Making time for God when you have a busy schedule can be a challenge. Here are 5 simple steps to help you make time for God when you barely have time to pee!
Do you ever have days when you’re so busy you barely have time to pee, much less make time for God?
With three little ones seven and younger, I’m definitely no stranger to days like that.
Some days it seems like every time I turn around, someone needs something, and it’s all I can do just to keep up.
Red cup, blue cup, speaking kindly to each other, whose turn it is to play with a beloved toy… it’s a lot to juggle!
Don’t get me wrong – I love it – but it can really take a toll… physically, mentally, emotionally AND spiritually.
The good news is, no matter how busy your life is right now (and no matter what’s making it so busy), there’s no reason God has to take a backseat.
Even if you only have five minutes a day (that you normally spend checking Facebook, Instagram, or even catching up on your favorite websites for Christian women or your favorite Christian blogs for women), you have time for God!
Here are five things you can do to make time for God a priority — even when you barely have time to pee.
Making Time for God When You Have a Busy Schedule
1. Making Time for God Should be a Non-Negotiable Part of Your Daily Routine
Several places in the Bible, the Lord commands His people to bring Him their “firstfruits” as an offering. (Deut 18:4 and Ex 23:19 are two examples.) While these verses typically refer to food offerings, the same concept applies to how we spend our time as well.
God is not satisfied with our leftovers. He wants to be our #1 priority.
Don’t aim to fit in time with God “when you have a chance” or “when you get around to it.” You’ll get busy. You’ll get distracted. You’ll forget. Ask me how I know…
Instead, look over your day in advance. Figure out when the BEST time to read your Bible/pray would be, and choose to set that time aside for God. Set it aside. Guard it. Treat it like an unbreakable appointment — even when you don’t feel like it.
Your time slot could be early in the morning, over your lunch break, in the afternoons when the kids are napping… it’s completely up to you. Just choose wisely.
Don’t give God your leftovers. Don’t choose 10 pm if you know you’re going to be brain dead by then or 6 am if you know you won’t get up. Give God the best spot.
I actually did this myself lately, and it was really beneficial.
One by one, I listed out my priorities — or at least, what I knew my priorities should be. Then, I scheduled them in – in order. I didn’t worry about priority #4 when I was on #2. I just went down the line.
Miraculously – there was plenty of time for everything. But even if there wasn’t, my top priorities deserved the best time slots, and I made sure they got them.
Yes, I had to move some things around, but that’s okay. My schedule now reflects what I want my heart to reflect.
Need Help Making Time for God?
Need Help Making Time for God?If so — be sure to check out this free Quiet Time Planning Guide. It walks you step-by-step through the process of figuring out what the ideal quiet time for you is — so you don’t just say it’s important — you actually do it!
Just let me know where to send it:
Related: How to Read the Bible — The Easy Way
2. Making Time for God Should be an Integral Part of Your Entire Day
While making sure God gets the best spot in your day is a fantastic place to start, I’d really encourage you: don’t stop there! God doesn’t want part of you part of the time. He wants all of you all of the time!
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to sit and read the Bible every day for hours at a time, or that you have to study the Bible in-depth while you’re also trying to get dinner on the table. You want to do something realistic…
It simply means that you incorporate worship of and conversation with God into your daily routine.
For example, you could make time for God in your everyday life by:
- Turning on a Christian podcast while you’re driving around town, while you’re cleaning the house, while you’re eating meals, or while you’re getting ready in the morning. (Check out this list of Christian podcasts for women or this list of Christian YouTubers!)
- Posting Encouraging Bible verses around your home, at work, in the car.
- Decorating your home with beautiful Christian items. Things like inspirational coffee mugs, fridge magnets and wall art. (Here are some of my favorite Christian home decor pieces. You can also sign up for one of these subscription boxes for Christian women and get new items every month!)
- Creating a special prayer routine. It’s easier to remember to pray when you associate it with something else you do on a regular basis. For example, you could pray every time you get into the car, every time you use the restroom, or every time you walk up a flight of steps. Seems silly, but it can make for a very powerful habit.
- Memorizing scripture so that you can meditate on it all day long.
3. Reevaluate How You’re Spending Your Time Currently
Of course, if fitting another thing into an already jam-packed schedule really is going to be a challenge, chances are you have way more things on your plate than you should.
Sure, they may be good, and even important, but if they are taking up so much time that you can’t make time for God, they have to go.
