What does “quiet time” even mean and how can it shape your day?

God made you. God loves you. God has a purpose for your life.

The classic definition from the Westminster Catechism sums up our primary purpose in life best: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

But how does one go about doing that?

The same way you go about any relationship … spend time together.  Spending time with God is the only way to become intimate with who He is and how He goes about doing things. Some refer to spending time with God as a “Quiet Time.”

Quiet time simply means taking a brief period of time to quiet oneself from all distractions and spend it reading God’s Word, meditating on what He says and talking it over with Him. Some call it devotions, God time, etc., and you can call it anything you want as a way of describing a designated time you will spend meeting with God.

Just as sleep is required for the body to regenerate on a daily basis, so is a daily quiet time needed to rejuvenate the spirit. Being sleep-deprived can cause severe and permanent physical and mental problems. It is probably why sleep deprivation has been used as a torture technique when looking to break down a captive.

Depriving our spirit time to connect intimately with God can also lead to all kinds of problems. We can become severely sidetracked from living out a vibrant, spiritually strong and intimate relationship with God. Without daily quiet time, intentionally planned out, we can become vulnerable to the deceptions of our enemy, the devil.

There is an invisible world all around you, whether you believe it or not. The devil and demonic forces are at war with God and His angelic beings, you are caught up in it, because you are a target. The devil’s goal is to discredit and disprove God. He is trying to prove a point that with his influence, little finite human beings like you will reject the invisible Creator God, and that you will instead choose to be your own god.

The benefit of spending intimate time every day with the God who made you means you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Here are seven steps to creating intimacy with God:

1.   Make a commitment to have a Quiet Time every day

Determine the value intimacy with God has in your life. View it equally as important as food for your body or the oxygen you need to breathe. 

2.  Prioritize your Quiet Time

This really has to be your first and most important activity of your day. It’s likely that every day you have to decide which things you’re going to do that have the highest priority. If you make a list of things to do, put this as number one.

3.   Choose a place and schedule a time daily to have your Quiet Time

For most people, first thing in the morning seems to work well. It helps set the day in the right direction with the determination to follow the Lord’s lead. Select a comfortable spot that keeps you free from distractions. I have a favorite chair by the window. But yours could be something entirely different that best suits your needs. I’ve heard of everything from having it in the car in the parking lot outside work, to a busy mom with little kids retreating to a closet. Whatever location you select, view it as a sanctuary where you can meet one-on-one with God.

4.  Read God’s Word

There are so many great Bible reading plans with a variety of ways to go through the Scriptures. Almost every year since I surrendered my life to Christ, I make it a goal to read through the Bible in a year. It has been the number one way for me to gain God’s perspective on who He is and how He relates to us.

7.  Make it count

Find the one thing from your time spent with God that you will take with you throughout the day. Make it something you can apply to your everyday life as a tangible action item.

“Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for awhile” (Mark 6:31).