What do you think of when you hear the words “quiet time?” Do you think of duty or delight? Maybe you feel slightly guilty because you just haven’t been able to squeeze Bible reading and prayer into your schedule.
Perhaps you feel you’re not quite getting it right because you’re snatching 6 minutes to read Scripture before you go to work rather than spending an hour a day filling out a Bible study page. Or you can’t quite make it through your prayer list without getting side-tracked.
May I speak a little grace over us today?
The Lord delights in the smallest offerings.
Of course, God rejoices when we spend extended time meditating and delighting in His Word. He is pleased when we give Him time in prayer or worship. Yet He also delights when we take 5 minutes to read Scripture, send up a prayer on our way out the door, and sing loud worship along with the radio on our way to work.
God loves even our smallest offerings when we give them out of love for Him. Remember the widow who offered the two copper coins? It looked like a small offering, but Jesus valued it because she put in all she had to live on (Mark 12:41-44).
In the same way, I believe Jesus rejoices when the mother of a newborn and twin toddlers spends five minutes reading His Word or lifts up a prayer as she straps her kids into the mini-van. He delights in the single mom who squeezes in a few minutes to sit quietly and listen to a worship song after dishes are done and the kids are in bed.
God sees our hearts, not our schedules…
Please follow this link to join me at Katie Reid’s place today to read the rest of this post.
I’m talking about my new book More of God: A Distracted Woman’s Guide to More Meaningful Quiet Times. I pray my book will bring new freedom and renewal to women’s hearts.
Note: I wrote More of God: A Distracted Woman’s Guide to More Meaningful Quiet Times to help overwhelmed and distracted women recover a fresh sense of God’s presence, learn to hear His voice, and grow their prayer lives. To find it on Amazon, click on the image below:
Note: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase, I earn a small commission towards the maintenance of this site at no extra cost to you.
I love the link you make with the widow who gives her two small coins and the fact that God understands the pressures we face and delights in our offerings of time to him. I love how the theme of grace runs through your book and I look forward to sharing my review next week!
Thanks so much for your encouragement, Lesley! Let’s give Jesus our two coins today, shall we? I appreciate your help serving on my launch team!
Thanks so much, Lesley! I appreciate you so much!
Wonderful interview over at Katie’s, Betsy. And the book? Several, please! I love it! I can see this helpful tool filtering into church women’s groups, teen study groups (even though I know it was written for adults), and more. It’s really good. #heartencouragementTHursday
The image, the words–thanks for digging deep and then sharing the treasure!
Betsy, I love this post. I think we too often neglect doing the good because we wait for the perfect. “He also delights when we take 5 minutes…” is the attitude we should have. I can do 5 minutes each day with ease. Heading over to read the rest of the article.