Thoughts for Life: #25 A Private Meeting With the Father

Alvin Vandergriend- Few things in life are more precious than time spent alone with God. The purpose of time spent with God is to build a deeper personal relationship with Him. Within the seclusion of our private prayer lives, as we spend time with the Lord, we grow in love for him and are transformed more and more into the image of Christ.

When Jesus says, "Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father," He is saying, "Go to a private place where you can withdraw and commune with God in prayer." Today we call such a private meeting with God daily devotions. (Google image, Woman praying alone)

Many of the great saints of Scripture model this practice. David prayed every morning (Psalm 5:3). Daniel prayed three times each day (Daniel 6:10). Anna and Simeon prayed daily in the temple (Luke 2:25, 36-37). Paul prayed constantly for the new believers in the churches he founded.

Jesus, Who had perfect fellowship with the Father, found it important to have private times to commune with Him. Luke reports that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16). The people i know who have the most vibrant faith have, like these devoted pray-ers, built their spiritual lives around a consistent time spent with God.

A disciplined daily devotional life is not optional for a growing Christian. It's a must. Prayer is the conversational part of a love relationship with God. You don't build a love relationship by staying away from the other person. Love relationships are built by spending time together. God wants us to have a close relationship with Him. When we do, we are the winners. God fills us with joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11).

But personal devotions are not simply a matter of our wanting and needing to spend time with God. He desires to spend time with us too — as much time as possible. God took great joy in creating us and saving us. He knows us and loves us. He enjoys expressing His love to us as we spend time with Him. We are important to Him.

David says, "The Lord has set apart the godly for himself" (Psalm 4:3) Zephaniah declares that God takes "great delight" in us, quiets us "with His love," and rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Our daily time with God is a time for Him to shower love on us. This gives God great pleasure. It can give us great pleasure too. That's part of the reward.

i have never met a person who regrets the time set aside for a private daily meeting with the Lord. Are you among this crowd?

(pp. 66, 67 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)

Let's pray-

Father, we rejoice that You actually do sing over us when we obey Your Words to us to come apart to meet with You in prayer. Please help us go into a room that's private, and to pray for our needs and those of others we know.

It is our delight to imagine the expression on Your face, as we commune with You on a daily basis. We ask for Your Love to quiet us each time we come aside alone to pray.

We are grateful that You know each of us by name, and that You look forward to spending daily time with us.

Thank You for Your readiness to meet with us each time we find it best to come aside for prayer. Please forgive us for any reluctance that may cause us to hold back. We ask for Your help and guidance to improve our personal devotional lives. May we also pray for family members and friends who need to spend more time with You.

We pray this in Jesus' name for His glory that works in and through us as we proclaim His Kingdom here on earth. Amen

Today's Bible verses-

Matt. 6:6 "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Hebrews 10:22-24 (NKJV) "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (v. 23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (v. 24) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works."

Quote for today-

~ Rev. Kyle Norman- "The Christian life can be hard. This was certainly the case for the disciples. The early Christians faced the continuous threat of shame, exile, social abandonment, persecution, and death. There was no “prosperity gospel” for the early Christians. Jesus says definitively that “those who lose their lives for my sake, and the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35). To follow Jesus was to walk the way of the cross."

Words of wisdom-

Many are behind the scenes in an effort to accomplish something for the Lord. Find what your part is, pray about it, and do the best you can as you rely on the Spirit of Christ to guide you. We all need to be a part of what the Lord is doing in and through our local churches. It is important for us to pray about our part, and to honor Jesus in what we're asked to do.

Today's question-

What happened when praise bubbled up inside Mary and Elizabeth?

We see that they offered thanksgiving to God for His goodness to them! Mary and Elizabeth, when meeting for the first time after Mary was given the news that she was to give birth to the Messiah, caused them both to erupt with grand praises. (Luke 1:46-56)

They both were filled with gratitude for God's blessing, so they both gave Him praise for His kindness to them! We can see that they were disciples of God, as they were filled with His Word and ready to do His will.

They humbly recognized God's goodness to them, and broke out in praises that He would use them to accomplish His will for mankind.

We are encouraged to be filled with God's Word too, and to lay hold of His promises. May we be people who are expecting great things by our Mighty God through our discipleship!