Are you wondering how to spend time with God with a busy schedule? The busyness of life can sometimes take us away from spending much time with God. Children, family, jobs, and responsibilities can pull us in a million directions. We go through the entire day and realize that we haven’t meaningfully nurtured our relationship with our heavenly Father. They may be important, worthwhile, and Godly endeavors, but can leave us with little time to have meaningful, quality time with Him. We may feel the Holy Spirit tugging at us, but wonder how to add one more thing to our day.

Recognize the Importance of Prioritizing Time with God
“If the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy.” Corrie ten Boom
That quote had a tremendous impact on me when I first read it. I’d been making excuses for why I couldn’t spend time with God in many seasons of my life:
•as a single mom with two small children and working full time,
•a stay at home mom with four children (juggling everything from driver’s training to potty training!),
• when I went back to work part-time with children at home…
My schedule was always full. Someone or something was always competing for my time.
We can fill our lives with busyness no matter what age or stage of life. Making time for God requires effort, purposeful attention, and a search of our hearts.
Jesus tells us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” Matthew 6:33a. That means turning to Him first when you need help, filling our thoughts with His desires, patterning our lives after His character, and to serve and obey Him.
Assess Your Schedule and Priorities
Giving our time to God should be our priority. It’s never about having the time; it’s finding time for God. Some things to reflect on:
~ Be intentional about evaluating how and where you spend your time. A good starting place is to think about your day and decide where you can give God the attention he deserves.
Set an alarm on your phone, put it in your planner, whatever works for you- but evaluate first and then commit to making the time.
~Eliminate time-wasters in your day. For example- reducing screen time, procrastination, not being organized, overloading your schedule, getting distracted, etc.
Different seasons of life mean adjusting our schedules. There were years when my time with God was best spent after everyone was in bed. That has now changed to first thing in the morning.
~Pray for reminders and ask him to prompt you to make time for him. Pray to remove any priorities that lead you away from Him.
Even small, consistent changes can make a difference! Once you commit and keep your time with God, you will notice how time with Him brings peace, clarity, and strength for your daily challenges.
Practical Ways For Connecting with God Daily
~Start your Day with God
Take a few minutes before you even get up to speak with Him, telling Him about your day, or just spending time in prayer.
~Set aside a specific time for Prayer and Bible Study
Block out time in your daily calendar for God, treating it like an appointment. Use devotionals, Bible Reading plans, journaling, etc. to make this time your structured study.
~Incorporate God into Your Daily Activities
Spending time with God doesn’t always mean having a quiet, extended time of Bible study and prayer. There will be times where we are spending 5-minute increments before we walk out the door, or while we are in the car, in the shower, or performing a mindless chore. We can use those times for worship and conversation with God.
Make it a habit to talk to Him (how you’re feeling, ask for help/guidance, concerns, etc.) as you do household chores. Look for His beauty in the physical world and praise Him, sit quietly, even if it’s just for 60 seconds to listen to His voice.
As you fold laundry, pray about the person who wears them- even yourself!
Put down that TV remote, your phone, your tablet, or whatever distracts you. Make time for God first, then move on to Netflix, social media, or those household chores.
Download audio versions of Bible studies, devotionals, audiobooks, podcasts, sermons, etc. to listen to in the car, while out for a walk or run, at the gym, etc.
Remember the story of Mary and Martha? Jesus praised Mary for “choosing what was better”- spending time with Him.
Be Flexible and Creative
Put sticky notes with Bible verses on them on the mirror in your bathroom, in your car, on your desk, etc. Meditate on them throughout the day. I put a tiny magnet on my bathroom mirror that simply says “love” to remind me of and thank God for His love.
Color a Bible verse and meditate on its meaning- you can find some free ones in my Resource Page! Just scroll down to Bible verse Coloring Pages (there are even some for children)
Pray during a walk, read a verse during your lunch and reflect on how you can apply it to your life, or start a family prayer time.
Overcoming Common Challenges
Guilt over not Doing Enough
Remember, small and consistent efforts matter. Celebrate the progress you have made. Give yourself grace- the kindness and understanding Jesus gives us daily.
Dealing with distractions and Interruptions
There will be days that get crazy and your scheduled time gets upended. Don’t get discouraged! When we look at the times Jesus spent time alone with God, we see that his “quiet time” varied, too!
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35.
In the late afternoon, after feeding the 5,000, Jesus dismissed his disciples and “went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God.” Luke 6:12
No matter the time of day, Jesus shows us it’s important to make time for Him. This is what will give us true rest, renewal, and a time to recharge for what our busy days hold.
Feeling Spiritually Dry
We can tell ourselves we have no time for God, but then spend time in mindless activities- scrolling through social media (guilty!), binge-watching TV shows; we all have activities we spend time on to relax.
None of these activities gives us the lasting refreshment that God can provide. Don’t let them or the craziness, busyness, or stresses of your life take you away from the One who loves you most.
Are you just exhausted? Here’s some spiritual comfort: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:29.
Surrender Your Schedule to God
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3.
Making time for God shouldn’t be part of our “to-do” list. It isn’t something that requires more willpower or being more disciplined.
Making time for God needs to be a true longing in our heart. Jesus traveled up the mountain and to solitary places because he craved time with his Father.
That should be the desire of our hearts, too. Otherwise, the excuses keep coming; we push it to the back of our minds, and we stay busy and disconnected.
Listen to that prompting of the Holy Spirit. Let him convict you, care for you, and give you lasting, perfect peace in your busy life.
Bible Verses to Encourage You
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and light for my path.” Psalm 119:105.
Spending time in His Word lets us clearly see what path we need to take.
“Come near to God and He will come near to you.” James 4:8a.
What a beautiful invitation and promise!
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3.
We experience peace when we center our thoughts on Him.
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8.
Find comfort and strength in spending time with our Rock and Redeemer- pour out every praise and concern to Him.
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” 1 Chronicles 16:11
Our God wants to be our constant companion- knowing Him completely, trusting in His strength.
Spend Time with God
Our personal relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have. All relationships grow with time spent together.
The more we read about God’s character, the more we learn about who He is. That builds our faith and trust in Him.
Spending time with God through worship, praise, and thanksgiving strengthens our relationship. Sit quietly before Him, He will speak to you.
When you spend time with God, He will recharge your spirit. This is especially important when you are busy and overburdened with a hectic schedule.
Blessings!
AnnMarie
Would you like to go deeper into this subject? Click on the image below to directly access this worksheet.
Blessings!
AnnMarie
Would you like to go deeper into this subject? Click on the image below to directly access this worksheet.
All Scripture is taken from the New International Version unless specified otherwise.
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