Episode 58
58 | How to Find Quiet Time with God… Even as a Busy Catholic Mom
As a busy Catholic mom, you want to spend time with God… but finding daily quiet time can feel almost impossible.
Between caring for your family, managing the home, and the constant responsibilities of motherhood, it can feel like there’s never a quiet moment left for prayer, devotions, or Bible study.
Yet spending time with God is essential if we want to grow spiritually, hear God more clearly, and begin discerning God’s plan for our lives.
In this episode, we talk honestly about the reality of motherhood and why creating intentional quiet time with God matters — even during busy seasons.
You’ll learn simple, practical ways to create space for Catholic devotion, prayer, and reflection in the middle of everyday life so you can grow in discernment, deepen your trust in God, and move closer to discovering the purpose God has for you.
If you’ve ever wondered:
• How can I spend time with God when my schedule is full?
• How do I hear God when life feels noisy?
• How can a busy Catholic mom build a consistent prayer life?
This episode will help you rethink what quiet time can look like and how small, intentional moments with God can transform your day.
Through Scripture, encouragement, and practical examples from motherhood, you’ll learn how to build a habit of daily quiet time that strengthens your faith, supports your discernment, and helps you grow in trust in God’s plan.
If you’re longing for more clarity about God’s purpose for your life and want to grow closer to Him through prayer, devotions, and reflection, this episode will give you simple ways to begin.
I pray that this episode blesses and encourages you!
Michelle
✨ Next Steps:
- Join the Facebook community — Here
- Subscribe to the weekly The Inner Flame — Here
- Take "What is my God-Given purpose: Where to Begin?" quiz — Here
- Book a 1:1 Discernment Coaching Session — Here
✨ Email: hello@michellebrannam.com
✨ Website: https://MichelleBrannam.com
✨ Listen to Related Episodes:
- 02 | Quiet Moments with God: Simple Steps to Hear His Voice
- 09 | No Time for Your Purpose? Try These 3 Steps to Take It Back
- 22 | 3 Simple Ways to Enhance Your Discernment to Hear God's Voice Clearly
🕊️ Scripture Mentioned:
- Mark 1:35
Bible Translation Used: All Scripture is quoted from the Revised Standard Version – Second Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE), The Great Adventure Catholic Bible, © Ascension Press. Used with permission.
Transcript
Except when you are busy, then a full hour is needed.
Speaker A:So even the saints understood the busier life gets, the more we actually need that time with God.
Speaker A:You want to spend time with God.
Speaker A:You know quiet time matters.
Speaker A:But finding daily quiet time as a busy mom, sometimes it feels almost impossible.
Speaker A:Maybe you've tried waking up early.
Speaker A:Maybe you've told yourself, tomorrow, that'll be the day I start.
Speaker A:The house gets lapped and suddenly the day is gone before you had a moment to breath.
Speaker A:When am I actually supposed to find time for God in the middle of motherhood?
Speaker A:Then this episode is for you.
Speaker A:Today I'm sharing simple, realistic ways that you can create space for God in the middle a busy life as a mother, even when your schedule feels unpredictable.
Speaker A:So if you've been wanting more quiet time with God, but you feel like there just isn't room for it in the day, then this episode will help you rethink what's actually possible.
Speaker A:Let's do this.
Speaker A:If you're tired of feeling unsure about your purpose because you don't know how to hear God clearly and you want simple, faith rooted steps to discern his will and move forward with confidence, you're in the right place.
Speaker A:I'm Michelle, a cradle Catholic mom of three and a discernment coach for Catholic women.
Speaker A:I learned how to move from confusion and overthinking to hearing God's voice clearly and moving forward with confidence and as well.
Speaker A:So if you're ready to grow closer to God, begin discovering how God uniquely made you and experience that mindset transformation.
Speaker A:Grab that laundry, pop in those earbuds and let's go.
Speaker A:I remember praying and asking God what He created me for, but feeling unsure if I would ever really understand his guidance.
Speaker A:And I would listen to Catholic priests, sisters.
Speaker A:I'd spend time journaling, reflecting during prayer.
