prayer chair. I come here every morning to sit with Jesus. I watch my life go by out that window and thank Him for every way He’s been faithful through the years.”

He then reached down and tapped the blank journal with affection. “This stays empty on purpose,” he said. “Not every prayer needs words.”

My friend said he left the shop that morning with something new stirring in his heart. He realized that devotion doesn’t always announce itself with lots of words or dramatic gestures. Sometimes faithfulness looks like simply showing up—day after day—to the same quiet corner, the same porch step, the same driver’s seat in a pickup truck, or even the gym parking lot before walking inside. It is choosing, wherever we are, to create a “prayer chair” and to keep watch for the God who never leaves, the One who is always near, always listening, even when no sound is made.

Watchfulness means tuning our hearts to the movements of God around us. Thankfulness means training our eyes to see His fingerprints on ordinary moments. Devotion means returning, again and again, to the One who doesn’t rush past us.

Action Steps:
 • Choose a “prayer chair” for today—a spot you can be still for 5 minutes.
 • Pray with your eyes open. Literally. Look around and ask God, “Show me what I’ve been missing.”
 • End your day by naming one moment—just one—where you saw God’s faithfulness.

Today’s Challenge:
Slow down once today long enough to notice something you normally rush past. Whisper a thank-You when you do.

Prayer:
Jesus, help me be a person who returns to You again and again. Make me watchful to Your presence and grateful for Your goodness. Teach me to find You in the quiet moments and the busy ones. I want my life to be marked by prayer—not as a task, but as a relationship.

Amen

Pastor Jeff

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