Your Daily Quiet Time

Do you have any habits you don’t like? Or that are annoying to others? What about habits that are good for you? 

Here’s one habit that’s beyond good for you and that I hope every believer has — a Daily Quiet Time. 

What I’m talking about is a regular time each day that you spend alone with God. It’s a time you set aside with no phone, no TV, no one else, just you and God, one-on-one. Do you have that habit in your life?

Maybe you think you’re way too busy for something like this. You wake up in the morning and the race is on: you get ready for work, get the kids ready for school, go to work, come home and cook supper, attend kids’ sports, church activities, you name it. Then you fall into bed exhausted, ready for it to start all over again when your alarm rings. 

But God knows that we need the habit, the discipline, of setting at least some time aside each day to be alone with him. It’s vital to our spiritual and emotional health. Without it, we tend to allow the busyness of life to overtake us. That’s when we take our eyes off God and slowly drift away from him. We lose sight of his power and presence as we claw our way through the problems and demands of life.

So here’s my challenge to you: if you don’t already have a Daily Quiet Time, choose at least 15 minutes each day, same time each day, to get alone with God. Try that every day, or every weekday, for six weeks, and see what happens.

What would you do in those 15 minutes? Here’s what I do:

Pray (1 minute)– It all starts here. Even if your DQT is at night, at least start the day with a prayer. Talk to him about any anxieties you feel when waking up. Acknowledge your dependence on him, and thank him for another day. Even a one-minute prayer in the morning will focus your mind on Jesus. 

But during your time alone with God, start by renewing your surrender to God, and ask him to help you hear anything he wants to say to you. Ask him to change anything in you that he wants to change. You could even pray these verses: 

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. (Psalm 119:18)

Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. (Psalm 119:35)

Read the Bible (5 minutes) – Open your heart to God, then open your Bible and read. This is where some planning ahead is important. First, choose a Bible translation you’re comfortable with, like the NIV, NLT, CSB, TEV, or ESV, whatever helps you best. 

Then, come into your quiet time with a reading plan. You could read a devotional guide, or you could start in a book like John or James, shooting for a chapter a day. Maybe you won’t get through an entire chapter; it’s okay to stop when God stops you. You’re not in a race to finish the book. 

There are tons of Bible reading plans on the YouVersion app. I liked reading the Bible through in two years using this plan, but, like I said, you don’t have to be on a schedule to finish. Right now, I’m on what started in April 2019 as a 5-year-plan, and I’ve realized now that it’ll take longer than five years. And that’s okay. I don’t have a deadline. The important thing is to do what works for you. 

A couple of devotional books I’ve read through are Jesus, Our Perfect Hope by Charles Stanley, and With the Word by Warren Wiersbe, but there are many out there. 

Finally, one tool that has helped me is the Life Application Bible. I love study Bibles, and I have several that I read and use regularly, but the LAB has helped me to apply what I’m reading regardless of where I’m reading in the Bible. 

There are plenty of options for you when it comes to a reading plan, so choose a plan before you start your DQT.

Reflect on what you’ve read (5 minutes) – Did anything you read stand out to you? Keep in mind that sometimes God doesn’t have any great truth to say to you on a particular day. He may just want you to experience more of him that day. 

One tool you can use is SPACEPETS (If anyone knows who came up with this, please let me know so I can give them credit!). Read and ask yourself, “Is there a…”

As you reflect, you can also write down any insights or promptings you experience. If you journal your quiet time, you’ll build a treasure you can look back on and see how God has grown you and worked in your life.

Pray (4 minutes) – Here’s where you talk to God about what you’ve read and heard. You can confess any sins God brought to mind, praise God for who he is, thank him for what he’s done, pray through what you journaled, and make any requests you want to make. You’ve listened to God through the Bible; now it’s your turn to talk to your Father.

One final thought — never judge your quiet time by how you feel about it, before or after. You won’t always receive profound insight or have an incredibly emotional time. That isn’t the point. Remember, God doesn’t always want to say something to you. He may simply want to spend time with you. It isn’t always about learning more or experiencing more, it’s also about resting in God’s presence.

My quiet time usually lasts about an hour. I have to discipline myself to go to bed a little early and wake up earlier to do this. But you don’t have to start with an hour. If you start with just 15 minutes, that’s a huge step forward. Then, over time, you can increase the time you spend alone with God. The important step is to get started.

So that’s it, your daily time alone with God! You can do this. You need this. Don’t start the habit of a Daily Quiet Time because it’s yet another rule we have to follow or another way to earn God’s favor. Start having a DQT because time alone with God is a tremendous help in growing to know and love your Father more and more.

So try it. Give it six weeks. You’ll be amazed at what God can do.