“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished . . . I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.” –George Mueller, Delighted in God
As a wife and mother, I am acutely aware of my desperate need for fellowship with my Lord in preparation for my day. How else will I find strength to face the next battle, fight, or attitude from my children that needs to be guided towards repentance? How else will I be able to train their precious hearts to love Jesus? Can I expect them to desire to follow Him if I don’t demonstrate my utter need and commitment to Him by seeking His fellowship? How else will I be able to withstand the cultural temptations to consume my time on the internet, television, beautifying myself, or other carefree hobby? And most importantly, is there anything else that is of true lasting value that can make my soul happy and satisfied? I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior. And He is a loving Savior that loves me, cherishes me, adopted me, and paid for my sins, so that I can enjoy eternal, free, and open access to His presence. I simply have to come and sit at His feet.
Is it possible to spend time with the Lord when I am rising multiple times a night to nurse or care for a little one? Dear sisters, it is not only possible, but it is essential. We serve a mighty and gracious God who called the world into motion, and He can certainly guide you to discovering the right time, place, and plan for your personal communion with Him. It will be something we have to fight for, but the reward is well worth it. We will find strength to persevere through multiple battles of childhood illnesses that seem never to cease, to graciously address the heart issues and temptations of our children even when no end seems in sight, to be the godly help meet our husband needs even though he may not deserve it, and to demonstrate to a watching world that we are in love with a beautiful Savior that is worthy of ours and their adoration.
In order to cultivate this habit, we must plan. We must choose a time, place, and reading method. As John Piper shares: “Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it.”
Time
“I earnestly recommend that it be in the early morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his Word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons. It’s like taking a trip without filling the tires with air or the tank with gas. The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart. The spiritual air leaks from our tires, and the gas is consumed in the day. We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the Word of God and prayer.” – John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God
Mornings may be difficult for you, and there is grace to adjust to your family’s needs, but that quote is definitely compelling, and I have personally experienced these benefits. Even if you start waking up 15 minutes earlier each day, you will have 15 minutes to dine at the Master’s feet. Other means of getting the Word into your heart throughout the day might be: Download an audio version of the Bible to listen to throughout your day. Place a Bible in key areas throughout your home where you spend the majority of your time – the kitchen sink, the bathroom, the changing table. While at these locations, glance down and mediate on a verse. Get creative! During one season, I had my Bible on my ipod and would read during my early morning nursing period.
Your children may be at an age where you can start helping them develop their own quiet time. Guide them in learning how to pray, look at Bible story books (Jesus Storybook Bible, Big Picture Story Bible), listen to a CD of Christian music, watch a Bible story DVD, or color Bible story pictures. I remember using Keys for Kids when I first launched into my own quiet times. They are free and can be ordered in paperback copies or downloaded on the web. While they do that, you can have your own quiet time.
Place
“Pick a place of seclusion…. It needs to be secluded so that you are not distracted, and so that you can speak out loud and sing and cry. If your family situation or home does not have such a place, then create it, not by space, but by rule…. One saintly mother (Susanna Wesley) with a large brood of children (mother of 19) would use her apron to make a tent for her head and her Bible at the kitchen table and the children were taught, when mother is in her tent, make no noise.” – John Piper
I love that quote! If it is there is no quiet moments, then we can glean from Mrs. Wesley’s example of defining the space through training our children. Do you have a favorite comfy chair? Add a little nightstand to hold your Bible, journal, and pens. I will never forget observing the frequent occasions as a child when we would discover our mother spending time with the Lord in the front seat of the family car in the driveway. She was close enough to manage in the case of emergencies, but far enough away to enjoy some peace and solitude. With a family of eight children, she learned to adapt to make it still her priority. Even now, my devotions may be very well surrounded by my little ones (with my son often waking at 6:45am), but we are teaching them to play quietly near by. They are observing that I am making it a priority, that it is important to me. My children are not first in my life. Jesus needs to come first.
Method
Without a plan it is easy to loose focus, routine, and develop more a hit-and-miss approach. One tool I have used for years is the The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. The design is to read daily from two Old Testament and two New Testament books. During busy seasons of young motherhood, I have chose to read one of the Old Testament portions and one of the New Testament portions each day, and followed the next year with the other two columns, thus completing the Bible in two years.
Justin Taylor links to ten different Bible reading plans offered by Crossway Books and other sites. Chose a method that works for you, print it out, and put it with your Bible. You don’t have to wait till the beginning of the year either. Simply start on the current date and make your way through.
