10 Ways To Spend “Quiet” Time With God

Spending quiet time with God is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Find out what spending time with God means and learn ways to implement it in your everyday life.

Spending Quiet Time with God

We hear it all the time. We know we should do it. But does anyone really explain what in the world it means to “spend quiet time with God”?

You can’t call him up for coffee, or go on vacation together. There is no date night to schedule—so how is it that people are spending time with God?

To me, spending time with God looks different in each season of my life.

As a child, I spent time with God when my family took me to church or prayed at the dinner table.

As a teenager, I wanted to learn more about why we centered our lives around Christianity and whether I ”bought into it” or not. I decided to get baptized and took ownership for my own faith.

When I was a college student, my faith was tested for the first time. I failed at it in many instances, but it was always there, tugging at me to remember the grace of God and the purpose I found through relationship with him.

When I was a young 21-year-old newlywed, I realized that I had distanced myself so far from God that I didn’t know how to get close to him anymore. I began to pray more fervently and journaled to God in the form of prayer. I still felt like I was talking to an empty room at the time, but a pulling on my heart told me that this relationship wasn’t going to come back overnight.

Week by week, I spent a little more time with him by going back to church and joining Bible studies led by older women.

When “Quiet Time” Is Tough

A few years later as a new mom, I was depressed and overwhelmed, and had left all of my working friends behind as I morphed into a stay-at-home-mom. When I plugged into a group of new moms at church, I saw this community of young Christian women as another way to spend time with God.

We prayed for each other, hung out together, and swapped stories and babysitting. These times were an immense boost in my faith—raw, honest conversations about the struggles of motherhood and the dependence on Jesus.

I began learning a new way to pray—as a conversation that lasted all day—like texting with a friend. It began with: “Lord, thank you for this day” and then into “Lord, get these children to listen” to eventually “Lord, give me the motivation to do this again tomorrow”. I wrote to God in journals, modeled praying to him with my children, and talked to him throughout the day.

Overtime, I saw what he was doing in my life–growing me spiritually one hard day at a time–training me to rely on his strength and wisdom and guidance in everything that I did.

Each time I was faced with hardship, spending time with God was more open, honest, brutal and truthful. I grew more in those hard seasons than in any of the easy times in my life.

Making “Quiet Time” A Natural Part of Your Day

Spending time with God means you are present with God where you are. Whether that’s five in the morning, journaling to him before the family wakes, or belting out praise music in the car on your way to work. Spending time with God may be in a retreat or conference where you refresh your spirit or an afternoon walk listening to the birds in the trees, spending time admiring the Lord’s creation.

We serve a creative God, so get creative in how you spend time with him!

For those of you not feeling creative right now, that’s ok! I’ve got a list of 10 ways you can spend time with God today. Which one will you choose?

Wake earlier than your family for a chance to be still
Meditate on a single Bible verse through coloring
Listen to the Bible while you’re driving
Research the historical context behind Bible stories
Set spiritual goals alongside your personal ones
Work through your fears and anxiety with Him
Sing with praise music while you cook
Pray as you walk in nature to enjoy His creation
Use Biblical tools to strengthen your marriage
Try Bible journaling using the SIMPLE method

Spend time with him any way you can—and make it an ongoing process. Let it be something you wake up with and close the day to.

At the lowest in my life, many of my prayers were a simple whisper of “Jesus”, as if he was sitting with me all day watching me go through everything. He didn’t need an introduction or an overview of the situation, he was there all day. He is—so talk to him as if you believe it!