Tips for a Quiet Time in a Crazy Life

February 4, 2012 By

I have this ideal morning painted in my head. It sees me rising early, the kids still in bed (having slept through the night), and a cup of tea in hand as I settle at the kitchen table with my Bible, journal, and pen. For the next 30-40 minutes I would pray, receive, memorize, and commune soaking in the Living Truth.

Ah, that’d be a dream.

On a good day I’m up around 5-5:30am, my Bible waiting for me on the table, and have 20-30 minutes before the kids wake up. On a not so good day, I’ve spent 2 hours rocking the babe in the middle of the night, changed wet sheets, or stayed up late getting things done and wake up to my 3-year-old asking for his vitamins. The “perfect” quiet time dangles peacefully out of reach.

Life can moves quickly, but I want to meet Jesus amid the chaos.

The Word is Life and I want to be right there. I can’t survive without Him.

All our lives are different. We’re in different seasons with different jobs, children of various ages and needs, and callings. There isn’t a one-size fits all quiet time.

We all won’t meet with the Lord the same way and that’s okay.

The important thing is we meet Him.

Tips to Have a Quiet Time in the Chaos

Reading the Word

  • Plan your morning the night before and follow the old standard.
  • Leave an open Bible on a place you pass frequently throughout the day (kitchen table, coffee table, or shelf) as a reminder that the Word is life.
  • If you find yourself needing to refocus during the day, pick up a devotional, like Jesus Calling or My Utmost for His Highest, as a reminder of what’s important. (Be careful with gift devotionals, because more often than not they’re motivational fluff and have little gospel focus.)
  • Read Psalms and Proverbs of the day at meals. For example, if it’s the 17th read Psalm 17 and Proverbs 17.
  • Read the Psalms of the day throughout the day. Don Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines, suggests reading 5 psalms a day. You start with one psalm and add 30 to each number, so you’d read Psalm 1, 31, 61, 91, and 121. In a month you’ll have made your way through the whole book.
  • Download a Bible App on your phone (YouVerison is great), so you can read your Bible while you’re in a waiting room, checkout line, holding babies late at night.
  • Read a portion of Scripture as a family after a meal. Perhaps work your way through the Old Testament or Gospels.

Praying the Word

  • Set a timer to go off at the top of the hour and take just a minute to pray. It’s a good, quick way to refocus, breathe, and realize our need for God every hour.
  • Pray Scripture. Use the Psalms, Proverbs, or Epistles to pray for yourself, family, and others.
  • Have a map with pictures of family, missionaries, or people groups as a reminder to intercede.
  • If you have 10-15 mintues, try lectio divina. It’s a slow, contemplative praying of the Word.
  • Follow the ACTS model: Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.
  • Pause in the morning to ask the Lord what he’d like you to focus on for the day or if there’s anything specific He wants you to accomplish.

Memorizing the Word

  • Pick a few verses you want to memorize or pertain to your season of life and work on memorizing them a little each day.
  • Place memory cards in places you are often. Perhaps the bathroom mirror, around the kitchen sink, by the telephone or computer, on your car’s dashboard. Make a habit of saying the verse each time you see it.
  • Decorate your house with Scripture. DaySpring has a great selection of quality pieces.
  • Wear it on you. This may sound a little odd, but perhaps invest in a necklace or other piece of jewelry with a meaningful verse to wear as a reminder of who God’s made you to be or what he’s done for you. I have a cuff that reminds me of who I’ve been called to be and the price that was paid.

God is not contained to a 30-minute morning quiet time. He works in our lives regardless if we can meet the stereotype.

He wants to commune with us all the day long.

What have you done to meet Jesus amidst the chaos?

This post was shared at:
• Homestead Barn Hop
• Soli Deo Gloria
• On Your Heart Tuesdays
• Titus 2sdays
• Gratituesdays
• Living Well Wednesdays
• Welcome Wednesdays
• Works for Me Wednesdays
• Homemaking Link-Up
• Big Family Fridays

 

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17 Comments | Filed Under: Following God
About Jessica

Jessica is a nomad and reluctant sojourner---she wrestles between longing for Home and the comforts of this world. She believes grace is deep and wide enough for us all and redemption is her favorite word. She's wife to a seminarian and mom to two wild and free boys.
She writes about the everyday life, faith, mercy and justice, as well as her passion for writing at The Reluctant Sojourner. She also chronicles her family's homeschooling journey at Our Montessori Home.
For now, she sets up her tent in Louisville, Kentucky.