If you are new to developing your own daily devotion time or would like further inspiration, I highly recommend you check out Nancy Leigh Demoss’ book, A Place of Quiet Rest: Finding Intimacy with God through a Daily Devotional Life.
“The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. The first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Other Recommended Resources:
When I Don’t Desire God, How to Fight for Joy by John Piper
Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney
What works for you?
I need so badly to work on this and really am thankful that you’ve kind of spelled it all out. That last quote by C. S. Lewis is right on for me – oh, the rushing in of the day that just hits you first thing! I’ve found time early in the morning to be the absolute best, and also the absolute hardest to discipline myself to do. I’m a night owl through and through, mainly because with little ones I know that I *for sure* can accomplish a task start to finish at that time. But the times in my life when I’ve managed to rise before everyone else are still so clear in my mind. The silence of the home, the rising of the home, the feeling that you have armed yourself and might actually get a grip on this day. This post helped remind me of the beauty of that habit and has spurred me on to get a new plan together to make that my reality again.
I meant rising of the “sun”, not “home”.
Mom brain.
Lindsay-
What an encouraging post! I really appreciate you taking the time to challenge and encourage us in this- I was so blessed to read it (and be kicked in the pants towards godliness!).
Question: I always falter in choosing which text to pursue for Bible reading- I’d love to work through the whole Bible in a year or two like you mentioned, but I also want to learn more from familiar texts and make sure I’m not reading the wrong thing into a passage (i.e. take a slower route and read commentaries, maybe only reading a book of the Bible a month). Have you ever struggled with this dilemma? Do you currently use additional commentaries in your Bible reading plan or just stick to reading the Bible? What would your recommendations be- in summary, to the question: to read more of the Bible quicker or less passages of the Bible slower in order to grasp depth?
Always value your thoughts! Look forward to hearing from you!
Joy
I know this question was directed to Lindsay, but if you do not mind me chiming in. I’ve been reading the Bible from the beginning and following commentary from Steve Gregg. He does a verse by verse teaching on every …well verse. I really enjoy his teachings since he gives his opinions as well as historical background AND other commentators opinions. I find it to be the best of both worlds. He also does topical lectures. It may take a bit longer than 1yr to go thru the Bible, but it depends on you. I listen to the chapters while cooking, cleaning, etc and then read the info for my self. If I get lucky, I some times even sit and read, take notes as he is speaking.I hope that helps.
His website is http://thenarrowpath.com.
That’s a wonderfully important post. When my children were small, I so enjoyed reading my Bible and praying when I was up nursing them in the night. It was just me, my child, and God. When I was nursing my first child (now 29 years old), I started reading the Bible more deeply in those nighttime moments than I had as a young girl, and it was very meaningful to me. Of course, that doesn’t take the place of a concentrated quiet time with the Lord. But, I look back and remember those quiet night-time moments now more than I remember whatever i studied in my more formal quiet time.
Amazing encouragement, so needed. Thank you!!
great post. I will comment though that I used to try to read my Bible first thing in the morning, before the chaos of the day began, but found that my brain was never engaged. I just don’t do well reading early in the AM. Rather than beat myself up for my lack of spirituality, I simply adjusted. At the moment, night time is my best time to read…I am sure that will change in a few weeks when baby #4 arrives…but rather than focus on the most spiritual time of day, I’m learning to adjust to the current season of life. I know some folks can adjust to early hours…I’m just not one of them.
Thank you! This was beautifully written and so encouraging. I will be passing it on
I love your mom’s solution to solitude with the Lord. Front seat of her car, in drive way.
brilliant. Obvious that it was essential for her.
I love your blog, thank you for sharing your heart.
Thanks for the ideas of communing with God as we go about our daily chores. I pulled out my Bible yesterday and laid it on the kitchen counter. While I made dinner, I glanced back at a verse over and over and thought on it. Today I can do the next verse and maybe end up memorizing them! So many things we do as wives and moms seem mundane after awhile. It was nice to have God’s perspective yesterday in the midst of it.
I get to be part of a weekly Bible study with other moms of young kids. It keeps us each accountable to be spending some intentional time studying God’s Word.
I love the ideas posted here about praying throughout the day. As a stay at home mom, I find myself challenged to not ruminate on things (to not be anxious or fearful). Praying and remembering that God will be enough for whatever comes really helps.
