How to spend time with God while away from home

For those of us who have a Bible study routine, finding a way to spend time with God when we’re out of our routine can be difficult. And for those of us who don’t have a Bible study routine at home, we equally struggle with this issue.

So, whether we’re away for vacation, for responsibilities with work or family, or for anything in between, what does it look like to spend time with God when we’re away from home or traveling?

1. Plan before you leave

When we’re planning to be away from home, there are so many things to think about that we forget to plan for Bible study. It is one of those things that we figure we’ll get around to whenever we get to our destination. But sadly, by the time we think about it, we are well into our time away. Or sometimes it isn't until we get back home and see our Bible waiting on us that we realize it slipped our mind.

Instead, we want to be proactive. Not only is God more than worth it, but we need that time with him — we need him!

And it doesn’t take long to plan. If you’re able to take your current Bible study material with you, make sure you slip it in your bag to continue on the road, even if your study time would be somewhat shorter than usual. (Looking for a Bible study to take with you for travels? Check out our everseeking journals!)

More importantly, if you’re able to, simply packing your physical Bible goes a long way. If you truly don’t have room for your Bible, you can use the Bible app on your phone, but (and be honest) if notifications interrupt your time with God, even if it’s for two minutes, turn the notifications off so you can give God your best for that time period.

You don’t have to have everything planned in detail, because we know that plans change during our travels. But if we plan ahead of time in a flexible way, we have more of a chance!

It’s not about getting it just right. It’s about at least spending some time with God.

2. Set a realistic goal

More often than not, we give up on spending time with God when we’re away from home because we don’t really know what our time will look like. Or if we do know, we’re not sure if we’ll have personal time (and tend to use any personal time to relax).

It doesn’t have to be a scholarly one-hour Bible study.

We just need a pocket of time to refresh ourselves in our God.

The reality is that our time with God will likely not look like our usual Bible study habit when we’re home, if we have a good routine. And if we don’t have a good routine, we likely won’t find the magical study habits during our time away either.

It’s not meant to be perfect. It’s meant to be real.

So we realistically plan our time and spend a few minutes reading certain passages of the Bible (that we planned beforehand). Whether it’s in the morning before everything really gets started, or in the evening when things start to calm down, or even in that sweet spot of free time during the day — anytime is worth it. Because we want to…

3. Enjoy and meditate

This is probably my favorite. For most of us, being away from home can be an interruption to our routine. That could be a downside, but it could also be a blessing. It takes us out of the monotony and gets our brain on a different circuit.

Granted, not all experiences are the same. Sometimes we're away for a fun vacation while other times we're out for work. Some travels give independence while others give more responsibility. Some are meant to give time to think while others are full of thinking about other things.

But what all of these (and other scenarios) have in common is that in each one, we need God.

We may get to know him better in wandering or we may gravitate nearer to him during our “journey” because we couldn’t handle it ourselves otherwise.

He is our constant on the calm beaches and in the stormy situations of our lives.

So when we spend time with God, it’s not begrudgingly. It’s hungrily, knowing that these precious moments we spend with him can determine our perspective for the rest of the day, whatever that may hold.

We nurture patience, kindness, and contentment, giving evil a wide berth.

We choose not to be rude, irritable to be around, or insistent on doing things our own way.

We don’t make it about us in arrogance and in boasting, but rather we bear, believe, hope and endure all things.

Why? Because we are rooted and anchored in true love (all of the above are from 1 Corinthians 13!). We are reminded of the love our God has given us when we spend those moments with him — and we share that love in turn with others.

It’s what we’re called to do.

And that doesn’t stop when we move out of our routine and daily life.

4. OPTIONAL: Bring something tangible (notebook)

If you know that you need something physical to keep you on task, then bring a simple notebook to study.

It can help keep our mind from wandering and wondering if we really spent any quality time with God. It’s something to look at (especially for those of us who remember better with visuals) and helps us to keep what we’re studying at the forefront of our minds.

It can be as simple as one thing that stood out to you in Scripture that you want to remember, collecting different Scriptures and/or thoughts in a mini notebook!

Whatever it is, you can keep it very simple and still let it be very effective.

God is more than worth our time. And we need time with him to anchor us! So don’t let time away from home keep you from having time with God. Make it a time of true refreshment and stay close to the One who is with us wherever we are!

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The love verses are from the chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter that gives us a real way to show the true love of God to strangers and to those closest to us.

If you want a companion to study with, grab our 1 Corinthians ch.13 Bible study journal in our shop and enjoy the precious time of knowing God’s sweet words!

Shop: https://www.evergreencypress.com/shop/p/1-corinthians-13-journal