  • Kellie Fite Turner

    Great article! I find that when my perfect plan dissolves because my 4 year old has a nightmare that takes him an hour to get back to sleep, I just ditch the whole idea of a QT. Which seems really dumb since I’m already operating on less sleep…why in the WORLD would I want to operate on less Jesus??
    One thing that has really helped me is downloading the Bible to my iPod and listening to the Word while I wash dishes or do laundry or the ten thousand other mundane tasks that fill my day. I’ve also started reading through a book on praying Scriptures for my kids, and I’ve taped some of the verses above the sink so I can pray through them while I work.
    I love the idea of reading a proverb at mealtime with the family and I’m gonna read more about lectio divina. Thanks for sharing!

    • http://twitter.com/Jess_Reflects Jessica Mueller

      Sounds like a great plan!

  • j beggs

    I have YouVersion Bible on my phone, and it’s really worked great for my new reading plan (10 chapters a day). sometimes I read them all at once in the morning, but usually throughout the day. Since it also provides audio of some versions, I’ve been using the NLB dramatized audio, and sometimes my kids listen with me. I like the idea of communing with the Lord throughout the day instead of cramming it all in in the morning and being cranky with my children for interrupting me.

    • http://twitter.com/Jess_Reflects Jessica Mueller

      I haven’t tried the NLB verison, I might have to. I usually stick with the ESV audio, because it sounds like a real person and not a midi file. And, for sure! on being cranky when the kids interrupt. That has been me one too many mornings!

  • Meghan Carver

    Just this morning I was commenting to my husband that the perfect start to the day is my Bible, cappuccino, and quiet. I had two out of three, which was pretty good. Maybe later I’ll have the quiet as well. Thanks for sharing the good tips — perfect timing for me!

  • http://joyfulmothering.net Christin

    Yes, yes, yes!! Excellent tips to become saturated in His word!!! Thank you for sharing Jessica! :)

  • Anonymous

    Great post! I have started memorizing more verses.

  • http://www.abideathome.com/ Rhonda @ Abide at Home

    This was a WONDERFUL article – I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Great tips to apply when you have young children who keep life crazy/wonderful!

  • Kelly @ The Nourishing Home

    LOVE this article, Jessica! Thank you so much for sharing your tips in keeping our priority of being in God’s Word and communing with Him daily! I will share this with all of my busy mom-friends! What a blessing you are! :)

  • http://www.mylittleccornerofchaos.blogspot.com/ Rose

    I love your ideas! I have felt a terrible void lately,feeling quite alone. I realized that I have not been doing my part! I must get back to my scriptures! I love listening while folding laundry!
    Thanks for wonderful ideas!

  • http://www.wesandbailey.blogspot.com/ Jamie

    Awesome post with lots and lots of great tips! Thank you!

  • http://candelierious.blogspot.com Lis

    This was a wonderful blog post.

  • Heather ;) :) :)

    Oh, I found your blog post via the Homestead Barn Hop…what caught my attention was the highlighted Bible with all the notes in the margins ;) :) It reminds my of my dad’s Bible :) :) When I had a smart phone, I used the YouVersion Bible app. It’s fantastic… and I actually use YouVersion online for my daily devotionals. I’m working on memorizing Scripture again…that’s something I struggle with, but I really do want to know His Word…so I’m starting again with Hebrews 11:1…that happens to be where we were at in our women’s Bible study at church last week. Thanks for sharing some great ideas here :) :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)

  • http://debsonelife.blogspot.com/ Deb

    I am reading a devotional by Jerry Bridges and following the ESV Bible Reading plan in a year. So far I’ve been faithful each day to read. You shared some great tips to follow.

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  • http://www.proverbs31living.blogspot.com/ Abbi

    Great tips! Though I do try to have a bible reading and prayer time in the morning before the rest of the day starts sometimes that doesn’t work and also I want to have more time in the word and praying anyway. I have found that what works well for me is simply to involve my family in it as much as possible. After both breakfast and lunch I read a chapter aloud and then in the morning we work on a lot of memorizing together. We hold each other accountable.

  • Jen Ferguson

    These are such great suggestions. I used to get so frustrated when “my time” was taken away, but doing things like this has helped me to keep my perspective.