As I come out of the last 15 months of pandemic living, I’m doing a lot of reflecting and reevaluating. You’d think that with all the extra time we had (because so many things were cancelled), that our inner lives would be stellar now. But, I’m not so sure they really area. Therapists tell us that people simply are not OK. This pandemic has been hard on us. And like any traumatic experience, it’s going to take some intentional thought and reflection to get back to healthy rhythms.

One of those important rhythms is spending regular time meditating on God’s words to us in the Bible and then talking to Him about those words through journaling or praying. At some point in history, people started calling that time a “quiet time” or a QT. I suppose that is as good a name as any. But it’s also OK if your quiet time is actually loud. The point is not so much what you call it but that you are building this important rhythm into your life. As with any relationship it’s important to spend time with God – listening to Him through His Word and sharing your own heart with Him through prayer and/or journaling.

Since our women just started a new Bible study for the summer at my church, I thought I’d take a couple of posts to talk about quiet times and how to make them happen.

For today, I’ve got two very practical, logistical suggestions.

1. Pick a time that works for your schedule.

An important step in making quiet time a daily habit is that you pick a time that works with your schedule. That might be at 6:30 am, before the kids wake up, or it might be at mid-day over lunch, or it might be before bed. Too often, we try to imitate what works for someone else and then we end up discouraged because we don’t stick with it. Don’t pick 5:30 a.m. because your friend picked 5:30 a.m. Pick a time that works with your season of life and your preferences. Are you a morning person or do you come alive at night? Are you an extrovert who is going to struggle to have quiet time if others are around to talk to? Do you have young kids who nap? Do you have a roommate you have to schedule around?

If you are not sure where daily regular time could fit into your schedule, here are some ideas that you might like to try out:

• in the morning before the kids wake up
• before going to bed at night
• over breakfast (if you’re with tiny humans, give them something to work on)
• for half-an-hour after supper
• during lunch, or for 15 minutes after lunch
• while your little people are napping/playing games/doing homework/watching TV/having quiet time
• at the park
• while the kids are playing in the backyard
• on a break at work
• in the car while waiting in a carpool line
• on the sidelines while a kiddo is at practice

There are so many little chunks of time that you can reclaim and use to get intentional time with God! I have found that some of these chunks of time get stolen by scrolling on my phone UNLESS I am intentional to do otherwise.

2. Have a plan.

But how do you make the most of that time in a structured, easy-to-follow, and sustainable way? Right now, the women at our church are studying the book of Jude for the summer so I’ll write as if I’m giving advice to one of them. Translate it into your own world.

Here is a super simple way to structure your time with God:

1. Have all your stuff in one place: your Jude workbook, your Bible or Bible app, your dictionary, a journal (if you use one), and a favorite pen or pencil. Collect all of it and keep it all together in one place – maybe even put it in a basket or tote bag – so that it’s easy to grab. Never let yourself grab THAT pen or let one of the other people in your home borrow from that basket. If you set aside 15 minutes to meet with God, you don’t want to spend 5 of those minutes hunting down your stuff. One other random thing that I would include in this basket is a notepad for jotting down all the random things that come to your mind that would distract you from staying engaged. Just jot things there and move right back to reading your Bible or journaling.
2. If it’s helpful for you, find a cozy spot. I’m all about the cozy so I like to have my tea, light a candle, and settle into a good chair. That might not matter as much to you. Or, you might be squeezing your quiet time in while tiny humans run around you or while you’re on your lunch break at work. So, take it with a grain of salt and work it in if you want. We’re all different and that’s OK too! You don’t HAVE to do what I do. But, if it helps you to engage, by all means, make your space cozy!
3. Take a few moments at the beginning to quiet your mind. Put down your phone. Turn off any distractions. Take 3 deep breaths.
4. Pray. It’s always good to start here and acknowledge your dependence on Him. Remember WHO you’re reading about and talking to. Thank Him for being a God who speaks and for inviting us into relationship with Him. Ask Him for insight. Ask Him to help you connect with Him and not just go through the motions.
5. Try reading the scripture for the day out loud. It’s a super helpful practice. And, in this particular study of Jude, it’s usually only a verse or two.
6. Follow the directions and trust the workbook’s author to lead you through a format for the day. Even if her question seems silly or obvious (or a waste of time) to you, give it a shot. You might learn a new skill or be surprised what you see by just doing it.
7. Pray and/or journal. Reflect back on what you learned. Talk to God about it again. Doing both would be great if you have the time!
8. If you’re a verbal processor, follow-up by talking about it with your spouse or a friend. This doesn’t have to be a long convo. Maybe just a few moments of sharing. It doesn’t even have to be profound or new. Maybe it’s just reaffirming something you already knew about God. The point is that you get your thoughts and reflections about God out of your brain and into your world.

In the coming days, I’d like to share some of my favorite tools and approaches for Bible study, journaling, and praying. Hopefully it will help you to establish (or REestablish) this important rhythm in your own life. Meeting with God is so foundational as it affects all the other things we do and how we think. But it also, often, is an area of shame and defeat for Christians. I’d love to be a voice that still calls you to invest in this most-important relationship without attaching shame and failure to the struggle that is sometimes there. Being with your God is good for you: body, mind, heart, and soul. He created you as an integrated whole such that your times with Him will impact each of those areas of life. Sometimes, the thing holding you back is bigger than a few practical tips. But, let’s try to tackle the easy stuff first and see if regrouping or trying a new approach doesn’t help you move into this important rhythm.

In addition to some of my tips here, there is a really great resource that our pastors put together on our church web site  The link for that is here: https://redemptionchapel.com/meet/.