Are you wondering how to spend time with God with a busy schedule? The busyness of life can sometimes take us away from spending time with God. Children, family, jobs, and responsibilities can pull us in a million directions. They may be important, worthwhile, and Godly endeavors, but can keep us from spending time with God. We may even feel the Holy Spirit tugging at us but wonder how to add one more thing to our day.
That quote had a huge 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.
Spending Time with God
Giving your time to God should be your priority. It’s not about having the time; it’s making the time for God. So how do you make time for God?
• 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.
There were years when my time with God was best spent after everyone was in bed. That was when the least distractions occurred.
Different seasons of life bring different distractions and my time with God has now changed to the mornings.
• Making time for God doesn’t always mean sitting quietly reading your Bible and enjoying a favorite beverage. 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. Once you commit and keep your time with God, you will begin to crave that interaction with him.
Quality Time with God
• Quality is always better than quantity; even more so when making time for God. Even if you only have 5 or 10 minutes, give God your full attention in each minute.
Have you ever been talking with a friend who starts scrolling through their phone, or acts distracted? I know I don’t appreciate it and I know God deserves better than that too!
Jesus Spent Time with God
There will be days that get crazy and you’re 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.
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 give us the lasting refreshment that God can. Don’t let them or the craziness, busyness, or stresses of your life take you away from the One who loves you most.
Bible Verses about Spending Time with God
“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 can experience peace in our lives when our thoughts are cemented in 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.
Making Time for the Lord
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 among your busy life.
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Ways to Spend Time with God
• Begin with prayer: Pray for a heart like Jesus. Pray for reminders and ask him to prompt you to make time for him. Pray to overcome distractions that lead you away from Him.
•Connect with Him in small ways through the day- 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 secs to listen to His voice…
• 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.
• I bought a small Bible that’s easy to take with me when I am out and about. I like to write in my Bibles, so sometimes it’s my preferred method of being in his word versus the Bible app on my phone.
• 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.
• My sister just showed me that my TV has music stations on it! I can choose from four different styles of Christian music while I clean, cook, etc. (There’s a Christmas music station too!!) What a great way to worship, praise Him, and be encouraged!
Giving Your Time to God
• Commit to a start of just 5 minutes on your phone’s Bible app before hopping on social media or checking email. Set a timer if that helps you stay committed.
• 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. It’s a topic I never get tired of thinking about!
•Color a Bible verse and meditate on it’s 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)
Spend Time with God
Our 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 in turn, builds our faith and trust.
Making time for 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.
How do you make time for God in your busy schedule? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Encouraging Thought for Your Week: There is no time spent with God that is wasted. Spend just 5 minutes more each day this week and see how He blesses you!
Blessings!
AnnMarie
All Scripture is taken from the NIV unless specified otherwise.
Praise God, Thank you for the encouragement, I am finding myself in that very situation now and it really hit home for me.
“Giving your time to God should be your priority. It’s not about having the time; it’s making the time for God.”
God Bless you Ann
Thank you so much for your encouraging words! They are timely for me as well; I think we all struggle with this. God bless you!
Thanks for these brilliant ideas. I hope everybody will read this content. It will help us to manage our time and still make time to be with god. Excellent post, indeed!
Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. We all need a bit of encouragement to give more time to our Lord, and He was such a great example to us! The enemy knows just what to dangle in front of us to distract us away from Him. We really have to make it a priority and any little reminder helps us build time in our day for Him. God bless you!
I agree with you! No matter how busy we are, we should make time for God. That is the least we can do for all the love and sacrifices he gave us.
Amen! May our hearts turn towards Him daily to receive the peace and rest we need, and to worship His glory!
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Thank so much Ann Marie for this blog may you continue to write and encourage everyone.
Thank you so much for taking the time to encourage me Ann! I pray over each post and trust that God will deliver it to whomever needs to hear His Word. It’s the best “job” I’ve ever had! 🙂
I love what you said about using a small Bible, versus a Bible app on your phone, so that you can write in it and avoid the distractions and temptation of having the phone in hand. This is something I desperately need to work on. God deserves my time and attention, and despite my business, I have to find a way to give it to him.
I love my little bible! It can go anywhere with me and keeps me focused. We all get caught up in the busyness of our lives- it’s nice to know I’m not alone!
I really like the way you used Jesus as an example for how making time for God can look different depending on the needs of the day! I’m gonna carry that with me!
It was so comforting to me as well! When Jesus felt the need to spend time with His Father, he did. The time of day was not important. The desire to spend time with Him was the catalyst. Thanks for reading, and for the comment!