So… how are you spending your time currently?
I would encourage you to get really honest with yourself. Maybe take 3-4 days and write down absolutely everything you do. Don’t estimate. Write down where your time is actually going.
How much time do you spend:
- Getting ready in the mornings?
- On Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or other social sites?
- Watching TV?
- Talking or scrolling mindlessly on your phone?
- Shopping?
- Driving your kids around to various activities?
- Reading other books or magazines?
Not saying that you can never do these things — you can and should do at least most of them at some point — but if you are setting aside two hours a night to watch TV but you aren’t making time for God, something is wrong.
Related: Want to Make Your Faith a Priority? 5 Things You Must Do
4. In Making Time for God, Surround Yourself with Godly Influences
And as for the time that you do spend watching TV, hanging out on social media, or reading other books and magazines – have you ever stopped to consider the quality of the messages you are letting in your life?
- Are the TV shows you’re watching promoting adultery, violence or gluttony?
- Are the books you’re reading teaching selfishness, self-pride or even witchcraft?
- Is scrolling through social media stirring up feelings of jealousy, anger or discontentment?
Now, I’m not saying that you have to stick to ONLY Christian Living books or Christian TV. It’s totally fine to get a variety from various sources. But… you do have to realize — any time you are spending with ungodly influences (whether that’s media, friends or anything else) is time that you aren’t spending with godly influences.
And if you never seem to have enough time for godly influences in your life, maybe it’s time for some of those ungodly influences to go to make room. This is a really easy way to make time for God, to give time to God — you just have to switch out what you’re already doing anyway!
If playing around on your phone is one way that you like to unwind, perhaps you could try one of these Bible study apps for Christian women for a little extra encouragement and inspiration.
Related: Need More Christian Friends? Here are 6 Ways to Find Them
Related Video: Making Time For God (No Matter How Busy or Unmotivated You Are!)
5. Keep Your Expectations Reasonable
And last but not least, when deciding how to make time for God with a busy schedule, keep your expectations realistic.
There are some periods of life that are naturally going to be busier than others and that’s okay.
If you’re still in the newborn phase or you have a child with special needs, your quiet time is simply not going to look the same as a single woman in her early twenties or a married woman in her fifties whose kids have already flown the coop.
Your quiet times now may not look like they did 5 or 10 years ago, and they won’t look the same in 5 to 10 years down the road. Making time for God is going to be more difficult in seasons like these. And that’s okay.
God is not up in Heaven with a scorecard, marking down every minute you do (or don’t) spend in prayer. He isn’t keeping a huge tally card of how many verses you have memorized or how many pages of your Bible you read today.
1 Samuel 16: 7 tells us, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.””
What does your heart look like? That’s the question.
- Do you genuinely hunger for quiet time with the Lord?
- Do you look forward to reading your Bible or meeting with other Godly women as often as you can?
- When you do read your Bible and pray, do you do so with a humble, willing, and receptive spirit?
- Do you strive every day to grow deeper in your faith than you were the day before?
Answering these questions honestly will reveal a great deal about your real priorities.
Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to make time for God with a busy schedule.
Adding these 5 simple steps will help you learn to take time from your busyness to take time for God. And the reward is worth it! You will go from having no time for God to having a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.
Related: Is Your Faith as Important to You As You Say It Is?
Do you ever struggle to make time for God? Now that you know how to make time for Jesus, which of these five tips do you most need to implement today?
By the way, if you regularly struggle to make time for God, even though you really want to, I have a book I really think would help you out. It’s called “Putting God First: How to Make God the #1 Priority in Every Area of Your Life.”
A short and encouraging read, Putting God First offers tons of practical tips and suggestions to help you make God your #1 priority – no matter how busy you are.
Funny title and so true! I said several times to my kids this morning, “I still have to pee,” each time I helped the next one with something! These are all good suggestions. I used #3 a lot when the kids were littler. I agree with #5 that God should be included in every part of your day wether you’ve had focused “quiet time” or not. I do think though that establishing a set time to focus on God at least most days will help us be able to maintain that attitude. I have struggled with doing that; its hard, but our whole family has benefited form mom being able to have that time. This is what I started about a year ago – most days, after breakfast, I set all the kids (5 of them) up for “quiet reading” each in their own space with their own books, and I sit at the table with my Bible to read and/or pray. They’ve had to learn how to do that, (I keep most of them in my sight) some days are still very interrupted and it lasts 20 minutes at most. It has taken a while to get to this point and its still not easy but its been good all around.
