Why I Started My Quiet Time

Last Spring Break, I went on a trip to Panama City Beach, FL with my college church. It was an amazing experience that changed my life forever and I will be going back for my 2016 Spring Break as well. While on the trip, we were given about four hours of free time every day. For the most part, we spent it in the pool and on the resorts' private beach. Every day during this free time, I would see my friends and kids from the other colleges sitting either by the pool, in the dining area, or on the beach with only their bibles, journals, and sometimes some headphones. I had no idea what they were doing, so I just watched them the first few days. One day one of the girls said, "I'm going to have my quiet time on the beach if anybody wants to come."

I didn't go, because I obviously didn't know what they were doing, but I was extremely curious. I asked some of the girls who were on the trip what their quiet time consisted of and I got a few different answers. For the most part, it seemed like they mainly read their bible, listen to some worship songs, and journal their thoughts, what they learned, and things they need to pray over. I had never taken time to just sit and be with God while focusing on the scripture. I also only used my journal to organize the notes I take while at church. I thought it was really cool that so many young people were setting aside time in their day to just hang out with God so a few weeks after the trip, I decided to try it.

I started my quiet time while reading Mark Batterson's, Draw The Circle. It is a 40-Day Prayer Journal that encourages the reader to spend time with God, write down the things they need to pray for, and "circle it in prayer", meaning pray over it repeatedly. I could not recommend this book enough! It was amazing and I've never felt closer to God than I did while reading it.

After finishing the book, I struggled finding inspiration to sit down and have quiet time and I felt myself slipping further and further away from God. I thought getting more involved in my church would help me find the closeness I'd been missing. I started serving whenever I could and I just got getting busier and busier. I thought that I would find fulfillment in my small groups, serving on multiple church teams, volunteering to help with service events, and watching sermons on Youtube. Though all of those things are amazing, they didn't give me the feeling I'd been looking for. I didn't feel any closer to God, I was just tired.

When the semester was over, I went from being too busy to completely bored (So. Much. Netflix.), but I still didn't feel closer to God. While scrolling through Pinterest one day I found random blog post with a list of passages Christian women should read, I liked them all, but some of them were amazing, so I decided to write them down. I immediately went and found another blog post about being a Christian in college, once again I wrote down my thoughts and questions in my journal, then I decided to pray over them. After a while I noticed that about 45 minutes had passed and I felt extremely uplifted. I started a whole Pinterest board for Quiet Time inspiration and started mapping out the verses I would read in the coming days. I didn't even realize I had been doing it every day until flipping through my journal a few weeks later. I felt at peace, like I had finally achieved equilibrium. 

This semester I've been busier than ever before. I don't always have an hour to put towards my quiet time but I've learned that doing it for only 10 minutes is better than not doing it at all. Sometimes I have to squeeze it in between classes, or take the time during my lunch break at work, but I try not to skip it. I occasionally have my quiet time right before bed. I just recommend taking some time out of your day every day to sit and talk to God, read over his scripture, and listen for what he says in return.