It’s become a beautiful ritual that I guard as sacred. I’ve tried several times through the years to become a consistent Bible reader, but it didn’t stick. I would read a few chapters here and there, but by and large I didn’t know the Bible well. I have trouble making things routine, but God moved within me a few years ago to finally become a Bible reader. It started slow. First, I made a commitment to myself to read through the Gospels – those beautiful first books of the New Testament. I read just one chapter per day (sometimes more if the mood struck), and I made it through them in a couple of months. At the time, I was something of a night owl because of a struggle with sleep, so I would read before bed.I was totally mesmerized by the Gospel of Luke. The descriptions of Mary and Elizabeth in the first scenes are some of my most favorite passages of the whole Bible. I was also captivated by the love Christ showed his earthly mother at the cross in the Gospel of John. I followed my Bible reading by simply talking to God about what I had read and anything else that was on my mind. In this journey through the Gospels, I fell deeply, fully, and passionately in love with Christ. I had accepted the gift of salvation as a child, but I finally became a disciple.
After I finished the Gospels, I continued through the New Testament with a goal of finishing it – one chapter at a time. I got very involved in the letters of Paul (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon). Paul can be a confusing writer because his work requires so much understanding of context. I learned a lot from some deep dives into his letters. I did finish the New Testament right around Christmas Time. With great pride, I set a new goal – to read the entire Old Testament in a year. I calculated that this would require reading 3 chapters per day.
At this point, I had been consistently engaged in reading my Bible for six months, so reading for a year felt challenging but achievable. The Old Testament is more difficult than the New Testament. Many of the books are long. Much of it requires context to understand. Some parts are simply baffling, but I journeyed through. When I was confused, I would simply speak to God about my confusion and sometimes just let the confusion rest. I find the book of Genesis particularly perplexing but informative. I continued to talk to God about my reading and just telling him everything on my mind. While my prayers weren’t organized and probably incoherent at times, I did become closer to God through this practice. Right after Thanksgiving, I completed the Old Testament, meaning I had finished the entire Bible!
God didn’t let me stop there. I was hooked on His word and trying to understand it by this point. I began to branch out and add in worship music, journaling, and a prayer diary to my quiet time along with more in-depth studies about His Word. Eventually God also helped me to develop a good relationship with sleep, and I started doing my quiet time in the morning with a hot cup of coffee.
As you can see, quiet time isn’t something that starts out fully developed. Like most habits, it’s best built slowly. Baby steps win every time – especially for those of us who struggle to create habits. Here are a few of my recommendations for building your own quiet time with God:
- Start small
Create a small goal to begin with. Choose one of the shorter books to get started. Genesis is lengthy and extensive in content. It’s really one of the most difficult books to read and comprehend. Starting with a shorter book will help you get a sense of accomplishment by finishing and be less intimidating. Any of the gospels, Ruth, the minor prophets (Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, etc.), any the New Testament epistle other than Romans and the Corinthian letters would be good places to start. Proverbs is also a good one because it is 31 chapters, which would fit nicely with a 31 day month. Begin with just one chapter per day, which for most readers would equal about 10 minutes of reading. I am not an advocate of starting with any of the Bible in year models, this would have been far too ambitious for me and would have set me up for failure.
- Don’t expect to be perfect
We all miss a few days here and there no matter what goal we are working toward. You won’t make it to the gym every day. You won’t always text people back. You won’t always manage to do everything every single day. Give yourself grace – God does. If you miss a day or five, just start it up again. Not tomorrow, but right now. Get back on track. It’s not about perfection. It’s about relationship.
- Find a time that works for you
When I first began my quiet time, everyone told me how important it was to do it first thing in the morning. It starts the day off right, and your day should always begin with prayer. Any other time just isn’t good enough. Well, first thing in the morning did NOT work for me. My attempt to do it that way is likely the reason it took me so long to get started. I wasn’t a morning person. I was a “wake up at the last minute and desperately try not to be late” person. Night time was so much better. In fact, I started with a chapter a day on the free Bible app on my phone. Maybe it’s not ‘good enough’ – but here’s the thing – nothing we do is ‘good enough.’ We aren’t good enough. That’s why we need Christ. Whether it’s God in the morning, afternoon, evening, middle of the night – whatever. Just pick a good time for you and get started.
- Pray!
Talk to God about your quiet time. Tell Him you want to be closer to Him. Talk timHIm about what you’re learning. Talk to Him about your day. The more you talk to Him, the more you’ll want to. If you let Him, He will take you places you never dreamed of going.
I wish you the best of luck in your quiet time journey. It’s an incredible experience to get closer to your Savior. Remember, that a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. Start small, go slow, and fall in love with your time with God.
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