How I find time to have a daily quiet time

How I find time to have a daily quiet time

Before I became a mom, finding a daily quiet time was easy.  I would spend time in God’s word. Daily, I would spend time reading a daily devotional. Journaling and praying were a constant.  But when I had my first born, finding daily quite time was not so easy.  I found myself spending less and less time in God’s Word, and always had an excuse… I’m too tired… I can’t concentrate… every time I try I get interrupted.  It was a daily struggle, until, eventually, I let this daily habit slide.

As my family grew, time seemed to be more scarce.  I was just living each day without focusing on me or God.  I had a wonderful family. A great husband. Three beautiful children. A beautiful new house.  Yet, I still didn’t feel fulfilled.  I struggled to find out why.  I had everything I had wanted. After much introspection, I realized I had let a very important habit slide.  I had not found a way to incorporate a daily quite time in my routine.  And, I was struggling to feel motivated to include it.

What changed:

I felt like I was just going through the motions of living.  Alas, I was just following routines that did not fulfill me.  I wanted something different.  My kids were older. They no longer needed so much of my time.  I finally had more “free time”.  Yet, it had been so long since I focused on a daily quiet time, and I had forgotten how important it was.

I still loved God. Prayer was still important to me.  Every day, I listened to praise songs.  But, I found out that that was not enough. Finally God managed to reach me.  He showed me what was missing. He whispered in my heart that what was missing in my life was spending dedicated time with him.  I had let the most important relationship in my life become not important.

But I still struggled to find time in my day. I already woke up early enough. I am NOT a morning person!  I felt that the only time that would work was early morning.  I had heard so many times that I should seek God early in the morning.  That didn’t work for me.  I could not wake up enough to feel this quiet time was effective.  I felt I was just going through the motions.  Once again, I gave up!  Obviously not the best choice!

What I did:

So what did I do?  I signed up for a Bible study through biblecafe.org.  I started to feel excited about spending time in God’s Word again. I enjoyed interacting with other women in the Bible study and applying what I was learning to my life.  A spark of joy was ignited in my by reading God’s Word. Finally, after many attempts of starting and stoping, I was finally spending quality time studying God’s word.

Did I do it first this in the morning?  No.  That time doesn’t work for me.  And I found out that it’s OK!  It’s okay to not spend your first waking moments in quiet time.  I had to find what worked for me.  I had to quit comparing my quiet time with others.  My quiet time is mine.  I found out that giving myself this freedom allowed me to figure out the following:

1. It works for me.
2. It draws me nearer to God.
3. It leads me to find out my purpose in life.
4. It helps me learn what God wants from me.
5. It helps me focus on what’s important.
6. It helps alleviate my stress.
7. It shows me I CAN trust God… in all things!

I challenge you to find what works for you.  Quit trying to emulate what others do.  Find your time and your method.  Please share in the comments below what works for you.  What are you studying?  How has this helped in your daily life?