Kickstarting Your Quiet Time in the New Year

Quiet times are like laundry habits. We have a general idea of what we’re meant to do—but we don’t usually see the inside of anyone else’s process but our own.

When I was a college student, I went on a mission trip as part of an international team. The guest house we were staying at did a week’s worth of laundry and returned it to us all in one bag. Hilarity ensued as nine women gathered around the hotel bed claiming their clothing. The main cause of laughter was the wildly different number of items we each gathered, evidence of our vastly different expectations about how often our clothes should be washed. It turned out I had rather a lot. 

I was just doing what my mother had taught me. It hadn’t occurred to me to change, or that other people had different habits—and I’d never been up close and personal enough with others to see how someone else might do it differently.

So too with personal Bible reading and prayer. We often inherit our habits from our parents, and rarely get the opportunity to see what other people do. Quiet times can seem kind of secret and mystical. Perhaps we’re mindful of Jesus’ instruction: “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matt. 6:6). But His warning is against those who “love to pray . . . to be seen by people” (v. 5). That doesn’t preclude honestly seeking to learn from one another—after all, “iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17). 

So I decided to ask some friends about what their quiet times look like. The conversations I had both surprised and inspired me. Perhaps they’ll encourage you to try something new. 

Julie-Anne, Age 29

Q. What’s your quiet time history? 

A. I’ve always found reading the Bible difficult. Until this past year, I didn’t really have a regular slot in my day to do it, and I didn’t really have a plan. But this year I’ve sought to set aside a good chunk of time each morning. I’ve been following the Book-at-a-Time Bible in a Year Plan from Navigators. 

Q. What do you do? 

A. My quiet time starts at around 6:45 a.m. in my chair in my room. By that point I’ve showered, gotten ready for work, and made a cup of tea. At the moment I start with a prayer from Into His Presence, a collection of prayers from the Puritans [sixteenth/seventeenth century writers]. Then I’ll do the reading assigned for that day. I try and read it out loud if I can—there’s something very powerful about that. I’ll maybe note down some things that stand out to me. 

I finish with Scripture memorization. That was another thing I was keen to make a priority this year. I use the Authorised Version [KJV] for memorization—it has a rhythm to it that the other translations don’t.

Then I’ll pray. I have a notebook with things to pray for every day of the week. The whole thing probably takes thirty to forty minutes. 

Q. What makes a good quiet time for you? 

A. I think we’re often guilty of reading God’s Word through our little world-shaped lens. So a good quiet time is when I’m coming to a passage with a clean slate and actually listening to God. And when it actually changes my behavior that day. Practically, I find that the key to a good quiet time is getting to bed on time the night before! 

Katy, Age 30

Q. What does a quiet time look like for you? 

A. At the moment, it looks like twenty minutes in the morning [spending time in] my Bible. I’ll work through a book but don’t have a set plan for how fast—sometimes just one verse, sometimes a longer section, or sometimes I’ll reread the portion from the day before. Then I’ll just think about it for a bit. And then I’ll pray for myself or for other people—whoever comes to mind because I’ve seen them recently or because the verses seem relevant to them. 

Q. Have you always done it like that? 

A. I’ve been through different phases, depending on how much time I’ve had. I read the whole of Philippians every day for a month, and then focused on a different bit. The other day I found a notebook where I’d written out the Lord’s Prayer in beautiful lettering day-by-day, as a way of reflecting on it. Or I’ve often found drawing pictures helpful when reading the Psalms. 

When I worked in a Christian school, I used to have a quiet time in two parts. I had a printout of all the names of the students, and the first thing I’d do when I woke up was to pray through a grade. Then I’d get up and get ready, and then come back and read my Bible. I knew I wanted to pray for the students, but I knew that if I tried to do that and read my Bible at the same time, one of them would get squeezed out. I try and do the same thing sometimes with our church membership directory.

Q. What do you find difficult? 

A. Concentrating. It’s easy to turn it into generic reflection time about my life—which is not really what I’m there for. 

Q. Do you remember learning how to do a quiet time? 

A. When I was a child, we always did Bible stories with Dad. Then one day I went to him and said I’d like to read the Bible myself. He told me to start with Mark’s Gospel, take a chunk at a time, ask God to speak to me, and read it. 

When I was in college, one of my friends became a Christian, and my dad advised me that I should teach her to do a quiet time. So she picked the time slot, and then I went over to her room at 7 a.m. several mornings a week, and we read the Bible together. 

Isabel, Age 63

Q. What does a quiet time look like for you? 

A. I do my quiet time in the morning, in bed where it’s warm! At the moment I use Explore Devotions on my phone, which work through a book of the Bible at a time with study questions, and I write down the answers in a notebook. I’m not very good at just reading a passage and knowing what to think, so I like to have a resource that prompts me. 

Q. What about prayer? 

A. First, I’ll write down a prayer in my notebook, [based on] the passage. Then I’ll use the PrayerMate app to pray for various things. I find I pray best with set, written prayers. The app is good because you can subscribe to different “feeds” which give you different prayers each day, as well as adding your own lists of items. So I have it set up to start with a prayer of thanksgiving, then a liturgical confession; then I’ll pray through my personal lists, such as family and church people. [I also] subscribe to the Anglican Collect for the Day and a daily prayer from Scotty Smith.

Q. Have you always done it like that? 

A. These days I’ll have a quiet time about ninety-eight percent of days, but it wasn’t like that when I had children at home—it was probably more like seventy-five percent. There are lots of variables when trying to get a house full of kids to school. But now there’s not much that disturbs my routine.

Q. What makes a good quiet time for you? 

A. When something strikes me that I’ve not seen before, even if I’ve read that passage of Scripture before. “Oh, didn’t realize that”—that’s a nice feeling.

June, Age 62

Q. What does a quiet time look like for you? 

I do my quiet time with my husband, in bed in the morning. If it doesn’t happen then, it doesn’t happen. 

Our quiet times are quite lively. Andy reads aloud. I’m trying to look over his shoulder, because I’m not convinced he’s reading it correctly. Then he gets annoyed. Or he’ll miss a word or something and I’ll say, “It can’t possibly say that.” 

Then we’ll pray together. We don’t have a list or anything. I think we’re quite unstructured people—hence why we don’t get on with the Puritans.

Q. So you’re not doing the Bible in a year or something? You’re one of the most Bible-saturated people I know! 

A. All my life I’ve been going to church, morning and evening, on a Sunday. It just sort of sinks in. And my husband and I talk a lot about the Bible in our everyday conversations, and how it connects with what we’re thinking about or doing. 

No One Right Way

One thing is clear: there is no one right way to do a quiet time. God’s Word is a bottomless treasure trove—and there are near-limitless ways to enjoy it. 

It’s worth saying that for every woman profiled, there were others I spoke to who shared struggles: one new mama with little time or routine; another anxious about arriving at the wrong conclusions. Oghale, a twenty-one-year-old who is just a few years young in the faith, told me: “I’m afraid to read the Bible on my own in case I come across things I don’t understand or don’t want to be true. But in 2025 I want to grow in that. Not so I can know about the Bible or even about God, but so that I can know God himself.” 

It’s people like her who inspired me to write The Quiet Time Kickstart—a six week devotional that starts small and helps you develop a healthy Bible-reading habit over time, building your skills and confidence. 

Whatever your quiet time currently looks like, if like Oghale you’re desiring to know God better through His Word this year, be encouraged that this is an ambition he will honor. Your savior Jesus prayed to His Father concerning you: “I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them” (John 17:26).

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