The Discipline of Stopping: Making Room for God and One Another

God taught His people to stop

Leviticus 23 begins by describing the appointed times God gave Israel. Before it names the annual feasts, it points to the Sabbath: six days for work, and the seventh day set apart for rest and holy assembly (Leviticus 23:1–3). Their week included a stop. God's people were reminded that their lives did not belong to work alone, and that they could trust Him enough to lay their ordinary labor aside.

The Sabbath was part of God's covenant with Israel, not a command Christians are required to keep today. But notice the wisdom of stopping. Life is not supposed to be one endless rush from one task to the next. We need time to worship, remember God, and be with the people He has given us.

Jesus made room to pray and rest

Jesus was surrounded by need. People came to hear Him and to seek help, and His work mattered deeply. Yet Luke tells us that He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:15–16). He did not treat prayer as something to squeeze into the leftover moments. He made room for it.

Mark 6:30–32 gives us another picture. The apostles had been busy serving, and people kept coming and going. Jesus told them to come away to a quiet place and rest. Isn't that interesting? The work mattered, but Jesus still made room for a pause. We need to remember that too.

A phone fast is a tool, not a test

In the Bible, fasting ordinarily means going without food for a time, often to focus on prayer. So a 'phone fast' isn't a biblical command or exactly the same practice. It's simply a way to practice self-control and give something more important our attention.

Paul said he would not be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12). He wasn't talking about phones, of course, but here's a question worth asking: Is my phone serving me, or am I starting to serve it? If I can't put it down through a meal, a conversation, or a few quiet minutes with God, maybe I need to make a change.

These questions are not meant to shame anybody. Work, health, caregiving, and family needs can make a phone important and sometimes necessary. Some people need to remain reachable. Each of us can look honestly at our habits and decide whether they are helping us live wisely.

Notice what your phone is crowding out

A good place to begin is with an ordinary day. When do you reach for your phone without thinking? Do you check it while someone is trying to tell you something? Does it interrupt your Bible reading, prayer, sleep, or time with your children? Ephesians 5:15–16 calls Christians to walk carefully and make wise use of their time. Those verses do not give us a screen-time limit. They do remind us that our choices about time matter.

We often think about what the phone gives us: a message, an answer, a little entertainment, a way to pass the time. It can be useful for all of those things. We should also ask what it may be taking from us. A divided conversation is still a conversation, but it is harder to listen well. A quick glance can become a longer distraction. And when our minds are always full of new noise, we may find it harder to be quiet before God.

I have to ask myself these questions too. It is easy to notice somebody else's screen while excusing my own. The point is not to judge another person's habits. It is to pay attention to what is happening in my own life and take responsibility for it.

Make a small plan you can keep

You do not have to begin with a dramatic promise to give up your phone for a month. Choose one stretch of time when you do not need to use it, and put it somewhere out of reach. You might leave it in another room during a meal, keep the first few minutes of the morning for prayer and Scripture, or set it aside while talking with your spouse or child.

Make the plan clear enough to follow. Decide when the phone goes away, where it will be, and when you will check it again. If someone needs to reach you, make a reasonable plan for that. A good boundary should help you keep your responsibilities, not make you careless about them.

Then ask what you want to do with the attention you have made available. Read a Psalm slowly. Pray for someone by name. Listen to the person across the table. Take a walk. Finish a task that needs your focus. If you only tell yourself, 'I cannot look at my phone,' you may spend the whole time thinking about your phone. Give the pause a purpose.

Give the people at home a voice in that plan too. Ask when your phone makes it hardest for them to have your attention, and listen without immediately defending yourself. They may name a moment you hadn't noticed. Then explain what you're trying to change and invite a gentle reminder. A shared purpose can help a small boundary become an act of care instead of another household argument.

Use the space for the people and work God gives you

The goal is not to see how long we can go without a device. The goal is to become more present and more faithful. Maybe that means listening carefully when your child tells a long story. Maybe it means praying without checking for the next notification. Maybe it means giving your work full attention for a while, then being fully available to your family when you come home.

Small choices can teach us something about our hearts. When we set the phone aside, we may discover how often we reach for it. That discovery can be useful. We can ask God for help, make a wiser plan, and try again. Growth often looks like that: noticing what is pulling us away, turning back toward what is good, and taking the next faithful step.

Leviticus 23 reminds us of the value of setting time apart. Jesus shows us that even important work shouldn't crowd out prayer and rest. So try something simple this week: put your phone down for a while and give your full attention to God or someone you love. You might be surprised by what you've been missing.