I know, kids just ask and ask and ask, don’t they! I used to get very grouchy when my son would ask for his third breakfast when I hadn’t even gotten to make mine yet. Now I just get up a little earlier (and he started school), so that has helped a lot!
These are great ideas! So glad I saw your site on Twitter. My kids are high schoolers now, but I still don’t always have time to pee!!
I love what Abi shared above. It is so challenging to have daily quiet time with God. That keeps me sane, but the only way I can do it is by getting up a half hour earlier than the rest of the house. That said, I think that taking God with you during your whole day #5 above is just as or more important. My morning time gets me in a mind frame to share my whole day with God. I forget him so easily on those busy days!
You mean I STILL won’t have time to pee even once they’ve grown a little?? Oh no! I thought once I got them both into kindergarten, I’d be good to go! (Although, knowing me, I’m sure I’ll still find plenty of new things to keep me just as busy 🙂 )
I think we all do, Starla! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Oh I love this topic! In fact, I’m doing The Nester’s #writing31Days on “Abiding in Christ–when reading the Bible isn’t an option.” Such timely words and great advice for those of us too busy and overwhelmed to even pee, let alone sit down for an exegetical study. Love ALL your pointers!
Oooh, good luck with that one! I saw that, but decided it was way too big of a task for me right now!
I love the last one: invite God into your day. I can do that more often. Thank you!
Thanks, Elizabeth! That’s my favorite one 🙂
Love this post! I really struggle to find enough time for God in a typical day. Your ideas are great ones. Thanks for sharing this! Blessings!
I often do too, Michelle. I think making quiet time a part of my routine (and having a good routine) has really helped a lot. Then, I don’t forget or get distracted nearly as easily.
This is a great post … but I think the REAL truth is – if you don’t even have time to pee, your plate is probably too full. If you don’t have time for God, your plate is DEFINITELY too full.
I am no longer comfortable with saying this – “I don’t have time to spend with God.”
It sort of makes me shudder to think about the depth of what I am saying about myself and the TRUE heart attitude behind being able to truthfully say that statement. To me, it means that I no longer really, really truly understand how amazing God is, how precious it is to be in His presence and most of all how desperately and deeply I NEED Him in all areas of my life. Because when I have completely filled my time with blogging, social media, TV, shopping or even spending time with my family to the point where I have successfully crowded out the God of the Universe, the Creator, the Great I Am, then I KNOW that I am running around acting like my schedule is more important, my priorities are higher and that I can do it all myself, thank you very much. Been there. Done that.
DONE with that.
God trumps all.other.priorities.
The world will tell us different – and it does QUITE loudly.
But~ Jesus beckons us quietly to draw near and rest. Ah….the better peace of hanging out with my Savior is much, much too sweet to set aside in favor of more likes on my Fan page, better stats in Google Analytics, more repins on my boards or anything else, including more income.
I know, because I have BEEN the can’t pee mom. But because of Jesus’ great love for me, He let me completely crash and burn in that life and then picked me back up and gently set my heart back towards Him.
The world LIES to us about how we should fill our days. God does not – He promises to draw near to us when we draw near to Him. I can’t NOT spend time with God. I pray the same longing for you~
I love that your first paragraph puts spending time with God above peeing. I know we are supposed to put Him first, but if I have to pee…. lol 🙂
And I love the rest of your comment just as much. I definitely struggle to manage my priorities. I do have quiet time every day, but the whole rest of the day always seems like too much rushing, rushing, rushing. That is something I’m working on right now. (Hey, I don’t write these posts just for all of your benefit! 🙂 ) I’d rather listen now, than be forced to listen a couple weeks from now when I have no other choice.
Thanks for the wonderful comment!
Great and practical tips! The title grabbed my eye too 🙂 Coming over from Mama Gab’s Facebook page!
Thanks! (I was hoping it would be an attention-grabber 🙂 ) And thanks for the reminder, I have to go see who else linked up there!
I have used some other practical ways to bring my prayer life to the forefront of my day.
We homeschool, have 5 kids and eat every meal at home (almost) which makes for a lot of dishes…
I have a dry erase board on the inside of my kitchen cabinet. If I have someone ask me to pray for them, or a prayer something I need to take to God, then I write it there. As I am doing the dishes, is the time I am usually left alone by my kids. Because they know if I’m doing dishes and they are loud, or bored, then they get recruited to wash or rinse with me. So, since I have all that alone time, I open my cabinet and go over my prayer list.