Speaker A:And even yet, there was moments I still questioned if I was capable of discerning his direction clearly.
Speaker A:Clearly.
Speaker A:And what I eventually realized is the problem wasn't that God wasn't guiding me.
Speaker A:The problem was that I didn't yet understand how to recognize his guidance and take the next step with Him.
Speaker A:And once I began learning how discernment actually works, inviting God into the process, paying attention to the clues he was revealing, and taking those small, faithful steps forward, everything began to shift.
Speaker A:If you're sitting in that same place, you're wanting to follow God's plan, but you're unsure how to discern his will or hear his guidance clearly, you're not alone.
Speaker A:Sometimes you just need guidance.
Speaker A:Walking through the process that's exactly why I offer discernment coaching sessions.
Speaker A:In these one to one sessions, we'll prayerfully look at where you're at now and begin identifying the next simple step that God might be inviting you to take.
Speaker A:You can learn more or book your discernment coaching session at michellebranum.com coaching that is M I C H E L L E B R-A-N-N-A M.com coaching and the link is also in the episode description as well alright, let's dive in.
Speaker A:So as busy moms, it can be really challenging to find those quiet time for ourselves depending on what season of motherhood we're in.
Speaker A:And maybe you have little ones at home like I do.
Speaker A:Or maybe your kids are school age and you're running from school drop offs to activities and school sports and then you come home to house full of responsibilities waiting for you.
Speaker A:No matter the season.
Speaker A:Motherhood.
Speaker A:It can feel like a constant movement.
Speaker A:Right now in my season I have two young little ones at home who aren't in school yet and my days can look very different from one day to the next.
Speaker A:Some days are better than others when it comes to finding that quiet time for myself.
Speaker A:And as a mom, you know exactly what I mean when I say that there are days when your patience gets tested and you realize you really need that moment to recess.
Speaker A:A moment for your sanity.
Speaker A:A moment to breathe.
Speaker A:A moment just to be and to be with God again.
Speaker A:And for me, I try to start my morning in prayer when I wake up and it's usually around 5am and if I wake up naturally or one of my kids wakes me up, then I try to spend about 30 minutes in prayer and quiet time with God before the house wakes up for me.
Speaker A:That's when I know I am able to get that quiet time in.
Speaker A:And if everyone stays asleep, I head downstairs and I spend a little more extra me time doing the things that energize me and help me set the tone for the day.
Speaker A:And as a mom, you already know that plan doesn't always work.
Speaker A:It doesn't follow the schedule that I have set for myself.
Speaker A:Sometimes one child falls asleep at 9pm while the other one is still awake at 11pm needing my help, needing my attention, needing things.
Speaker A:Then the morning rolls around and suddenly the one who is up late is sleeping in and the other one that went to bed is up bright and bushy, tail ready to go for the day.
Speaker A:And just like that, that quiet time that I had hoped for, it disappears.
Speaker A:So lately that's been happening to me more often than I would like it to.
Speaker A:And it just reminds me of something really important.
Speaker A:If we're not intentional with how we create space for God in our day, then the outside world, it will fill that space for us, including our kids.
Speaker A:So if we're not intentional about how we start or restructure our day, then that outside world, it will gladly take over the responsibilities, the distractions, the mental noise.
Speaker A:And before we know it, that day is gone.
Speaker A:And Jesus actually models something very different for us.
Speaker A:And Scripture tells us, rising very early, before dawn, he left and he went off to a deserted place where he prayed.
Speaker A:And that is in Mark 1:35.
Speaker A:So Jesus himself, he made quiet time with the Father a priority before the demands of the day began.
Speaker A:And that time, it shaped everything that followed.
Speaker A:And when we spend time with God, we're grounding ourselves in truth.
Speaker A:We're resetting our hearts.
Speaker A:We're mining our minds and attitudes for the day, as I like to say, because when we don't have that grounding, it shows up.
Speaker A:We're more impatient with our kids.
Speaker A:We're shorter with our husbands, and we carry that stress, that mental noise into everything we do for the rest of the day.
