Quiet Time is these carved-out moments of the day that are devoted to learning, praying, and listening to the Lord.
I would dare to say that every pastor out there would agree that spending time with God is important to the Christian life. Because the only way to know someone, even God, is to spend time with him. Not just a once-a-week get-together, but a daily dependent devotion to God is what leads to an intimate and reliant relationship.
There have been seasons of my life that spending time with the Lord has been long and drawn out. While in other seasons I could only glean the teaching truth from a VeggieTales show.
Life is busy and life is loud in my house. So, carving out quiet time has looked different depending on the season. Martin Luther is quoted to say, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
Three hours with God in prayer alone is hard to imagine in our busy, hustle, and do all things culture.
Sometimes just carving out fifteen minutes to sit in God’s word is a struggle.
But what is important to remember is that it’s not about the amount of time, or the depths of theology, but about a relationship. God knows the season you are in. He sees your nursing babies. He sees you tending to your elderly parents. He sees you and wants to encourage you in this season.
6 Ways to have Time with God when you have no Time.
1) Choose a verse of the day- you can download an app, create a wallpaper for your phone, and put post-it notes or note cards about the house. At the changing table, in the kitchen, on your dashboard, etc. So that when the verse catches your eye you can read over it, pray through it, personalize it, and let it sink in.
The Bible App – enable notifications to receive a verse of the day.
2) Get up a little earlier- don’t stop reading. I know this doesn’t sound fun. I love to sleep, and this was a hard one to commit to. But once I started waking up an hour before the kids, I was finally able to be consistent in my time with the Lord. If an hour is a too much start with fifteen minutes, then thirty, then forty-five. God is always faithful to be present even if we nod off a little in the process.
3) Set up an activity for the kids- In some seasons I have had quiet times during naptime, in some I’ve turned on the screen babysitter, and in others put together busy boxes to entertain my kids so, I can have time with God. You know your kids best, and the goal is to provide a safe and constructive time with limited distractions to be intentional with God.
4) Make your kids a part of your Quiet Time- truthfully, I have not been successful in using this tip, but I know many other moms who have developed this Tip well. The key is to have a basket/container with coloring books, age-appropriate Bibles, or devotionals for your kids to be looking at while you are reading through your own quiet time material. This helps your kids recognize the importance of spending time with God and gives them a way to participate in quiet time also.
5) Be accountable to someone- just like in any habit having an accountability partner doubles your chance of success. Having someone who will ask “what ya reading’ or ‘God teaching you makes it a lot harder to skip out on more than one day.
6) Read/Memorize with the intent to share it with someone- Sometimes if we take the focus off of ourselves and make it about equipping ourselves to encourage others the motivation changes, and we are moved by the spirit to speak life not just to the other person but to yourself as well.
We have a saying in our house when it comes to getting to know someone, it goes ‘sometimes quantity is better than quality.
The whole goal is having a “Quiet Time” is to have an intentional intimate relationship with God. Just like a husband and Wife’s relationship looks different at different points in their time together. So, it is the same with you and God. There will sometimes be deep rich times in God’s word. While in others you are ships passing in the night. But these are seasons of life, and if the heart is truly
there these seasons don’t change the
relationship.
Lysa TerKeurst once Twitted “If you missed out on spending time in God’s Word this morning…if you haven’t spent time in it for weeks, months, years… it’s not too late. Open up His Word and let Him breathe hope into your soul.
God’s word never returns void.
How do you carve out time with God in your home?
This is great! Especially love "Sometimes quantity is better than quality." It reminds me of the saying "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." Any effort is better than no effort and God is faithful to meet us.