Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:36-39
Our daily strength comes from daily time alone with God.
A man took a trip overseas to the United Kingdom to visit many of the famous landmarks of England, Ireland, and Wales. While in England, he stopped in a phone booth to make a telephone call one evening. Upon entering the booth, he realized there was insufficient light to read the phone book. Looking around, he saw a light above him but found no way to turn the light on. As he struggled to read the phonebook, a passerby stopped and said, “If you want the light to come on, you must close the door.” The man closed the door, and sure enough, the light came on.
Much like the Christian’s quiet time with God, this man found that when the door was closed and he was all alone, the light would come on. While God will meet with us anywhere and is with us always, it is often during those quiet alone times that we are drawn closest to Him.
Our verses in Matthew 26 show us that even Christ needed quiet time with His Father. As He lived out His last few minutes on earth and as He prepared to endure the Cross, He took time to step away from everyone and seek God’s face.
If Christ took time to seek His Father, even more so must we. God offers us the ability to meet with Him-just Him and us. Through this time comes strength, direction, and spiritual growth. Early Christian and politician William Wilberforce once made this comment after a failed meeting in Parliament, “I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of private devotions starves the soul. It grows lean and faint.” He realized that his wisdom and guidance came from his personal time with the Lord.
Whether you’re a government official or a parent, you need quiet time with God. There needs to be a part of your day when you come away from the distractions of the world, leave behind the thoughts of the future, and set aside the daily to-do list. There must be a focus on God and God alone.
God is everywhere, and we are thankful for that. And God desires that we would seek Him whenever and wherever we are. Yet God also wants us to take time to meet with Him personally. Through Bible reading, prayer, praises, godly music, or simply talking with Him; God desires that we would spend quiet time with Him each day.
Have you ever just wanted to find a quiet place and allow the “light” to be turned on? This world can get hectic if you don’t take time apart from it to refocus your life on God and His will for you. Think about your day today. When can you take time apart from everything to be with God? Perhaps you could give up lunch to drive somewhere and be alone with God. Maybe you could forgo watching television to be with Him. Or perhaps you could get up earlier tomorrow to be with God. Plan a time today when you will step into the “phone booth” of solidarity and allow God to turn the “light” on in your life.
Matthew 6.6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.