Meditation – Time Alone With God.
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I got up this morning thinking through some decisions I have to make about shipping some packages. I sat behind my computer still thinking. I realized I had two options; one could save me money, and the other could save me time. I quickly realized I needed to consider several other factors I could not predict. So I said a short prayer, saying:
“God, guide me on this.”
I immediately stopped thinking about it. Then I remembered I had not even had my morning prayer. So I went to kneel by my bed. It was very quiet, with just a slight humming sound from the ceiling fan. I started with thanksgiving and adoration, followed by confession of sins, then supplications. The first two were very quiet; but when I entered into supplication prayer, I immediately got clarity on the shipping issue I had been grappling with. I had not even mentioned it in this prayer!
God spoke to me in the quietness of my heart, and gave clarity on an issue I was struggling with.
If there is anything that played a very significant role in the success of Jesus’ ministry, it is the quiet moments He spent with God. He did them for God’s guidance; but also as an example for us.
READ Matthew 14:23
“After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23)
Jesus spent a lot of time alone with God. Here are a few as recorded in the Bible:
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. (Matthew 1:35)
After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. (Mark 6:46)
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” (Luke 9:18)
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28)
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)
Often, we only chronicle the spiritual benefits of having time alone with God; but there are physical benefits too. There is an article on the Mayo Clinic website with a simple heading, which says:
Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress.
The intro said,
“Meditation can wipe away the day’s stress, bringing with it inner peace.”
While this well written article said meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, and was originally meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life; and is, these days, commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction; it tragically failed to list probably the oldest practice of meditation – the Christian Quiet Time with God — as a form of meditation. It is a very, very good article to read, nevertheless, and I produce the link in the credits section.
Just like the Mayo Clinic article, often, when we hear meditation, our minds flip to some eastern religious practice; and we avoid them because we are not comfortable. Meditation is not exclusive to eastern religions!
For believers in God, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Quiet Time alone with God is absolutely meditation.
Contrary to conventional wisdom; the busier you are, the more you should set time aside to be alone with God.
Those moments alone with God are our greatest, most refreshing, calming and reflective moments.
Those moments are God’s gifts to us, to re-assure us that He is always with us.
MEMORY VERSE
“He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray…He was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23)
QUESTIONS
1. Do you set time aside to be
alone with God?
2. Do you know that is what
meditation is, and has both
spiritual and physical benefits?
PRAYER TIP
Father, please help us to
step away from the frenzy
of the world often, to be
alone with You.
Written by:
BENNY MALM
For:
TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL
CREDITS
Mayo Clinic, “Meditation: A Simple, Fast Way to Reduce Stress”, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858
URGENT CALL
By nature, we are all sinful, and alienated from God. We ultimately face the wrath of God!
But God in His mercy and love gives us a chance to reverse this trend, join His family, be part of His household, and become His children.
The first step to becoming a member of God’s household is for us to be saved.
Salvation comes through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Savior.
It is a very personal decision. No one can make for you.
If you make that decision today, there will be great singing and rejoicing in heaven; because one new member has joined the family and household of God!
Do you want to make that decision today?
Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer”
for guidance if you want to make
that decision.
We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page.
God richly bless you
SPECIAL GRATITUDE
Thank you for visiting the Testimony Devotional Website.
We would not have gotten here without your prayers, goodwill and overall support. We are grateful, and humbled.
We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission; and we thank you for sticking with us through this journey.
God richly bless you.
The Testimony Devotional website addresses are:
Solace Ninyeh
Medidation is very, very necessary. Thanks for the reminder. If Jesus needed time alone with the father, how much more us? We gain more in the few minutes we spend with Him alone, than we can achieve in our hours of business without Him. Thanks.