Speaker A:So quiet time with God, it helps us to reset intentionally so we can live our day differently.
Speaker A:And here's the honest truth.
Speaker A:If something is important to us, we find the time for it.
Speaker A:So think about it.
Speaker A:If your child is sick, but the laundry needs to be done, what do you do?
Speaker A:You care for your child.
Speaker A:You move that laundry to tomorrow and you adjust.
Speaker A:And maybe later, if they fall asleep and they let you lay them down, if you have little ones, then you can start a load if you absolutely need it.
Speaker A:That's what I have done.
Speaker A:But that priority comes first.
Speaker A:And the quiet time with God works the same way.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean every day will look perfect, because we're mothers and we know that our days can change.
Speaker A:But it does mean we're willing to rearrange things when needed, because we know that time matters.
Speaker A:And as St. Francis de Sales says, half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy.
Speaker A:Then.
Speaker A:Then a full hour is needed.
Speaker A:So even the saints understood the busier life gets, the more we actually need that time with God.
Speaker A:And just a little clarification, when he's talking about that half an hour's meditation each day, that meditation.
Speaker A:Meditation can be Christian meditation, where you are actually in conversation with God and not the other New Age kind of stuff out there.
Speaker A:A lot of us moms, we think quiet time has to happen at one specific time of the day.
Speaker A:Now, that's ideal and.
Speaker A:And that's what we should do, but can't always be at the specific time of the day.
Speaker A:Just like we talked about when you have a kid get sick or something pops up.
Speaker A:Last week our garage door broke.
Speaker A:So that completely changed my schedule for what I had for the day and where I wanted to start my prayers first thing.
Speaker A:So I had to adapt.
Speaker A:So there are times when that happens, and we cannot get that prayer in at that specific time that we intended it to be.
Speaker A:So we have to be flexible.
Speaker A:That's just the reality of it.
Speaker A:So finding quiet time, it might look like getting up before everyone else in the morning, which is what I tend to do.
Speaker A:You can use part of your lunch break.
Speaker A:I used to eat lunch quickly, and then I'd go sit out my car for some quiet time before returning to work, or eat my lunch while I was working at the desk.
Speaker A:And then I would go out during my hour of lunch time that I was given, and I'd go out to the car just to get my peace, my quiet that I needed to regenerate, get that energy back for the last part of the day.
Speaker A:And maybe it's 10 minutes while your kids are playing independently.
Speaker A:Maybe it's during the middle of the night feeding when you're holding your baby and the house is quiet.
Speaker A:I had to do that a lot when I had my little ones, if I was nursing them or given their bottle during the night.
Speaker A:Maybe you wake up from a dream and you can't fall back to sleep.
Speaker A:Then you sit some time with God in prayer.
Speaker A:Maybe you're lying in bed and you're stressed and you're worried about something.
Speaker A:So instead of laying there stressed, spend that time with God in prayer.
Speaker A:Spend 10, 15 minutes in silence with him.
Speaker A:And then another one that we don't even often think about is instead of laying there in bed and we're scrolling on our phone, we could just spend a few quiet minutes talking to God.
Speaker A:And maybe another time is when you're sitting in the school pickup line early, or maybe it's when you're walking the dog.
Speaker A:Before I had kids, I'd spend a lot of quiet prayer time with God during my walks with Ellie.
Speaker A:That was quiet, being out in the nature, it just was grounding and just helped me reset as well and energize.
Speaker A:And it was a time that I could really speak from the heart to God.
Speaker A:But the point is quiet time, it can happen in many places throughout the days.
Speaker A:If we look for it, we can find some quiet time.
Speaker A:And those were just a couple of brainstorming places or ways that you could find some quiet time to spend with God that maybe perhaps you haven't even thought of.
Speaker A:And Jesus, he understands our responsibilities as mothers and wives, and he is always ready to meet you there in the silence.
Speaker A:We need to create that space for Him.
Speaker A:So one of the most practical things that you can do is to look at your schedule ahead of time and ask yourself, where can I spend 10 to 30 minutes with God this week?