I know your list says when you don’t have time to pee, but that is my second prayer time. Every mom of small kids hides in the bathroom. I do it too, and I try to remember to use it for prayer time.
Just some thoughts.
Carla
I think that’s a fantastic idea, Carla! Thanks for sharing! I usually use dishes time to listen to blogging podcasts lol, but I love the idea of using it for God time too 🙂
I love these ideas! Thank you for posting 🙂
Thanks, Tiffany! I hope they are truly helpful for you!
Hi! I feel like this article was written for me. I like the note card idea. I know this sounds weird but I keep a bible in the bathroom and read verses anytime I have alone time in there! I also have a bible on my kindle that I read when I can.
Katie
That is totally not weird because I do the exact same thing! My Bible lives right by the toilet! That way, even if I get busy and distracted all day long, I’ll AT LEAST see it before I go to bed and read a little bit then. Though I usually *try* not to wait until then, but it happens.
I keep a Bible and devotional next to the toilet too! I always read the devotional after I get out of the shower.
I guess it’s a poplar place to keep them! I never knew! lol
Good reminders!! I am good at grabbing a religious book on those rare chances for a relaxing bath but struggle in my day to day.
Ooh, good idea. I can’t remember the last time I had a relaxing bath (maybe when I was pregnant, or sick? lol), but I like the idea! I’d be worried about dropping my book in the water though 🙂
Its tough to make time for God with a busy schedule and that puts me to shame to even say it. I Go for a walk and pray already most of the days. But I will now use your idea of putting Bible verses in the house. Thx for sharing
Don’t feel shame! We ALL go through this. If it were just you–I wouldn’t have needed to write a post about it! Oh, and I haven’t really announced this yet, but I just finished printable Scripture cards for just that purpose. They will be going out email subscribers soon, if you want to sign up!
I am a Registered Nurse of 45 years. Ten of those years I worked night shift. I drove the 20 minutes to work saying the Rosary.
I have now been working in an Intensive Care Unit for the past 15 years.
I now “talk” to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit and Mary on the way and ask Them all to help me be a good nurse, help me to do what is right for THEIR sick patients, pick up on the subtle changes that can make the difference between life and death, say the right things to patients and families, etc.
When my patient dies, I touch them, bow my heard and say the prayer for poor souls… “Eternal rest grant unto them, oh Lord”… Amazingly enough, everyone in the rooms respects that, and waits until I am done to begin post mortem care.
When I am drawing blood on a “hard stick” I always ask Jesus for help. I do thank Him profusely when I get it.
Lots of time, I barely have time to ” pee”. The BR as we call it is right past patient rooms… ” oh nurse…..” And we do go in… Most of the time forgetting that we have to “pee”. I think the Lord has something to do with that.
A true story: a group of Respiratory Therapy students, came into my patient’s room to draw an arterial blood gas. This young man’s first time doing so. He was scared and trembling. I looked at him and said ” Ask the Lord to help you get it.” He kind of looked at me funny, but, he did bow his head some and a few seconds went by before he stuck the patient. BAM! He got it first time, first stick! His head shot up and he looked at me wide eyed. I responded with, ” now Thank Him. Always thank Him.”
Wow, you sound very busy!! What an awesome ministry opportunity though. Sounds like you are using it well.
I don’t know what needs moderation.
lol, hi Mary! I have the settings set up so I have to manually approve everyone’s first comment. It has nothing to do with the content of the comment; it automatically does that for everyone’s first comment. This is a very, very common setting on many blogs to prevent spammers from commenting all over the site, making it look very trashy (you wouldn’t believe how persistent they are!). Once I approve one of your comments though (and I just did!) you are free to comment as much as you like and it will display immediately.
very informative article.How about when you feel like not spending time with God?
That’s a fantastic question. And this article talks about exactly that: https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/dont-feel-like-good-christian/ 🙂
I love the point that God wants you ALL of the time. So many times we boil down our time with God to a 10-minute devotional, but we have opportunities to connect with Him throughout our entire day! I actually just wrote a bit on this myself at https://debtakesherlifeback.com/make-time-for-god/
Jesus says those who seek me early will find me. It doesnt say WHENEVER you can squeeze me in for your best time. Jesus wants us to talk to Him before anyone. Before we do anything. He is our route before we start our day. Not whenever we feel best for Him to be in our schedule