Has anyone else heard about dividing their Bible into 4 parts, glueing each part to manila folders for covers, and reading those smaller parts? Since the goal for this is to just READ the Bible to get it into our minds, I used the Message version. My hubby helped cut the binding. Now I have the Bible in quarters and to pick one quarter that I’m working on up and read for a few minutes is rewarding. It’s easier to travel with, easier to pick up and read, easier to get God’s perspective on my day/week/life. And easier to pick up on the context of things in the Bible by reading chunks at a time.
Thank you for this post. I felt so encouraged by it! I am a mother of one little one and I usually have my quiet time during my son’s morning nap. Although I must confess that many days I feel so rushed because by that time I am already looking at everything that needs to be done while he sleeps and my hands are free. I have been realizing that I need to get up earlier and have my time with the Lord before my baby is awake. This post was so much encouragement to me. Thank you!
The Bible is the most wonderful book to read. I love it because it’s God’s word to us. Reading it is one of the most important things we can do while here on earth.
Thanks for this great post Lindsay! Our relationship with our family definitely depends upon our relationship with our Savior.
One thing that has really helped me in my walk with the Lord is to focus more on the *quality* of time that I spend with Him rather than the *quantity* of time. With my Bible reading, I used to follow a very strict reading schedule and felt like I was reading just to complete a task. I do still loosely follow a reading schedule, but I do not worry if I am not exactly where I am supposed to be on it. Sometimes God speaks to me more deeply in only a couple of verses than when I read many chapters! True fellowship with God is more important to me than completing the “task” of reading an assigned amount of Scripture in a day. Some of my sweetest times in the Word, I only end up reading a very short amount of Scripture and then just celebrating in the truth that God has revealed to me!
This attitude has helped me to view my time in the Bible as a joyful time that I look forward to rather than a drudgery!
I also love the quote you gave about Mrs. Welsey! Our time with God is so important that we need to be creative sometimes in claiming that time as ours!
Thanks again for the great post. I really enjoyed it!
So often I think about the kind of mom I want to be: a mom who is deeply in tune with the Lord, who loves Him with her heart, soul, and mind, and walks daily in the full realization of His grace. That doesn’t happen if I don’t spend time with Him. I appreciate the fact that you made this a call to action–I think sometimes I’m quick to make an excuse for myself, even though others who have walked before me have faced many of the same things, and still chosen to walk with Him daily.
I loved some of the thoughts in the comments about ways the rest of you have chosen to find communion with Him throughout the day–these were just as challenging. Not only do I want to model for my baby girl what it looks like to have my own sweet time with Jesus, I want to show her what it looks like to walk with Him all day long.
And I love John Piper, and George Mueller. Two men who have greatly impacted my life, for the better.
This is so inspiring and wonderful!
When I started getting up earlier to meet with the Lord, it was out of shear will power, but now I go to bed (and I don’t even mind going a bit earlier) excited to wake up and spend that precious time with Him. Just like my kids look forward to one-on-one quality time with me; I feel that way getting to spend time with my Heavenly father! I am so grateful for encouraging woman like Lindsey @ Passionate Homemaking and others who “spur me on to love and good deeds!”
Thanks for this great post, Lindsay! Our relationship with our family definitely depends on our relationship with our Savior. We cannot be effective in any of our earthly roles if our relationship with God is not what it should be.
One thing that I have learned is not to get so caught up in the quantity of Scripture that I read, but rather focus on the quality of what I can take from the Scriptures. I do roughly follow a reading schedule, but I do not worry if I am not exactly where I should be on it. There are days when I read only a couple verses, but from those verses my heart has been satisfied beyond what I could ever ask for. Sometimes God speaks to me so deeply with only a very short passage that I am overwhelmed by what I have read. I can do nothing but sit and meditate on the truth that He has given me – even if that means that I don’t get in my scheduled reading for the day.
This has made such a difference in how I view my time spent with God. I used to be mainly concerned with reading a certain amount of Scripture in a day, feeling defeated if I did not finish my “assigned” passage. Now I am much more concerned with just simply spending time with God and letting Him speak to me, if only through one verse. This attitude has given me such sweet times with God that I had rarely experienced before!
The website http://www.lainesletters.com has been the biggest challenge to me to make time with God a priority. I know this woman is very unusual, but she began getting up at 4.30 in the morning to meet with God—and she had 4 young children, one a newborn. That’s not to put pressure on anyone to meet some standard, but just to offer one woman’s testimony of how her life was totally transformed by spending that kind of time with God.
