Do you struggle to hear from God or to feel like you’re “getting something” out of your bible reading time or quiet time as I like to call it? Well, after decades of having consistent quiet time and volunteering in ministry, I have some EFFECTIVE and EASY to-do tips to help your quiet time NOT suck and bore you to tears (lookin at you, Leviticus).

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How to Have Quiet Time that Doesn’t Suck with These 12 Tips

1. Realize that God LONGS to speak to you even more than you want to hear from Him

• God created mankind because He wanted a family! He wanted someone made in His image that He could have RELATIONSHIP with!
• Scripture tells us that He is jealous for us, He YEARNS for us!

Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?

James 4:5 Berean Study Bible

2. Just like any relationship, it takes time to build intimacy

• The very first second that you commit your life to the Lord, you are made righteous and holy. You don’t ever have to earn that. Jesus did it FOR us.
• However, it takes some TIME to get to really KNOW God, know His character and develop intimacy with Him, and that’s ok!
• Don’t be discouraged by this; instead, think of it as an adventure!

3. Don’t be afraid to GET REAL with God in Your Quiet Time

God cannot bless who you pretend to be.

Pastor Steven Furtick

• If we want to truly draw close to the Lord, to let Him heal the deep wounds in our hearts, then we HAVE to be real. We HAVE to be authentic. 

4. Get a physical bible that you LIKE, can easily understand and that you ENJOY picking up

• Listen, phones are cool, but my paper Bible never dings at me and tries to tempt me to check Instagram instead of reading scripture, mmm k?
• Plus, with a paper Bible, you have the benefit or taking notes and being able to flip back through those notes!
• My favorite translations are: TPT (The Passion Translation) and NLT (New Living Translation)

5. Incorporate Journaling During Your Quiet Time

• Even if all you do every day is to write down one scripture that you read and what you learned about it, how God spoke to you with it, or what you think it means, journaling will help your quiet time not suck.
• The act of physically writing something down not only helps your brain engage more, but it also helps you remember what you wrote! (Scripture memory tip, anyone?)

6. Don’t feel like you have to read the Bible start to finish like a regular book in Your Quiet Time

• I am a big proponent of reading through the whole Bible, I really am. I’ve done it several times times. However, it’s not usually where I recommend someone start their Bible reading journey. 
• Here are a few of my favorite books of the Bible to start with or go back to again and again for quiet time:
  • John, Psalms, Proverbs, Ephesian, and Phillippians

7. Pray before you start reading your Bible!

• Ask Holy Spirit to HELP YOU!
• Be intentional in approaching the Word of God with Holy Spirit to HELP you! Ask the Holy Spirit to direct your time, help you understand, and bring things to your attention and remembrance!  He WILL!

8. Get some good worship music playing! 

• Either during, before, after, or all day long. Worship sets the atmosphere and prepares our hearts to be MORE sensitive to the voice of the Father.
• Most importantly, worship blesses the heart of our Father.

9. Have a friend/mentor that you can bounce thoughts off of and ask questions.

• As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Prov 27:17 NLT
• If you don’t have this kind of a friend (yet), just start asking current friends if they would like to join you in your journey. What are they going to say, no? And if they do, ask another friend. Chances are good that someone you know is looking for that kind of friendship too!

10. If you don’t understand something and you’ve actually dug into it, set it on a shelf. Don’t let it derail you.

• There are things in scripture that are just flat confusing. Sometimes it’s simply because we don’t have enough knowledge of the Word to understand that particular thing yet. And sometimes, it’s just perplexing. 
• Don’t let those little things derail you or cause you to give up having quiet time. 

11. Every Quiet Time Doesn’t HAVE to be this mountain top experience, crying your face off thing every single day to be great!

• The word of God is powerful and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. Just spending time in the Word will change your life for the better. ( Ref Heb 4:12)
• Yes, when our emotions follow and we have a good goose-bump or Jesus cry experience, that’s awesome! But that doesn’t HAVE to happen for your quiet time to be worth your time. 

12. There is absolutely nothing that will transform your life and help you mature more as a Christ follower than daily, consistent quiet time.

• There is absolutely nothing that will transform your life and help you mature more as a Christ follower than daily, consistent quiet time.
• So don’t give up! As Christ followers, we have to consistently pursue Him, His Word and spending quality time with Him if we are going to look more and more like Jesus. There is no way around it. 

If you will give yourself to consistent and quality Quiet time, I truly believe that you’ll start to crave it because you’ll see what a difference it makes in your life and faith. 

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