Are you in need of a serious quiet time? Time to reflect and ponder, time to shut out the distractions of life so you can hear from God more clearly? Is your life weighing on you so heavily that you need Him to breathe His life into yours again?

“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12 (NIV)

My friend Dawn wrote about her serious need for quiet time in the midst of raising three children. With her permission, I am sharing an entry from her journal with you:

“At first I thought I was going to take a nap, but God had other plans for my serious quiet time that didn’t involve sleep, or blogging, or making a phone call. He got my attention and we had a heart to heart. Wow. The power of getting quiet and being still in front of the Lord is amazing. I had my Bible, my journal, and my Ipod. I listened to two songs that have been really speaking to me. I was able to really talk and listen to God and He revealed so many things to me in this hour that we had together. I realized a list of things that I needed to let go of, to set free and put into His hands. I didn’t want to carry the burden of these things any longer and He didn’t want me to. He also brought it to my attention that I have been asking Him for direction and answers and I haven’t been available to listen to what He has been telling me. I thought He was silent, because that does happen, but He wasn’t. I just wasn’t listening.

My serious quiet time is something I realized I have been missing over the last few months. This experience is a necessity that I forgot about, and that can’t happen any longer. He is the strength and the answer to what I need to live a life full of joy. So often I overlook having a quiet time. I pray a lot during the day, but a serious quiet time—where I can reflect and listen—I put aside. I become too busy to stop, be still, and be amazed by Him, and when I forget, I am lost. My days don’t go right, I get nothing done, and all along I had the answer right in front of me—look to Him! He has the answers, the directions, the strength, the comfort, the companionship and the love I need.”

Dawn’s words echoed within my heart, as I have had the same experience and the same longing. I know how dry my soul becomes without daily watering from the Living Water. I know that those times when I most feel like crawling in bed and pulling the covers over my head are the very times I need to resist the temptation to give in to my physical exhaustion and focus instead on my spiritual exhaustion. I have learned that many times, nourishing myself through a serious quiet time with God alleviates my physical exhaustion as well. I am supernaturally filled by these serious quiet times. I think that many times, we are so consumed by the here and now that we forget all about tapping into this amazing resource. And yet, I know that, just as Dawn wrote, the very source we need is right there waiting for us to remember.

One thing that stood out to me about Dawn’s experience is that her quiet time was by no means structured. She didn’t check off a prayer to-do list, didn’t feel the need to follow some proven format for instant communication with God. Instead, she simply focused on worship, and listening, and hearing from God. She allowed Him to minister to her heart, to comfort her as only He could. I think sometimes we make so much of the quiet time, we forget that the key is to simply make much of Him. Dawn got back to her first love in that hour she spent with the God of the Universe. She removed the noise and the distractions and devoted time to Him alone. She honored Him, and He honored her in return.

I want to get serious about quiet time. And I don’t mean a five minute morning devotional I can check off my to-do list, or a list of prayer requests to work my way through methodically. Instead I want to have more consistent quiet times as Dawn described. I want to take these precious moments and offer them up to God. I want to experience the joy of giving Him more than my minimum and celebrate life in the overflow.

Marybeth Whalen is homeschooling mom to six children ranging in age from teen to toddler, as well as a speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries. In her writings, she addresses things like burnout, dealing with interruptions, and handling homeschooling from a very practical perspective. Be sure to visit her blog, Cheaper by the Half Dozen.