TODAY IS…

the perfect day to make time for a one-on-one with God.

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.”  Matthew 6:6a NLT

It is important that we all set aside time to pray with our families, friends and members of our church. It pleases God for people to come together in all different combinations to worship, pray and practice the fellowship that is a big part of being a Christian.

Joining hands in thanks at the dinner table with our family, praying with a friend who is in poor health or in need, time spent with our Bible study group and celebrating the grace and glory of God with fellow members of our church are all excellent opportunities to praise God, to ask for His help and to worship Him and offer thanks for all He gives us. Even though the chaos of daily living can make it seem as if we don’t have time for any of that, it is imperative to our spiritual health as members of God’s family to incorporate prayer with others into our lives.

It is equally important that we all recognize how much we need private moments with our spouses, our children, our parents or other important people in our lives; moments we can use to tell them how much we love them; to let them hear from our lips how much we appreciate them and moments in which we can share our concerns, fears, joy, sorrow, our hopes and our dreams. During these times, we need to listen to them as well. We can never know their hearts if we don’t take the time to listen to what they have to say.

And so it is with our personal relationship with God. We need to set aside time to be alone with Him. We need this time to express our thanks, to ask for wisdom, to ask His forgiveness for those times we have succumbed to the temptation of sin, and to seek direction for our lives.

Then we must wait quietly and listen for Him.

If we have truly humbled our hearts, we know that God often makes Himself known in a gentle whisper. His message to us is more likely to be heard when we are patient; when we are silent; and when we are still. While He will be present at the table, in the church or wherever else we may gather to worship Him, praise Him and ask His blessing, He needs us to listen for Him in private moments to ensure that His message is heard loud and clear, even though it may be delivered very quietly.

Our spiritual health will be improved greatly with a little regular one-on-one with the Father. Our objective will be clearer and our ability to add to the spiritual well-being of those around us will be increased significantly.

We all know the story of Elijah standing on the mountain listening for God.

God wasn’t in the wind.

He wasn’t in the earthquake.

He wasn’t in the fire.

“And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12b NIV).

And now Elijah was ready for his one-on-one with God. Follow Elijah’s example, take the time and get ready for yours.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson