Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. By purchasing a product using my links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only promote products that I find worthwhile and that I think will add value to your life. See our full affiliate disclaimer here.
I remember talking with a friend one day, who suggested, in response to my exhaustion and overwhelm, that maybe I could add something to my schedule. You know, to relax.
Add something?
I laughed at her. Like seriously laughed. That was my first response.
There was no way that I could add another thing to my jam-packed life. No way.
But, funny thing....a few months later, after revisiting this conversation with this friend, I mentioned how I had been having daily quiet time.
Sometimes it was 30 minutes a day. Sometimes it was only 5.
But daily quiet time, time spent in prayer and in the Bible, had made a HUGE impact on my life in just a few months.
And despite teaching ESL online before the kids wake up, shuttling the kids to school, finishing up a PhD, running a blog, cleaning the house, cooking supper, organizing play dates, and somehow finding time to sleep....
....I had managed to create a daily quiet time when I had thought that there was no way that I could add one more thing.
In fact, adding this one thing helped to open up my time instead of jam pack it even further with stuff.
The fact is that making the time in your busy schedule to spend some time with God can have tremendous results in your life.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls us to abide in Him, to find rest and spend time with Him, in order to remain connected to the vine and to bear fruit.
Without this connection, we will whither like a flower cut from it's roots.
I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15:5-8
Creating space for daily quiet time is a good way to remain in Christ....
What is Christian 'Quiet Time' Exactly?
Marshall Shelly describes Christian "quiet time" very succinctly in Christianity Today:
A "quiet time" is simply being intentional about having a conversation with God. This usually means listening for God's voice by reading the Bible or devotions, and speaking to God through prayer. Jesus did this numerous times in the Gospels, sometimes slipping away all night or in the early morning, to spend time with his Father.
Put simply, carving out a space in your day to spend time in the Bible and in prayer helps to keep your connected to God, the source of all life.
Jesus promises us that by remaining connected, we will bear fruit (and maybe not be so exhausted and left wandering in the wilderness).
How to Have Daily Quiet Time
There are a handful of things that you can do to make having daily quiet time a bit easier.
If you commit to these 5 things, then you'll find that creating daily quiet time can become a habit that is automatic and that bears much fruit in your life.
1. Find a time that works for you.
Not everyone is going to have time well....at the same time.
Your perfect quiet time might be at 6am before anyone else in your house is up. Maybe you're an early riser, and you can carve out 30 minutes (or even 5) to sit with a cup of coffee and the Bible before anyone else gets out of bed.
Maybe you're a night owl and you don't roll out of bed before 10am. Carving out a chunk of time right before bed might suit you best.
If you've got a full time job and a house full of kids, maybe you want to take 10 minutes on your lunch hour and keep a Bible stashed in your office. (This is also a great soft-evangelism trick. How many people have ever seen you read a Bible in public?)
Ideas for when you can carve out time to read your Bible:
- Before everyone else is up in the morning
- Before going to bed at night
- At the gym (especially if you have an audio Bible)
- In the carpool lane
- At lunch break
- Over breakfast (invite the family to join you)
- For 10 minutes after supper (again: invite the family to join you)
- In the bathtub (moms of littles, lock the door if you don't want to be beckoned to clean up messes or break up fights)
- After you drop the kids off at school
- In the parking lot (or in the office) for 10 minutes before work
- At the park
- In the car (audio Bible to the rescue)
- While the kids are napping/playing games/watching TV/having quiet time
- While washing dishes (I seriously love audio Bibles)
2. Schedule daily quiet time into your day.
If you schedule a time into your day, commit to it, and make it a regular thing, then you will be much more likely to stick to it.
Schedule your quiet time like you would schedule a work meeting, or a car appointment, or a birthday party.
Make sure that others in your house know that you are committed to it and that it's important. It's not a time when they can interrupt you.
Invite them to join you. Or hide in the bedroom, or bathroom, and lock the door if you have to. (I've discovered that my family can indeed survive for 10 minutes without me, despite what they think....)
3. Commit to 5 minutes.
If you don't have half an hour every day, that's fine. Start with 5 minutes.
Even 5 minutes of time reading the Bible and in prayer can make a HUGE difference in your life.
The key is consistency. You can read a few passages every day in 5 minutes. Keep a journal beside you to record your thoughts and prayers. (Unless you're listening to your audio Bible in the car, of course! Or while washing dishes.)
Small actions taken consistently over time can have great results.
Remember the mustard seed?
4. Have a plan.
Come up with an action plan.
Don't just sit down for 5 minutes with a Bible and hope for great things.
Decide beforehand: are you going to focus on reading the Bible and absorbing it? Are you trying to memorize Scripture? Are you focusing on prayer?
I like to read between 1 and 3 passages each day, have a journal nearby to record any quotations that stick out to me, to take notes on commentary, and to record prayers that come to my mind.
Lectio divina is a neat exercise if some have some significant time to devote to your quiet time. (Lectio divina = read, meditate, pray, contemplate. And you end up reading your passage 4 times.)
But you can also just pray that God guides you in your reading. Pick up a Bible reading plan. (I use The Bible in One Year and totally love it.) Read for 5 minutes, or 30 minutes, or whatever you've got. And record any thoughts.
If I have questions that I'm struggling with, I just write them down as a conversation. "Dear God...."
More than once, when I've done this, I've gotten a response to that very question in the next verse I read. (Yay, God!)
5. Get the right tools.
All you really need if you want to have daily quiet time is a Bible, and maybe a blank notebook to write down passages, thoughts, and prayers.
But having a few extra tools on hand can make your quiet time even more fruitful.
1. I follow the Bible in One Year by Nicky Gumbel (The guy who started Alpha).
You can get the app or just follow the emails. (I subscribed to the emails and follow along on my phone each day.)
The Bible in One Year walks you through the Bible....in one year. Pretty basic, right?
But even if you can't devote 20-30 minutes a day, you can do pieces of each day in 5 minutes.
Maybe you do a psalm one day, a Gospel passage another day, and something from the Old Testament on the third day. The BIOY app is great because it breaks the readings up into smaller chunks, and it gives you great commentary on it.
2. Having a study Bible on hand will also help to deepen your understanding of the text, and give you greater insight into God's word.
The Life Application Bible is excellent for delving into the Bible and applying it to your life today.
3. Try a different translation.
You don't have to know Hebrew and Greek in order to get the most out of your Bible.
If you always use the same translation, then picking up another one can give you a slightly different perspective on a
You can find a ton of different translations here.
4. Try a different kind of Bible.
If you are the creative type, then a journalling Bible or a colouring Bible might inspire you.
Being able to colour a Bible passage and spend some time meditating on it can also help to store it in your memory for when you need it later on.
