Developing the Holy Habit of Time with God

The investment of time with God is what develops trust, intimacy, and spiritual growth. Without having alone time with God and seeking to be with Him on a regular basis, how could a relationship with Him possibly grow?

Spending time in God’s Word and in prayer is the bedrock of developing a deep relationship with our Heavenly Father. When we are convinced of the absolute need and necessity of being in God’s presence, developing the holy habit of time with God will transform our faith walk and boost our spiritual growth.

Do you have a desperate desire to spend time with God? He has a captivating presence that woos us the more we spend time with Him. Let’s open our hearts today and pray to enjoy the sacred time in His presence.

Time With God

Spending quality time with God is likely more possible and available to you than you may think. He makes Himself available to us at all times. There is never a second that we come to God and He’s not there.

He’s the friend that’s always available, always willing to help, and always desiring time with us.

When we live our lives entirely before God, everything changes.

Getting quiet before God each day is paramount to developing this holy habit. But quality time can be spread moment by moment throughout your day as you approach Him asking for His help, talking to Him throughout the day, requesting His shield when you face temptation and spiritual warfare, or seeking His guidance and wisdom through various decisions.

Time With God Scripture

Below are several powerful bible verses about having time with God. We can see the importance of meeting with God daily through through these invitational time with God scritprure:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:33‬ ‭NLT‬

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ‭‭James‬ ‭4:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Mark‬ ‭1:35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! ‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 NLT

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 NLT

How do you spend time with God?

There are multiple ways to spend time with God but as mentioned before, the two most powerful ways of growing in relationship with our Heavenly Father are through reading His Word and praying to Him. 

Maybe you’ve tried this but you don’t feel anything. Or maybe your time with God just feels lacking.

How exactly do you approach the God of the universe and actually spend moments with Him?

You simply come, trusting Him to hear you, meet you, and be with you. Whether you come to God in prayer, in opening God’s Word, or in being still with wherever you find yourself, God is a jealous God and desires us to seek Him fully.

As you approach God and seek to spend time with Him, pray to be fully emptied of yourself and open yourself up to receive Him completely. The very best explanation and life-changing book on this topic is Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray.

If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you’ve been given the Holy Spirit to dwell inside you always. Approaching God after emptying yourself opens the door for the Holy Spirit to nourish your soul.

Related: Denying Yourself Meaning and the Abundant Life In Christ

Quiet Time With God

Having quiet time with God and being alone with God renews, strengthens, comforts, and fills us up. When we meet with God, it’s not only what we receive from God, we also have the ability and underserved privilege to get to know God, our Heavenly Father, more and more.

Time with God allows us to be:

• Comforted by His promises
• Reminded of God’s sovereignty
• Challenged with conviction 
• Encouraged by God’s faithfulness
• Confronted with God’s commands
• Renewed by His love and affection
• Strengthened by His mercy and grace
• Secured and sealed by His Spirit
• Filled with God’s unexplainable peace

In a world of chaos, prioritizing time with God is paramount, sacred, and unquestionably necessary for any Christian to pursue. Make it a priority to seek out ways to have a quality quiet time with God.

Alone Time With God

Getting quiet before God and choosing to have alone time with God requires commitment and priority. Our days easily fill up with to-dos, family and work obligations, and pulls and distractions of the world. 

I love how Martin Luther expressed, “I have so many things to do today, I dare not ignore my time with God.”

It is easy to become convinced that we have the ability and capability to approach life without God and only come to Him during times of crisis. The more we realize how severely lacking we are without Him, the more we will treasure and value alone time with God.

Set aside any period of time in your day and dedicate it solely and completely to your Heavenly Father. Search in your bible to find out who God is. Seek to know God personally and intimately and your trust in Him will only increase more and more.

Commit to spending moments with God daily in His Word and in prayer. Talk with Him throughout your day and expect Him to answer and respond. He will!

What happens when you spend time with God?

When you dedicate yourself to having time with God, the kingdom of God becomes real. His presence becomes tangible, and His Spirit lifts and fuels you in ways the world knows nothing about.

True worship, praise, and adoration for our Creator and King fills our hearts and we experience tastes of heaven.

The Good and Gracious Giver becomes personal. Time with God will become as necessary as breathing!

Related: Worthwhile Benefits of Putting God First

Benefits of Spending Time With God

When we spend one on one time with God, the benefits of spending time with God are too numerous to count. What I’ve shared so far still will not give justice to the benefits but I trust through the Holy Spirit’s power you will experience and know these and more as well!

Meeting with God builds our trust and rids us of fear and worry that we face as we lay these burdens down. Little by little, God reminds us of His sovereignty and control over all things and that He can be trusted with the details of our life.

As you get quiet before God, He restores you with His peace and security. Often times throughout the Psalms, David expressed deep concern and fear of mounting battles and issues he faced but concluded and rested each time in God’s comforting hand.

It’s incredible how details may not change around us but God gives His peace that passes all understanding to guide us through those details.

Another benefit of spending time with God is the resurrection power poured in us! Through the Holy Spirit’s power, we’re given boldness, courage, strength, and resolve to power through difficult and challenging times. Meeting with God reminds us of the secure hope we’re given in the Lord. Our future is secure and bright!

Fellowship with God gives us renewed purpose and direction as His children and our role as Christians in this broken world. 

Finally, being alone with God ignites passion for our Heavenly Father and deep desire to please Him in all things. May we glorify God with our lives!

Spending Time With God Quotes

• “If a man wants to be used by God, he cannot spend all of his time with people.” – A. W. Tozer
• “We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.”  Charles Stanley
• “We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.” R.A. Torrey
• “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” Brother Lawrence
• “Shut the world out, withdraw from all worldly thoughts and occupations, and shut yourself in alone with God, to pray to Him in secret. Let this be your chief object in prayer, to realize the presence of your heavenly Father.” Andrew Murray
• “The amount of time we spend with Jesus, meditating on His Word and His majesty, seeking His face, establishes our fruitfulness in the kingdom.” Charles Stanley

Developing the Holy Habit of Time with God

Let the holy habit of time with God begin today! Trust God to meet you whenever you approach Him and surrender yourself to receive all He has to offer. Making the choice to spend time with God will never prove to be a mistake. Soon enough you will quickly find out that He is worth it every single time.