What do you think of when you think about the perfect space to read the Bible? For me, it would be a cosy armchair in a quiet room, sunlight beaming through the window and a nice cup of tea close at hand.

How often does this happen? Well, I don't have an armchair at home! Perhaps I’ve come close once or twice early in the morning at conferences. For a while I had a good routine of reading the Bible on our sofa before work; now that we have children, that too is impractical.

Searching for the perfect spot

Adam and Eve had the privilege of walking alongside God around the Garden of Eden. For Israel, meeting God required preparation – for example, Moses fasted for 40 days before meeting God on Mount Sinai and priests underwent ritual purification, offered sacrifices and put on special garments before entering the temple. Jesus needed to carve out time away from the demands on him (often in hard-to-get-to places outdoors) to spend time with his Father.

We want quality time with the Father too. And so we keep look for just the right time, or put our hope in that special journalling Bible, or plan to go to the same cafe each day to connect with God.

Yet the perfect spot for connection with God can be elusive and can even distract us from growing closer to God. It's like a form of procrastination. And in the end we miss out on countless connection opportunities with our Father.

Spending quality time with God in the everyday

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are reconciled with God, removing the barrier of sin and giving us direct access to God. We don’t need to be limited to special holy places in our day.

We are so privileged that we can take our Bible out at any time and we can talk to God any time. So, as I continue to pursue that top quality time, here’s three ways my family and I are seeking God more in the day to day…

1. Time with God as we do life

For example, I use the ‘Lectio 365’ devotional app when I'm hanging out the washing. In the past, I've set time aside specifically for reflecting and listening without distraction, and that’s wonderful. But if I only do it then, I miss out on many other opportunities to hear God’s word and demonstrate to my daughters that God is part of every aspect of my life.

Deuteronomy 6:5-8 encourages us to bring our love for God into the everyday:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.’

2. Time in the Word without a Bible in hand

Scripture memory is so good for getting more of God’s Word into your life. I’ve used the Navigators Topical Memory System (TMS) to memorise verses, in addition to trying to memorise a bit of John’s Gospel. The process of learning and meditating nourishes us, as Psalm 1:1-3 explains:

‘Blessed is the one…
who meditates on [the Lord’s] law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.’

One key benefit is having scripture to hand any time, anywhere. Recently I’ve been spending a lot more time than I’d like awake in the night, helping my eldest daughter get back to sleep. I can turn the seemingly endless wait into a time of renewal and connection by recalling passages committed to my memory. As I become more and more familiar with the passages, I notice new insights. Reflecting on scriptures about the qualities of a disciple or the message of gospel help me process my emotions, lead me in decisions, and draw me into praise.

3. Time with fewer distractions

In our family, we are on a mission to create ‘white space’ both in our home and in our calendar. The spiritual practice of simplicity reduces distractions to allow greater focus on God, with many added bonuses to our family relationships, environmental impact, finances and stress levels. This can look like not buying things we don’t actually need (even the tools at a bargain price), reducing commitments and giving away what we don’t need. By doing this, I hope that the extra time will make me more available for walking alongside God and others.

My aim is to enjoy God forever and the reality is that he is with me all the time, but sometimes I need to slow down to realise he is right there alongside me. Whether it’s the nudge of a quick prayer amongst distractions, ‘sacrificing’ time doing something else to have quality time alone with our Father, or meditating on a verse whilst we wait, we get to enjoy God, listen and talk to him, however imperfect the spot.

Jeremiah captures the joy of it, whether we are snacking on a morsel or tucking into a feast:

‘When your words came, I ate them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
    Lord  God Almighty.’