Breaking The Template

Written By Sherri Richard

II’ve been a follower of Jesus for *counts on fingers* 26 years.

Over these years, I’ve heard, seen, and read about the importance of spending personal and private time with God hundreds of times. This time of intentionally connecting with God through various spiritual practices like prayer and Bible reading is often called things like quiet time, God time, personal study, devotional time, and many other names. I tend to prefer "God Time."

When teachers, preachers, pastors, and other leaders talk about spending time with God, they often offer a “template” of sorts which almost always starts like this:

        Step 1: Get up really early…

We’re going to STOP right there. You may be a bright, sunshiny morning person, but I am not. In fact, here is a dramatic reenactment of me first thing in the morning:

Image Credit: @barnaby_persian - instagram.com/barnaby_persian/

I can provide references....

Y’all, I’ve tried. I really have. I’m pretty sure you can find drool marks on every bible I’ve ever owned from dozing off during one of many attempted 5am God times. I compute absolutely nothing that early—my mornings run strictly off caffeine and muscle memory. This is not the right time for me to stop and intentionally connect with God unless the snooze button is a spiritual practice everyone forgot to tell me about.

I used to beat myself up about this. Why couldn’t I be more disciplined? It seemed to work for all those pastors talking about it, so why didn’t it work for me?

Whether you can relate to my Garfield energy or not, I bet you’ve experienced a time when someone else’s “template” didn’t work for you.

You were told:

  • Read your Bible for 20 minutes every day—but you struggled to understand or apply what you were reading.

  • Follow this devotional plan—but it didn’t seem to apply to your life at all.

  • Pray for extended periods of time—but you found your mind wandering or didn’t really know what to pray about.

  • Have a 30-minute God-Time in a quiet place by yourself—but you have little kids who won’t leave you alone for 5 minutes, let alone 30.

Or maybe you just flat out heard that you need to have a God-Time but had no idea how to do that.

So here’s the question: 

Do we have to follow someone else’s template? 

Does our God time need to look like someone else’s? Is there a right and a wrong way to spend time with God?

I won’t make you read to the end for the answer….

The answer is no, absolutely not.

While a template may work beautifully for a lot of people, we also have to realistically find what works for us. So really practically, let’s look at how to find what works for us.

When Should I Have My God Time?

Simply put, the best time for you to spend time with God is a time that you can make work.

  • King David spends time with God in both the morning and the evening

  • Daniel prays to God three times a day  

  • Isaac meditates in the evening (and gets interrupted… how relatable is that?!) 

  • Paul speaks a ton about prayer and other spiritual disciplines without ever specifying a time of day -

You can find more examples and the scripture references at the bottom. 

But I think our best example is Jesus himself. We see him seek God early in the morning on several occasions, late at night in others - but we also see him step away for times of quiet in the midst of the chaos of the day. Jesus was abundantly intentional but also opportunistic based on the circumstances around him.

The best time is the time that you can make work. When do you have a gap in your time? Are you someone who is good with a set schedule? Schedule it! Are you someone who enjoys mixing up your rhythms? Find moments in the chaos. 

I’ve heard many times something to the tune of: "You MUST prioritize and set the rest of your schedule around your time with God!"

I think this is a fantastic way to do this, but what really matters is that you’re spending time with God.

How Long Should My God-Time Be?

I’ve heard so many things over the years:

  • "How long do you spend on social media? You should be spending more time than that in scripture!"

  • "How often are you texting? You should be praying at least that many times a day!"

  • "At least 30 minutes!"

  • "An hour!"

  • "15 minutes, three times a day!"

  • "Three minutes for every time your left foot itches!" (Okay, maybe I’ve never heard that one.)

My thoughts:

Anything greater than zero.

I’m not saying this to lower the bar, but rather to raise it. There is significance in every moment we turn our attention to God. Therefore, shifting from zero to more than zero is significant.

  • You’ve never spent intentional time one-on-one with God? Do more than zero.

  • You don’t have a regular God time? Do more than zero today.

  • You have a regular God time daily? There is no such thing as too much time with God. Find a part of your day when you normally aren’t connecting with God and do more than zero in that moment.

  • You’re inconsistent in your time with God? Do more than zero today!

We Can See Throughout Scripture, and Especially in the Life and Ministry of Jesus, That Single Moments Can Matter:

  • Moments when people seek Jesus and find relief from afflictions

  • Moments When Jesus’ Words Changed People's Hearts and Minds

  • Moments When People Come to Recognize Who Jesus is

  • Moments When Jesus Reveals Truth through creation 

It’s not that every moment you spend seeking God is going to be life-altering, but every moment you seek God is significant. Each moment matters even if it doesn’t look like someone else’s template.

What Should I Do During My God Time?

We're going to dig deep into this in my next blog entry but...

    Bottom line: do something.

Something is always better than nothing. Once again, this is not lowering the bar but raising it.

Practically:

  • Stop to Pray:

  • Check Out the Verse of the Day on your Bible App- I have it set up as a widget on my home screen which is really helpful for me! 

  • Do a Reading Plan on the bible app.

  • Stop and Breathe.

  • Paus

  • Read a Proverb

  • Stop and Ask For Guidance, Wisdom, Peace or Patience (or all of the above!)



This list could go on FOREVER. The point: do SOMETHING!


Wrapping Up

Today, as you walk through life, take a moment and seek God. I doesn't have to follow a template, or look like anyone else's, be at 6am or picture perfect - mine isn't.

But it does have to be more than zero, especially if we want our relationship to continue to grow and mature.

Next Week

We’ll jump into the purpose of our time with God, examples of how biblical characters spent time with God, and some pointers from a few awesome folks that I’m really excited to share with you!

That will come out Wednesday August 14th at *Whenever I post it* O'Clock! I hope you'll check it out!

References

Time of Day:

Moments from Jesus' Ministry:

  • Moments When People Seek Jesus and Find Relief from Afflictions:

  • Moments When Jesus’ Words Changed People's Hearts and Minds:

    • The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:1-2. This sermon includes the Beatitudes, teachings on love, forgiveness, and the deeper meanings of the law.

    • The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:33-37.

    • The Parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son: Luke 15

  • Moments When People Come to Recognize Who Jesus Is:

Practical Ways to Spend Time with God Today

Sherri Richard
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Breaking the Template Part 2
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Why Are You Leaving?