Quiet Time with God: 5 Minutes and My Bible – Now What?

You’re interested in having a quiet time with God but you have NO CLUE where to start or what to do. This is for you!

If you’ve asked, “How to have a meaningful quiet time?” Do you desire to grow in your faith? Let’s say you have 5 minutes and your bible. Now what?

First, let me tell you something about 5 minutes. 5 minutes is a BIG DEAL.

I will say this until I’m blue in the face: some time is always better than no time – especially when it’s regarding God’s Word.

Do you know that 5 minutes a day for one week is over half an hour reading the bible? Or consider this: if you read your bible for 5 minutes every single day for a year, that would add up to OVER a day of reading the bible!

What difference could that make in your life, the life of your family, and the life of those you interact with?

It’s a huge deal. I commend you on this journey and encourage you to realize that time in your bible and quiet time with God is always a treasured and celebrated time!

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Quiet Time With God

Nothing compares to having special time set aside with God Almighty. Having quiet time with God is making the decision to prioritize a period of time in your day to be God’s alone. Whether it’s through devotions, bible reading, prayer, worship, or a combination of all; it’s making an intentional decision and commitment to have quiet time with God.

What is quiet time with God?

Many people are curious what is quiet time with God? It’s simply setting aside some time to intentionally spend with God. It can be for a few minutes to an indefinite amount of time. Quiet time with God isn’t actually determined by the amount of time spent with God.

A lot of times, people think it needs to be a certain amount of time to count but that is not true. God desires your time. Period. Starting with 5 minutes will richly bless your life! Below, I’ve listed a few amazing benefits and the importance of having quiet time with God.

Benefits of Quiet Time With God

The benefits of quiet time with God greatly surpass the quantity of time spent with Him!

Benefits of Quiet Time with God:

• Transform your relationship with God.
• Provide nourishment for your soul.
• Show you God’s love for you.
• Show you God’s promises for you.
• Teach you truth.
• Fill you with hope, peace, strength, and direction.

Ok, I could go all day. Just know that God is always inviting us to have time with Him in His word.

Bottom line?

Quiet time with God will truly benefit you in more ways than my words could ever convey.

What does the bible say about quiet time with God?

Several times in the New Testament we have Jesus’ example of drawing away to have quiet time with God.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Luke 6:12

As we dive more into the core of the bible – it’s very heartbeat – we see it is a love story. That’s it. Plain and simple.

It is God’s love story for us. Written and inspired by God Himself.

It is the most beautiful love story you will ever read and be a part of!

I don’t know about you but I am pretty good at complicating things more than necessary. I don’t have a badge or anything, but I’ve got a lot of experience in this department.

Learn from me and know that reading the bible does not have to be complicated! Do not let it intimidate you or deter you.

Know that it is God’s love story to show you Himself and His pursuit of relationship with us.

This is where faith comes in. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Confidence and assurance are the key words.

I can tell you when you spend time reading the bible, this love story will grip you!

Pray and ask God to open your heart and eyes to His Word.

Quiet Time with God Tips

When you approach reading your bible, below are two simple questions and quiet time with God tips:

1. What are you learning about God?

2. How can this apply to me?

In this love story, God happens to be the main character. He’s the Protector, Defender, Rescuer, Comforter, Shield, Warrior, Place of Refuge, Creator, Judge, Deliverer, King, and Precious Father. 

Believe me when I tell you this is the most basic of basic lists because it doesn’t even scratch the surface of WHO God is but it gives you a taste of just how brilliantly God shines!

When you are having a quiet time with God and reading your bible, look for what is being revealed about Him in the passage.

Then, determine how it can apply to you. Or how does what you learned about God apply to your life? How does it impact what you believe or what you think? What does God want you to do?

This love story is meant to show us who God is, what He’s done and is doing, and how we are connected to Him. We are in-process of being transformed into the image of Christ. The bible is absolutely essential to this.

Don’t worry –

I’ll give you an example using these two quiet time tips!

Example of What this looks like:

So, I have 5 minutes and I read Psalm 25:8-9:

The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. 

Question #1: What am I learning about God?

He is good. He does what is right. God shows the proper path. He leads. He teaches.

Ok. Wow. That really packs a punch. I knew God was good and right but I wonder how God teaches his way? Lord, can you help me with this? Also, God, I know you are good – this verse says so and your word is true – but can you show me this in my life? Help me to better know this about you. Help me to believe it.

Question #2: How can this apply to me?

God shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.

Those who go astray? Guilty. Goodness, it happens more than I care to admit. So God shows me the proper path when I go astray? How? Oh, he leads the humble in doing right. The humble. Lord, I need major.help.with.this. I want you to teach me and lead me. Help me to walk this out, Father.

You did it! Friend, you have just read scripture, intentionally thought about who God is, and considered how it applies to you.

This is an amazing step towards growing in your relationship with God! What did you think!? Learn anything new? Were you encouraged? Stumped? Convicted?

See, it is totally possible for you to do this!

You know what!? The whole time the Holy Spirit was and is with you. As you continue to read your bible, he will bring words and passages to life, convict, and direct you. 

I’m telling you now:

This section you just read took you less than five minutes. But if you do a little each day and let the words marinate in your soul and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life, you will be completely transformed!

Be sure to download your quiet time journal template below!

This is only the beginning!

“Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God the more of God will be seen in you.” Charles Spurgeon

Another approach to reading your bible is using the SOAP Method. SOAP stands for:

S – Scripture

O – Observation

A – Application

P – Prayer

Scripture – Decide on your passage of scripture. So, for our above example, it would be Psalm 25:8-9. It’s best if you stay on one passage and add a few verses each day.

For example, Day one is Psalm 25:8-9 and Day two would be Psalm 25:10-11, and so forth. That way, you’ll be building upon each day from the same scripture passage.

Observation – Write down what you observe. Who is the passage written by? Who is it written to? What sticks out to you? Is anything repeated?

So, for our example above from Psalm 25:8-9, we would note that David is the author. He’s writing about who God is. He’s affirming his trust and belief in God.

Application – Just like our question above, always ask ourselves how this passage can apply to me. How can I use this scripture in my life? How can I respond today to these verses?

Prayer – Pray asking God to reveal His heart to you and give you guidance in applying His word to your life.

Try both approaches – the two questions and the SOAP Method. See which one works best for you. Both are a great approach to reading your bible with limited time!

God will bless you always for spending time in His word.

Where To Open Your Bible:

There are different schools of thought on where to begin reading your bible when you open it.

Generally, it is recommended to start in the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Some highly recommend John and others highly recommend Mark to start off in order to study Jesus.

Reading Psalms or Proverbs is also another popular recommendation. The Psalms are filled with praise and worship to God. Proverbs is filled with bite-sized nuggets of wisdom.

My personal recommendation is to begin in Psalms and then move to the Gospels.

Why I Recommend Psalms:

Most of the Psalms were written by David and he is known as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). Is that your desire, too? To be a woman after God’s own heart? Me too. I crave it.

David is so real and authentic. He’s messy just like us! He makes mistakes, horrible decisions, screws up, tries to hide mistakes, and flat out desperate for God. Hi David, we have a lot in common.

And yet, he’s known as a man after God’s own heart!

I feel like this is a teaser but the rest of the story is in the Bible!! I’m telling you, it’s SO GOOD. 

Find out what God did for David (over and over) and how Jesus was woven in the story from the very beginning!

You’re going to love it. I just know it! This isn’t just my opinion. I know you’re going to love it because God is captivating! He will capture your heart throughout the pages of scripture and you will want more and more.

RELATED: Praying the Psalms – 7 Day Challenge

What if I don’t “feel” anything when I read?

I’m so glad you asked! 

The hard truth is, reading the bible shouldn’t be based on your feelings. We can’t let our emotions dictate our faith. Feelings are unreliable. Faith has to play a role in this.

When we have quiet time with God and read our bible, our faith will grow. 

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Romans 10:17 

What if I don’t understand what I’m reading?

First of all, if you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you. Always and forever. Period. He’ll never leave you.

He teaches us and takes us deeper into God’s truth as we grow in Christ. So, as you’re reading, He is working on speaking these truths to your heart. You can trust Him with this!

Also, we have numerous avenues to learn and grow in our understanding of the bible. Church, pastors, church leaders, mentors, bible studies, small groups, classes, websites, apps, etc. 

Ask for help in understanding if you get stumped.

It is SO important to know that if after reading the bible you walk away feeling like you got nothing out of it, do not give up.

Let the Holy Spirit show up and show off. It could be a couple of days later when you’re washing the dishes and you have an “ah-ha” moment.

It happens! The more you make having a quiet time with God and reading your bible a habit, the more and more you will see the bible come to life. It is the best way to grow closer to God!

Related: Benefits of Reading the Bible

What type of bible should I use?

If you have a bible and every time you’ve opened it the words just do not make sense, go find another translation! Go to a bookstore and shop. My preferences are the ESV (English Standard Version), NIV (New International Version), and NLT (New Living Testament). 

This site is really helpful to plug in a verse and compare the different translations.

It makes a huge difference reading a translation that is clear to understand. Seriously, go browse some bibles!

For a study bible, I use this Life Application Study Bible NLT version. I’ve always used the Life Application Study Bible either in NIV or NLT translation. I love the commentary that is provided, maps, concordance, and cross-referencing verses.

There are also chronological bibles set up to read so much each day throughout the year. This one is my favorite! The One Year Chronological Bible Expressions. It’s beautiful and has room for note-taking on each page and artfully drawn bible verses that you can color and decorate if you choose to.

Related: Best Bible Version for Beginners

Related: 7 Best Women’s Devotional Books

Finally, every time we have a quiet time with God and open the bible, He extends an invitation to us to meet Him. The next time you wonder how to have a meaningful quiet time with God, I pray these resources encourage you!

Taste and see that the Lord is good… Psalm 34:8

5 minutes a day. Let God captivate you!

Your world will be transformed.

I’m praying for you and I am so excited for this next step of your faith walk!

Related: 10 Creative Ways to Spend Time With God

Join the 5 Minutes for 5 Days Challenge. Click to download your Quiet Time With God Journal Template with verses and both methods to try out.

Call to Action:

Schedule 5 minutes with God. Set your phone timer or write it in your planner (with a Sharpie). Before you know it, you’ll have read the bible for over a day! Find a friend to help keep you accountable.

Comment below and let me know if this encouraged you and what you’re most looking forward to during your quiet time with God!

Related: How to Develop the Holy Habit of Time With God

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