ONE ON ONE WITH GOD
After John baptized Jesus, he immediately went into the wilderness for 40 days. There He fasted and prayed to prepare Himself to serve (Mark 1:12-13). He needed to hear from God so He would do exactly what God desired. He needed God’s power and protection to do it. Jesus laid aside the use of His deity so He would live and function as a man (Philippians 2:5-7). He was still God, but He faced and experienced everything as a man, the same as we do (Hebrews 2:18; 9:35; 1 Peter 4:1-10). He showed that living a perfect life was possible (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
Facing life as a man meant He needed God’s help with everything He did. That’s why He would stay up all night praying (Luke 6:12). Jesus would get up early in the morning to have time alone talking to God (Mark 1:35). As busy as He was, with all He had to do in 3 years and all the people who needed Him, Jesus still put spending time with His heavenly Father before anything else. He did this regularly (Matthew 13:1; 4:13, 42; 15:29; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 9:2; Luke 6:12; 9:10, 28; Luke 4:42; etc.). If Jesus needed time alone with his Father, we certainly do as well.
Our time spent with God is not about telling Him what we need Him to do, but instead to listen to what He has to say to us. What He has to say to us is much more important than anything we could say to Him! He already knows what we would say. We can hear Him when we are quiet and sensitive to His Holy Spirit speaking to us; when we read His Word and meditate on what it says. It can happen any time or place, but we only hear when we are silent and listening. Please make sure you turn off your cell phone and other distractions. Listen for what God has to say. (December 2, 2019 Doylestown, PA)
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
How much time do you spend listening to God? When you pray, do you talk more than you listen? Maybe it seems God isn’t answering your prayers because you spend your time telling Him what to do instead of discovering what He wants you to do? Have you learned how to listen to His voice when you pray and hear His Spirit when you meditate on His Word? When is the best time and place for you to have uninterrupted time with God?