Speaker A:Maybe it's the morning, maybe it's in the evening, maybe it's unexpected pocket of time during the day.
Speaker A:And if your days are unpredictable like mine, it can really help to just plan an alternative time.
Speaker A:That way, if the morning gets interrupted, which happens in motherhood, we know that then you already know when you can reconnect with God later.
Speaker A:And when we do this consistently, we start creating space for God and it just becomes a habit, it becomes routine for us.
Speaker A:Silence and solitude create room for us.
Speaker A:To help us to hear God more clearly, we enter deeply in prayer and we grow spiritually.
Speaker A:As St. Pedro Pio said, through the study of books, one seeks God, but by meditation, one finds Him.
Speaker A:So if we want to find God and we want him to hear him, we want to grow that deeper relationship, and we want to grow spiritually and really get to know him so he can help guide us and reveal our unique purpose, his unique plans for us, We've got to just spend time with Him.
Speaker A:And I understand there are some days I'm mentally and I'm physically exhausted, but I try to start my day with God whenever I can.
Speaker A:Because if something unexpected happens later in the day, at least I know that I can spend that time with Him.
Speaker A:And on the days when that doesn't happen, then I try to spend at least 10 minutes with him before bed.
Speaker A:Because I've realized something.
Speaker A:If I'm not too tired to scroll on social media, if I'm not too tired to check my email, if I'm not too tired to watch a few YouTube videos before I've fallen asleep, then I'm not too tired to spend a few minutes with God.
Speaker A:Am I right?
Speaker A:And if you're spending time with God but you're still feeling unsure about how to actually discern his guidance or understand the direction that he may lead in you, you don't have to figure it out alone.
Speaker A:That's why I offer my discernment coaching sessions in these one to one sessions, we will prayerfully walk through where you are right now and we'll begin identifying the next simple steps that God may invite you to take.
Speaker A:And if that's something that your heart has been longing for, you can learn more or book a session@michellebranum.com coaching all right, let's go into recapping into the three things that we talked about in this episode that you can really anchor yourself to.
Speaker A:If something matters to you, you will create that space for it even in the small pockets of time.
Speaker A:And then quiet time with God.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to look the same every day.
Speaker A:Flexibility is part of motherhood.
Speaker A:And then look at your schedule ahead of time and decide when will you meet God in silence?
Speaker A:All right, let's take this to prayer.
Speaker A:In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Jesus, help us to imitate you by making time for silence and prayer with the Father.
Speaker A:Help us to create space in our busy days to seek you, listen for your guidance, and grow closer to you.
Speaker A:We ask this in your holy name.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Now let's take this from head to heart, knowing that truth is powerful, but that real change comes when we act just one small step at a time.
Speaker A:Now look at your day or your upcoming week and write it in your calendar.
Speaker A:When will you spend that quiet time with God?
Speaker A:If you have inconsistent days like me and you never know what your day may look like, then write down some alternative times where you can try to spend that consistent time in silence with God.
Speaker A:This way you already have a backup plan.
Speaker A:If something unexpectedly happens and you know when you will spend that quiet time with God.
Speaker A:Then come on over and share in our Facebook community Finding youg Discernment and Strategy for Catholic Moms where youe have created you'd space for quiet your time and where you've created that that could help another mom find the time that we have overlooked as an opportunity for her.
Speaker A:So come on over, share with us.
Speaker A:And remember, my beautiful sister in Christ, that God uniquely created you for a unique purpose.
Speaker A:You were made to do great things.
Speaker A:God is within you and you will not fail.
Speaker A:I look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Speaker A:I'll meet you next Tuesday for another conversation.
Speaker A:Until then, may God bless you and bring you peace.
Speaker A:I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Speaker A:If so, take 30 seconds to share it with a friend who's feeling unsure about her purpose and want simple, faith filled steps to discern God's will.
Speaker A:And if you've learned something today, please leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker A:It lights me up to know that this show is helping you.
Speaker A:Okay, time to tackle the laundry and unload the dishwasher.
Speaker A:Gotta go.
Speaker A:I'll see you next Tuesday for another conversation.