I’ve never met her, but through her writing, Laine has been the mentor and spiritual mother I’ve longed for all my life. I hope reading her letters will be a big blessing to y’all.
I’m up daily between 430 and 5. I don’t care if I just got to sleep at 3. I still get up. When I start my day w/Lord. I’m NEVER tired! Even on those nights when I’m up till 3 am! The Lord refreshes my soul, as if I slept till 7. (I get up hours before the house does, to read, worship, exercise get showered, dress etc)
I can’t imagine my life w/o quality time w/my Lord. 3 or 4 hrs every week in church is never enough for me. (church svc + bible study) I must give up sleep in order to be w/God. I can only be transformed by the renewal of his Word, and spending time w/Him.
Sacrificing sleep is the least thing I can do.
Danielle, hanks for this encouragement to wake up early no matter what. I usually wake up at 5:15am for exercise + quiet time, but if I get to bed late the night before, I tell myself that it’s okay to sleep in because my body needs at least 7 hours of sleep. The next time something prevents me from going to bed on time, I’m going to wake up early anyway and ask God to give me the strength I need to spend time with him and have energy for the rest of the day.
Thanks for this website resource! I’d never heard of it before, but I read a few of her “letters” and was so encouraged!
I love http://www.biblestudytools.com for their multiple reading plans – you can even choose your preferred translation, and it will be pulled up for you each day. There is also a check list, which makes me happy to check off each day.
We also listen to a lot of praise and worship music. I love dancing in the kitchen with my boys and singing praise songs! Seeds Family Worship – http://www.seedsfamilyworship.net – has an amazing thing going – scripture set to great music that our entire family loves. We have two of their cds so far, and look forward to getting more. It’s a fun way to memorize scripture, as well! One of their cds is almost always playing in our 6 year old’s room. Keeping music playing in the kitchen while I’m working is such a sweet way to keep my thoughts on Him. It’s one of the primary tools I use to battle anxiety and worry.
blessings!
I so appreciate your posts and this one in particular is so needed for us busy Moms. We often place the care of our children, home, others, ministry work, above seeking alone time with the Lord where we can really commune with Him. I love all of your ideas for finding this time. I’ve recently read the book Idols of the Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick and it was so convicting in helping me to identify the idols in my life that were displacing my devotion and love for God. The Lord wants to fill us up daily with the power in Him to more fully conform Him to the likeness of His Son. In our quiet time with God in His Word and in prayer and meditation, we can more fully experience His love and peace and real contentment. Thank you for being such an encourager and helping so many women to keep their eyes fixed on Our Sovereign Lord, Redeemer, Savior and Friend! Blessings in Christ, Kelly @ The Nourishing Home
oopsie, typo. I meant to say that “The Lord wants to fill us up daily with the power in Him to more fully conform US to the likeness of His Son.
I am typing with one hand as I nurse my three month old right now so my comment will be brief. Thank you so much for this post. It is quite simply a God thing that you wrote on this subject. I was thinking just last night about emailing you and asking how and when you get quiet time with God each day. I was stunned to log on just now and see the title of your post. Many thanks for your encouragement!
What wonderful timing this has for me. I was just (litterally JUST) talking with my husband on how my heart was feeling discontent and I knew it was a sin. I knew my longing for more needed to be filled by the only one who could satisfy, Jesus. And then there’s this amazing blessing of a blog post. THANK YOU!
I just can’t say enough how doing my quiet time in front of my children has impacted them! My kids are 5, 3, and 1. Now that my 5 year old can read, she has a real Bible and loves to sit next to me and read whatever I’m reading. My 3 year old has started this too, only she can’t read yet. But she’ll sit on my other side with her Bible and pretend to read. Sometimes I’ll read a special verse to them that I’m reading. Even my 1 year old now brings me his baby Bible and climbs on my lap and I’ll take a short break and read to him. This is usually in the mornings.
Since I’m a “list checker” I’ve struggled keeping my quiet times personal with the Lord – I’d do a “read my Bible for today – check!” and feel like I was done for the day! Through Scripture the Lord has shown me that I need to be in His Word all through the day! There are so many references to “day and night” and we also see Jesus not only rising early but also throughout the day going off to spend time with the Father. This has helped me to try to continually be in His Word. If it’s only 5 minutes one morning because the kids are needing me, I know that I also have time carved out during their naps/quiet times, when they go to bed, etc. for that more personal time.