I am Damilola From Nigeria
Wow?! I am greatly blessed by this message , having to know how to make time to have personal relationship with God daily, Life can be so busy and overwhelming.God bless you ma.
Thank you Damilola! I needed this message as much as anyone, and I’m glad it was helpful to you as well! It seems there are so many things that pull us away from our time with God. Bless you!
Our relationship with God is super important and making time for Him really needs to be our #1 priority! Thank you for this!
Thanks LeeAnn! This was the post you helped me with during boot camp 🙂 And you’re right- He should be our #1 priority!
Thank you for the very timely reminder that making time for God is really important. I can spend hours watching nextflix but have a hard time picking up my Bible. It’s something I have been working on and my days seem to be so much more joyful (I can face whatever comes my way) when I do spend time with God.
Netflix can get me too!! I just need to remind myself to carve out time for God first, then, like you say, we can face what the day brings with more joy and contentment.
I have been struggling with this since I gave birth to my 4 year old. I appreciate that you point out that Jesus didn’t just spend quiet time in the morning! I’m doing pretty well listening to my Bible app after the kids are in bed while I wash dishes or color. That’s what is working for me right now. I look forward to the day I can start with a cup of coffee and Jesus, but until then I do what I can.
He honors that time you give, and the desire in your heart to give more! There were so many years that “quiet time” did not exist for me. I had to get creative, carve small amounts of time out of my day, and not be too hard on myself.
I absolutely love this. I think sometimes it can be easy to best ourselves up for not being the person that wakes up and has quiet Bible time with a nice cup of coffee. The fact is, I wake up scrambling when I hear my daughter crying in her crib and I crack open a can of Coke to get just enough caffeine to survive the morning. Right now I’m just not at a point in my life to wake up earlier but that shouldn’t stop me from connecting with God!
There were so many years when my mornings were too harried, and I would drop into bed exhausted at night- so quiet time was difficult. But connecting with God can take so many forms, and He honors each word of praise we give!
Satan has made it so easy for us to come up with a million ways why we are too busy for God. But God is bigger than satan and He’s more important too. I wish I could say that I go to God first thing in the morning, but I need to wake up a bit first. After my coffee, I take time out of my day and spend it with my Lord, first in prayer, then in reading my Bible. Whether its several devotionals, our weekly study or just reading, whatever time spent is important.
Wonderful tips for making time for God with a busy schedule. I love that Corrie TenBoom quote and feel convicted every time I come across it!
Isn’t is strange how Christians can easily forget about making time for God? I can get so caught up in what I’m doing FOR Him that I forget about being WITH Him! It’s wonderful to have reminders and encouragement to remember what is most important.
You are so right Fleda! I have a lot of time to spend on my blog and writing, but taking the time to just be with him to listen is hard sometimes! I’m making a purposeful effort to put Him first!
Your right, making time for God should be a priority but life happens and it’s easy to fall out of that. Thanks for the encouragement to get back to things.
Life does get crazy, and I need the push to make more time for Him as much as anyone!
Yes. For me that means a routine… if I have planned that time into my daily routine it will happen… unless I oversleep 😉
It’s those little things that can throw us off!! And once that happens, my time with God gets pushed farther down the line. I need to remedy that!
Making time for God should definitely be our #1 priority but I know we ALL fail in this. Thank God for his grace and mercy he lovingly pours upon us. Great tips and reminders. AnnMarie
Yes, thank you God for your generous grace and mercy when we let other things come before you! (This was actually my SEO post for our boot camp class. I was just waiting for the right time to post it.)
Very well said Annmarie. As the school has already begun for Tony, and work will indeed be busy for me. I need to make time for my Heavenly Father.. interestingly enough, Tony can tell when I haven’t spent time reading my Bible. He will say to me have you been reading/ journaling.. no I haven’t, hell well you should.. And he’s right.. anyhow my pray is to get more intentional with my Bible reading and praying.. Love this reminder Annmarie..
You love Jesus so much and it shows! Love that Tony can tell when you need to connect with Him 🙂 We all can fall into the trap of “too busy” – me included! I’m even putting some of the suggestions into practice in my own life!
Very timely post! I’ve always felt convicted by Corrie Ten Boom’s quote and Ravi’s is really good too. Lots of good practical advice, Ann. Thanks!
New schedules, new commitments, but I needed the reminder to add more Jesus and less “busy”! Thanks, Cindy!