Time With God: Devotional Time Tips for Life’s Busy Seasons
The morning opens wide and foretells the season’s change. I wonder how we keep turning from one season to the next with ever-increasing urgency. Life has been busy and full lately. I’m desperate for some quiet devotional time with God, but I hardly know how to make it happen.
I’m watching a V-shaped line of geese flap overhead when I hear my little boy pitter down the steps. He comes into the room and rubs his eyes. His short brown hair stands on end in a playful salute. I’m sure God smiles at sleepy children.
“Get me cuppy, Mom,” he demands, and I extend grace about the manners since he’s still half-asleep.
We carry his cup from the kitchen to the couch and snuggle together. The sun’s first rays slant sideways through a smudged windowpane and fall softly on his little lap.
How to Spend Time With God When Your Life Is Full
Later that morning, after his big sister is on the bus and the sleepy-eyed boy is busy with his trucks on the basement floor, I pause to remember. I remember the years when devotional time only took place in the dead of night with a nursing baby.
I recall the years when I had to forfeit my morning quiet time to slip tiny socks on infant toes, find breakfast for a busy three-year-old girl, and change diapers until my hands grew chapped from washing them five times an hour.
Maybe you can relate.
Perhaps your days are filled with meeting the demands of the little ones in your home.
Maybe you’re busy caring for aging parents, chasing your grandchildren across the yard, or racing from one task to another as you aim to keep up with your career.
Most of us face seasons when we struggle to find more than two-minute blocks of undivided time with God.
Time With God
If this is you, rest assured of this: God sees you.
He sees your desire to seek his face, and he sees the constraints that hold you back.
He knows all about the colicky baby, the boss who blows up your phone at all hours of the day, or the loved one who needs your help every single time you sit down for devotional time.
Here is the good news, friend: God’s grace is big enough to meet you exactly where you’re at in this season.
The good news is that God’s grace is big enough to meet you exactly where you’re at in this season. It will most likely look different than in seasons past. #quiettime #prayer #encounteringGod Share on XPerhaps you’re frustrated because you’re trying to fit a new season into an old mold. You’re frustrated because you’re trying to make the rhythms of an outside summer season work in a chilling winter season. Let me offer a gentle suggestion:
Maybe It’s Time for a New Posture in Your Devotional Time
A friend once reminded me that if we want God to show up in our lives in fresh ways, we often need to posture ourselves in new positions. If 30 minutes of quiet time is not working for you in this season, don’t give up on it forever.
God loves to meet with us for extended periods of communion. However, until the season shifts again, try seeking him in two-minute doses whenever you see fit.
Lock yourself in a bathroom. Hide under a blanket if you can’t leave the room. Get to a window and look to the open skies; those skies are proclaiming the glory of God.
Today, we’ll look at three ways to connect with God when you only have a few minutes.
Devotional Time Exercise #1: Spend time with God through one minute in the Word and one minute in prayer
God is always waiting to meet with us through his written Word. Open your Bible to the book of Psalms. Spend one minute slowly reading through any Psalm. Don’t rush or try to read the whole Psalm in a minute. If you only make it through one verse, spend the whole minute soaking in the truth of that one verse.
Once you have spent a minute in a Psalm, quiet your soul and thank God for meeting with you. Ask him to show you how to apply the words to your life. Thank him for his written Word. Lift any frustrations to him. Thank him for filling you afresh with his Spirit.
Devotional Time Exercise #2: Three cares and one Truth
Most likely, you have some heavy burdens in your life. Take a moment to quiet your soul. List three specific cares from your day to the Lord. Be as specific as possible. Tell him what’s bothering you.
After unburdening your heart, focus on this truth: For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9
God is always looking for ways to strengthen you. If you feel led, do a quick topical Bible search on your own. Find one verse that speaks into your specific cares. Write it on a notecard to carry with you throughout the day.
Devotional Time Exercise #3: Spend time with God as you breathe and bask
Sometimes, we simply don’t have the mental or emotional energy to process lengthy contemplative thoughts during or time with God.
Can you relate?
Find a quiet place and spend a minute breathing slowly. Try to inhale for three seconds and exhale for five seconds. Slowly exhaling will help calm your nervous system.
As you slow your breathing to calm your body, bask in this truth:
Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her. Hosea 2:14
God gave this promise to the nation of Israel during a time of idol worship. Through the prophet Hosea, God reminded his people that he would eventually woo them and call them closer to his heart of love.
He longs to woo you as well. You are spending this time with him because he sought you first. Allow his Word to allure your heart as you draw close to him and rest in his affection today.
A Free Devotional Book to Help You Spend Time With God:
My free gift to you is my 10-day online devotional, Fan the Flame. This devotional offers dozens of practical ways to connect with God. Click here, and I will send this devotional directly to your email inbox.
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Calling all moms and daughters!
Additionally, my teen daughter, Bekah, and I are passionate about helping moms and daughters grow closer while connecting with God. We have written two mother-daughter devotionals together. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section after each devotion.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, purity, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. We will help you!
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