One last resource that has become invaluable to me is The Bible Study in Stereo. There are several studies to choose from, and they come with a cd of an entire chapter put to music. I did Psalm 139 this year and not only did I memorize the entire psalm (something I didn’t think I could do!) my children did as well. On days when it was hard to get away to do a Bible study, how easy it was to put on Psalm 139 while I was doing dishes or cleaning and really hide it away in my heart. I hope that resource will be of use to someone else!
Coming from the opposite end, I can testify to how much seeing my mom have her devotions and pray impacted us (all six of us!). We knew that this was a priority. We knew that she prized her time with God and that she needed it desperately. It really encouraged us to imitate her, and I’m so glad for that example.
I have 2 little ones, 5yr old and 2yr old and a baby on the way. I tried waking up before them, but they seem to feel that I’m awake and just wake up as well, so this didn’t work for me.
Now I’m trying to pray and just ask for the Lords grace and mercy before I even open my eyes. I’m still in bed, and the kids are waking up and jumping all over…but I try very hard to just (if nothing else) pray before starting my day. I also try to pray thru out my day as thoughts come to mind. I have managed to read a chapter or so a day (almost everyday) but its at diff. points of my day. Some times its while my son watches his favorite show, some times its during his VERY short nap. I hope that one day I can just wake up and have ‘quiet’ time, but at this point I’m not sure how I can.
One thing I did throughout my third pregnancy was institute “room play.” The kids had to stay in their room and play quietly and nicely with each other until 8 a.m. (they usually woke up, used the potty, and were in their room playing by 7:15). That gave me 45 minutes. I would sometimes shower, sometimes not {some days I showered at their afternoon nap time if I had a lot of messy chores to handle during the day }. But I always did my Bible reading during that time. It was great. Now #3 demands attention at that time of day, but I still try to sing worship songs as I walk him and change him and nurse him and use that time for prayer. Not sure if this would work in your home, but thought I’d pass it on. I should add that it took about 10 days to work out the kinks and really get them used to it.
Thank you for your comment! I try to listen to worship music, and listen to Bible verse by verse commentary as I do things around the house as well.
I have the same problem! But I know God is aware of this”problem” and will give time for communing with Him.
One thing I’ve learned is not to be “married” to the need for *quiet*alone* time with God. Sometimes it is me and God in the middle of a room filled with toys and surrounded by my kids. Sometimes it’s me and God on the front porch while the kids ride bikes or draw murals on the driveway. Sometimes it’s me and God while I am nursing or bathing the baby, snuggling sick wee one, driving the car, or mowing the grass. Yes, I need to have intentional time with Him daily, but the phrase “quiet time” is often misleading for what it looks like in my life.
Before this last wee one joined us, I had made a way for me to have it each morning. Now, that’s not always feasible. But it does always happen. I appreciate so much your heart and what you’ve shared. It’s a dangerous pitfall for moms when they get so busy taking care of their families that they neglect to care for the most critical relationship of their entire life.
Excellent thoughts Lisa! I appreciate you sharing your experiences and how you have still made it a priority.
Love this! Because I was just about to complain that I have no alone time, even if I get up at 5 the slightest noise wakes the baby so we are both up!
This is a interesting topic but I notice that you use Piper (a father) as a reference, I do not say that what is says is wrong but he is not a mother…
With that said, I am a young mother of 3 little girls all under 4, yes life is busy and sleep is lacking but (and this is what works for me and our family) I quit putting pressure on myself, trying to be the perfect Christian mother, but instead I view myself as a child of God who as been entrusted His children. See the point of view is a tad bit different
I do not have “quiet” or “alone” time, because this house is never quiet nor am I ever alone!!!! But I do have communion with God all day and night long, I have fellowship with our church and minister when the Lord put ministry opportunity.
See we read the word of God after each meal, I mean from the Bible (not the kids story type one) over the course of 1 year we read the whole bible to our children and have prayer time together as a family, we memorize scriptures ( Joshua 1:8 do not let this book of the law depart from you, meditate on it day and night, Psalm 119:9-11 how can a young man keep his way pure, but writing those words on his heart, and putting on the full armor of God)
Our children can’t read and we know that the word of God is powerful and THEY need to hear it!!!
So I might not wake up earlier nor spend time “alone” but I do think we have a ongoing communion, and our children (yes 3 and 2 years old) will pray during the day for simple stuff as before they ask be a big favor, or when they are alone during nap time, it’s the sweetest thing ever to overhear those sweet prayers…
Not saying that people shouldn’t do all the tips of posted here, but what work for some might not for others, we all need to find what works for us
Thank you for posting this