What Does My Quiet Time Look Like?

When I first became a believer about 10 years ago, I knew I wanted to grow in my knowledge of the Lord but was really unsure where to begin. I had grown up in church but now realized that the Lord was more than just a Sunday School felt-board figure. I wanted a deeper knowledge of Him. After having some conversations with Christians in my community, I found out that the Bible is the greatest source of the Wisdom that I was searching for. 

Prior to the moment of my salvation, whenever I thought about reading the Bible, I was terrified because I had never read it on my own before. Everything I knew about the Bible came from sermons that I heard in church on Sunday mornings or at youth group on Wednesday nights. I didn’t know that *I* could read the Bible for myself because I knew that the Bible was “holy” and I was not holy at all. 

The first time I sat down to read my Bible, I thought that it would slam shut and fly across the room like “book” from Hocus Pocus and keep me locked out of all of its holy secrets. I knew I was unworthy of all that the Lord had offered me, including His Word. 

Much to my surprise, though, when I dusted off the Bible that had been sitting on my bookshelf and cracked it’s cover, it just laid there on my desk. There was nothing magic about the Book itself - no slamming shut, no flying across the room, no clouds parting, no lightning and thunder cracking. It was just a book. I would soon find out, though, that the contents of God’s Word would transform something inside me.

I browsed through the table of contents and decided to start reading the book of Galatians in the New Testament. With each passage, the Lord worked in my hardened heart and revealed His Will to me, slowly but surely. Thus began my journey of personal Bible study. 

Fair Warning: It has not always been easy or motivational. Over the past 10 years, my personal quiet time has changed many times between what time I study, which translation of the Bible I study, the method of study that I use, and even where I sit while I study. 

I would oftentimes get caught up in the newest quiet time “fad”, spending hundreds of dollars on cute notebooks and nice pens and fancy stickers because I thought that my quiet time should look and feel Instagram- and Pinterest-worthy. I found out, though, that sticking to an early morning routine and making sure all the notes are written down in my best handwriting with the nicest pens on the market are not what matters in my personal quiet time. What matters most is the posture of my heart as I learn from God’s Word. He is not concerned with the Instagram-worthy contents of my quiet time notebook, just that I am striving to know Him more. 

My Routine

Here is what my morning routine has looked like this past week, but bear in mind no one else’s routine will look quite like this:

6:00 AM - Wake Up + Feed Dogs

6:15 AM - Make Coffee + Turn on Worship Music

6:20 AM - Get Dressed

6:30 AM - Quiet Time (currently reading through 10-12 verses of a Psalm each day)

6:45 AM - Read part of a Christian book (currently, “Saints” by Addison Bevere) + Eat Breakfast

7:00 AM - Walk the Dogs + Pray 

7:30 AM - Leave for Work

I have two puppies, which means my mornings sometimes start earlier than I want them to. And because I love sleep, I don’t always wake up in the happiest mood. BUT in my 10+ years of waking up for my morning quiet time routine, I have never regretted losing sleep in order to dig into God’s Word. 

Once I’m out of bed and the dogs are fed, I start my Keurig and turn on worship music. Listening to worship music early in the morning starts the softening of my heart that I need to really allow the Lord to speak to me through His Word. As I get dressed, I sometimes find myself praising the Lord through song as my dogs look at me like I’m crazy. 

After getting everything prepared for the day, I sit at my desk with my Bible and notebook and begin by praying that the Lord would speak to me clearly through His Word. 

I typically read through a passage twice, writing three or four bullet points down in my notebook. I underline and highlight verses that I want to remember and often take a picture of the verse(s) with my phone and set it as my lock screen for a little while. When I’m finished reading the passage and taking notes on it, I write down a quick 5-6 sentence prayer, reflecting on what I learned in the verses. (This has helped me in praying the Words of the Lord back to Him.)

Then I’ll read just a few pages of a Christian book as I eat a quick breakfast before I head outside to take the puppies on their walk. As we walk, I spend time enjoying God’s Creation and once again praising Him for being “the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth,” (Isaiah 40:28, CSB). After our 10-15 minute walk, I put the dogs up in their pen and then head to work. 

I’ll be completely honest, once I get to work, I often forget about the glory of the Lord and what He revealed to me through His Word just a little while earlier. Luckily, He doesn’t fault me for that and will remind me of His goodness throughout the day, especially when I forget. 

Starting a Quiet Time Routine

For those of you who would like to practically start a quiet time routine, determine a 10-30 minute block of time at any point of the day that you could realistically sit down to read a few verses from the Bible and take notes or meditate. It could be early in the morning or late at night. It could even be during your lunch break at work or while the baby takes a nap. 

Remember that you don’t have to have the best-looking penmanship or the prettiest Bible to have an effective quiet time each morning. The goal is to know the Lord better through His Word and any amount of time spent in His presence is better than any amount of time spent anywhere else.

To learn more about the importance of a daily quiet time and personal walk with Jesus, join us at New City at the Mill on Sunday mornings at 10 for coffee and conversation. Our worship service starts at 10:30. We would love to see you there!