Spending time alone with God...

Chapter Twelve:

Our relationship with God is built during our quiet time with Him.  As spiritual beings, we need to have an intimate and personal relationship with Him.  It gives us joy more than what we can get from anything else.  I Peter 2:2,3 says, " Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

God intended for us to be in a relationship with Him.  He does not want us to just go through the motions of going to Church, attending meetings and saying what we think we need to say to impress others and appear religious. He wants more from us as He has called us to be His sons and daughters.  He wants to spend time with us and show us His love.  Sometimes we just need to sit back and let Him love us.  There is nothing that can or will fulfill us as much as spending quiet time with Jesus.  Time spent in the Word and in prayer are the most important things you can do. 2 Timothy 3: 16,17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Seek God's face, not just His blessings or what He can do for you.  His desire is to have an intimate relationship with you. The most important thing is who we are personally in our relationship with Jesus Christ, not what we are doing or what we have.  We need to recognize where we are in our relationship with God.  

 

Our personal time with Him is where we get our strength and encouragement.  We need to look at our priorities and spend more time with the Lord.  We need to discipline ourselves to spend time with God by ourselves.  Meeting with fellow believers and attending church can be useful, but our main focus needs to be on our one-on-one relationship with God.  

Our zeal and enthusiasm will fade away if we spend more of our time just trying to attain head knowledge rather than spending intimate time alone with Him.  Learn to persevere despite the cost.   The pressures and concerns of life try to distract us from spending time in God's presence.  Success doesn't depend on money, positions of power, material objects or accomplishments...success is when we have a close walk with God.  Commit yourself to spending time with Jesus.  Make it a priority in your life.  Hebrews 4:12 says, " For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

If we lose our joy, we need to spend more time with Jesus.  We need to seek Him more.  There's a saying that if you don't feel close to God, guess who moved...you!  The answer to any problem we have in this life is found in getting closer to Jesus and asking Him for His strength and guidance.

Christianity isn't just a list of things we are allowed to do and things we're forbidden to do.  God forbids us from certain things because He knows they are ultimately bad for us and He is trying to protect us from those things that hurt us.  Allow yourself to become emotionally attached to Jesus...spending time alone with Him will strengthen you emotionally as well as spiritually.

Be real with God about how you feel.  Let Him know what you struggle with.  Talk to Him as you would any other person.  Although God is Holy and Almighty, you don't need to approach God as though He's sitting on His throne, looking at you through judgmental eyes.  He wants you to feel that you can simply approach Him and talk to Him, as you would a loving father.  Don't give up or lose sight of the fact that you can have intimacy and friendship with Him.

 Oswald Chambers said, "The lasting value of our service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him.  Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time--there is always plenty of time to worship God....it is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight."

That God is to be worshiped is generally known, but to have real fellowship and communion with Him, is known only to those who spend their time and energy actively pursuing Him. There are many who profess to be Christians, but are merely acquaintances with the religion.  They do not desire or make time to spend in the presence of God.   However, those who are eager to spend time in prayer, and have a deep desire to be in His presence, are the  ones who will be changed by Him.  Hebrews 5:12 - 14 Paul states, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."  This is Paul's warning to believers that there comes a time when we should be past needing milk and be at the point where we are mature enough to evangelize and disciple others.

Another reason we need to spend time in His presence is to receive guidance for our lives.  He has given us the written Word to be a lamp to our feet, and it encourages us to pray for the Holy Spirit to teach us, so that we may understand it and apply it to our lives.  Those who study Scripture, with a humble attitude, are quickly made aware of their own weaknesses.  They have an attitude of submission to the will of God and discover the road to which He calls them to travel.  It is a daily guidance that they follow and they are assured they are doing the Lord's will.  The word of God dwells richly in them and can be a light unto their feet, a spring of strength and consolation in troublesome times.  It also helps them discern when they are starting to follow along the wrong path or are being deceived by the enemy.  They are willing to follow wherever God leads and they do not become impatient because they know that they must wait daily upon Him in prayer.  They are satisfied that He is and will be their guide.