7 Quiet Time Strategies to Help You Spend Meaningful Time with God

If you want to have a deeper relationship with God these 7 quiet time strategies are a good place to start.

Are you struggling to find that true connection that you want in your relationship with God? Need some help and suggestions on how you can have a meaningful time with him? I hear from women who want to feel close to God. 

Who want to know that what they’re doing is working and that God hears them. They want their faith to grow and to be consistent. We all have struggles when it comes to spending time with God. Some of you were not trained or taught to have that regular time with God every single day. 

I wasn’t. Growing up, it was just assumed that that’s what you do when you’re Christian. No one felt the need to explain the why and how and all the details about it. It’s something I stumbled on when my first son was really young. 

I realized that people actually have time with God every single day. Finally, somebody explained to me a little bit about what they would do and what that looked like. I wanted to do that too.

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Throughout years of walking through hard times and just being alive, I realized that it’s so important to have that regular time with God. It’s important for your spiritual health, for your mental health, and for your emotional health.

If you are walking through a season of hard stuff, it’s even more important that you can nourish that relationship and stay connected with God. Today, I want to share 7 quiet time strategies that you can use to have meaningful time with God, that go beyond the usual read your bible and pray. 

Quiet Time Strategy #1: Dedicated Space and Time

The first thing that I want to share with you is to have dedicated space and time for God. Whatever it is that you’re going to do, make sure that you’ve already looked at your day or week and you know when that time is going to be. Plus, where you’re going to do it. 

Make those decisions before you ever sit down to be with God, because the more decisions that you have to make, the more energy that it takes, and the less you’re going to have for whatever it is you’re planning to do. So, do your best to stick to your plan.

But there’s a caveat, don’t wait for the perfect time or the perfect space. If you plan to meet with God in your living room at 6 am before everybody wakes up in your house and suddenly everybody decides they want to get up at 5, don’t skip your time just for that reason. 

Also, don’t be afraid to flex and adjust when you need to. There are so many times, most days actually when the time that I plan to sit with God and be with him is not what happens. Sometimes the day just doesn’t work out that way. 

So, have that space, have that time, but don’t wait for it to be perfect, and don’t be afraid to change and adjust as your day calls for it. 

Quiet Time Strategy #2: All Supplies in One Place

The second way that I want you to spend a meaningful time with God is to have all of your supplies in one place. I talked before about having a quiet time basket. This is just like the first tip, all about making sure that you’re not wasting time looking for the stuff that you need for what you want to do in your time with God. 

Have it all in one place, so all you have to do is sit down and it’s there. If you have a basket just pick up that basket and go where you need to go. Keeping everything all together in one place makes it easy for you to know what you’re going to do and get started. 

You’re not wasting time looking for stuff. You’re not spending your time trying to figure out what the plan is and what you’re going to do. It’s all right there. 

Quiet Time Strategy #3: Read a Book

Now, the third strategy that I want to share with you is to read a book. I started doing this when my older two boys were small. I found so much value in reading books and I’m not talking about theology books, although those are great too. 

I have read some great theology books that have illuminated things for me and helped me have a firmer foundation of my faith. I’ve learned and grown so much from that. But don’t discount other things as well. 

One of the most encouraging books that I read when I first started reading books as part of my quiet time was Neta Jackson’s Yada Yada Prayer Group series. It was a huge blessing to me when I read them. They are fiction books, these are not real people and real things going on.

They were such a blessing to me because inside the stories were biblical principles and great lessons that as a Christian woman I needed to learn and it was a great way to get those. The same thing when I read her House of Hope series. 

One of the main characters deals with divorce and domestic violence and that was my story too. It was so refreshing, encouraging, and uplifting to be able to read that story and see God’s love and to see another character’s faith built through her experience. It did the same thing for me. 

Kim Cash Tate has the Promises of God series. It’s about real people going through real things and she does not shy away from anything. Again, it’s full of prayer and biblical principles. One of her books has an entire bible study in it! They’re just really, really awesome. 

If you’re trying to figure out a new way to spend time with God grab a book. Find a topic that you want to learn more about, get a really good solid piece of fiction, and dig into those stories. Allow the lessons and things in there to help you get to know God better and draw closer to him.

Quiet Time Strategy #4: Listen to the Word

Number four is to listen to the word. This is something that I picked up from a friend probably about a decade ago. We spent the night and I woke up the next morning and heard scripture. It was not her nor her husband. I wanted to know what was going on. 

She was listening to an audio version of the bible while she was going about her morning chores in the kitchen. I thought she was a genius! This is something that I do as well on my walks. I will also listen to an audio version of the bible when I’m in my car or doing chores. 

You don’t have to have your time in scripture be with it physically in your lap and with all your highlighters, pencils, and pens out. That’s great and absolutely make time to do that. But if you want something different or you’re running short on time, don’t negate the power of just listening to the word. 

In the Old Testament, they didn’t have a bible that they walked around with. No, they gathered together and they heard a recitation of scripture. You can do the same thing. There are dramatized versions of scripture that really bring an account to life in ways that you don’t get by simply looking at words on the page. 

Quiet Time Strategy #5: Worship Music

Number five is listening to worship music. Sometimes all of my time with God is spent in worship. I have a playlist that I keep on YouTube or maybe Spotify sometimes too. I put on that music and I spend time worshiping God, listening to the songs, and focusing on the lyrics. 

Many times the lyrics in these worship songs, if they’re good and solid, will echo back to scripture. They will echo back to just lessons and principles that are important for you to know and understand. I find that I feel really close to God through worship. 

When I can have a moment of worship, I’ve been brought to tears. I’ve been brought to my knees. It’s always such an amazing thing to go before the throne of God in worship. 

Quiet Time Strategy #6: Write the Word

Number six is something that one of the members of our community on Facebook mentioned. I asked what their favorite thing to do is when they’re interacting with God and with scripture and she shared that she likes to write out scripture. 

She’s currently writing out the entire bible book by book. When I saw that, I that is was amazing, because there’s so much power not only in reading the word and hearing the word, but actually putting pen to paper to write God’s word. 

It’s a tip that I often give women when they want to memorize or meditate on scripture. If that’s interesting to you, go ahead and give it a try. I have seen journals specifically for this, or you can just get a notebook and a pen and just keep it really simple and open up to a book in the Bible and start writing. 

Quiet Time Strategy #7: Prayer Walk

The final strategy that I want to share with you is a prayer walk. This has become my number one way of being with God. I get outside and put my worship music in, listen to scripture, or listen to a book. 

I always have time where it’s just me and God and I am just sharing my heart with him and I am listening for whatever it is that he might want to say to me. It gives me time to meditate on a passage of scripture. 

If I’m listening to a certain passage, then as I’m walking I can begin to think about what I’ve heard. What words does God bring to mind? What questions do I have? I have a conversation with God while I’m walking.

The act of physically moving helps me focus so much better than I can do at home with the kids running around and just the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Walking lets my mind focus and it allows me to tune in to the Holy Spirit. 

I have such an amazing time with God in worship. I’m sure that people have seen me walking and thought I looked kind of crazy. Nope, I’m fine. I’m just having some time just me and the Lord.

Other Helpful Resources:

• How to Be Still and Listen to God
• Establish a Consistent Bible Study Routine
• Learning to Pray in Public

Which of these quiet time strategies will you try first?