Spend Time With God, Is It Absolutely Worth it?

I know I have questioned if God wants to spend time with me, especially on bad days You know, those days when my kids are unruly, and my husband is less charming than usual. Maybe I acted in an ungodly way and I am avoiding God because I’m feeling guilty. But when I open my Bible and hang out with God I always am encouraged. I want that for you, too!

But what does it look like to spend time with God? Does He want to spend time with me, or is it just a ritual? Let’s see what God has to say about it.

Does God Want to Spend Time with Me?

Matthew tells the story of Jesus and man with leprosy. This man kneels before Jesus and says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” This verse shows how many of us feel when we approach God. We KNOW God can do anything we ask, but we sometimes wonder if He is willing or if we are deserving. We think we have to qualify.

God is willing. In the story of the leper, Jesus reaches out to the man and says. “I am willing,” and the man is instantly clean. Now apply that to spending time with God. He is willing to take time with us, to listen to us. We must learn to listen to Him, and we can start in the scriptures.

Before you enter your time alone with God, meditate on these scriptures to prepare your heart and mind that God wants to spend time with you.

• Please come, and let’s reason together.
• Come close to God, and God will come close to you. 
• For day after day, they seek Me and delight to know My ways
• They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God. 

Where in the Bible does it talk about spending time with God

My favorite scripture about spending time with the Lord is Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” We get caught up in our busy lives, but this verse reminds us that if we take time with God, He has everything else handled. Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 6:33, where Jesus tells us to put the Kingdom of God first, and everything else will be taken care of. I can’t think of anything more comforting than that.

“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) Jesus came not only as our Savior but as an example for us to follow. Jesus valued his quiet time with God; we should too.

Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.” (1 Samuel 1:13) Hannah, the mother of Samuel, poured her heart out to God about her desire to have a son. God heard her plea. God gave her Samuel, who would go on to serve God and anoint David to be king. The Lord honored Hannah’s prayers and He will honor your prayers as well. 

Spend Time Alone With God Scripture

If you say you don’t have time to read your Bible, you are not alone. So many of us have used that excuse, but Martin Luther put it into perspective, “I have so many things to do today, I dare not ignore my time with God.”

My day starts with my quiet time with God, on the days I blow off spending time with God my day seems off kilter. Sometimes I may lay in bed and listen to my Bible on my headphones or play some worship music before my feet hit the ground. I’ve trained myself to wake up a little earlier to read my Bible some days when I don’t feel like it, I remember David in Psalm 119. “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.”

“My eyes are awake before the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promise.” (Psalm 119:147-148) God speaks to us through His Word. Don’t get overwhelmed. You can start small by meditating on a single scripture or passage. Here are a few to get you started:

• “But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” 
• “Be Still and Know I am God.” 
• “Seek His Face.”
• “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” 

What happens when we spend time with God?

We talk to our close friends frequently, and we share the details of our life with them. We talk to our friends about our joys, our hurts, and our dreams. Our best friends give us gentle correction and guidance when we need it.

This is what God wants from us – relationship. He wants us to come to Him first with our joys, hurts, dreams and even our complaints. It blesses the Lord when we share our lives with Him freely. No problem is too small or too large for the Lord to handle. He’s waiting for us to come to Him.

One way I engage with the  Lord throughout the day, is ask Him questions. For instance, if my daughter won’t tell me why she’s having a bad day. I’ll ask the Lord what’s her deal or how can I help her and He always answers me what the problem is and what I should say or not say. He speaks to us throughout the day, in a variety of ways.   

Remember George Sweeting’s words, “Quiet Time is not just a helpful idea, it is necessary to spiritual growth.”

How do you spend time with God?

If you are like me, you might start overthinking how to spend time with God. Stop overthinking it. There are plenty of ways to spend time with God. I tend to have a busy mind, so I get creative in spending time with God. Doing something active helps me focus on God during our time together. Believe it or not, some of my best times with God have been while scrubbing a tub or painting a room. My hands are busy, and my mind stays on him.

Here are 12 few suggestions on how you can spend time with God. The first four focus on your quiet time with God, the rest keeping your mind on God while doing other things:  

• Journaling
• Prayer
• Reading the Bible (try reading it aloud)
• Worshiping
• Walking the dog
• Gardening
• Cleaning the house
• Doing the dishes
• Cooking
• Shopping
• Folding clothes
• Cutting the grass

You might enjoy, the Spend Time With God Set, will help you connect with God.

Places to Spend Time with God

We are busy. We have families to care for, carpools, jobs, don’t forget about the dishes, and teaching toddlers on Sunday. God is the friend that is always with us. We can spend time with God in our car, in our beds, or hiding in the bathroom. Church gives us a beautiful corporate worship environment, but we can meet with God anywhere.

Jonah prayed from inside of the fish’s belly. (Jonah 2:1) Showing us, we can spend time alone with God anywhere, even when we have disobeyed Him.

Set up a special place in your home to meet with God daily. It doesn’t have to be a whole room or the belly of a whale. Here are a few places where you can get alone with God.

• In the car during your commute or in the carpool lane at school
• Outside (a local park or your own yard)
• A favorite chair with a comfy blanket and a hot cup of coffee.
• At work in the breakroom
• Laundry Room
• Anywhere

Take the opportunity daily to have quiet time with God. Deepening your relationship with God will give your life fullness and peace, so spend time every day with Him. Don’t let it become an empty ritual. Change up where you spend time with God. If you usually only take 15 minutes with God, push for 20 tomorrow.

Make it a point to spend time with God daily. God meets us where we are. The important thing– God meets with us.

“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