Matthew 14:23 Alone with God
“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night he was there alone” (NIV).
Immediately after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sent His disciples on ahead, dismissed the crowd, and climbed into the mountains to be alone with Father God. This is just one of numerous times that we read of Jesus going apart by Himself to pray. Even our Lord needed to have alone time with Father God. This particular time occurred between two noted miracles. He had just fed over five thousand people with a few loaves and a few fish, and He was about to walk on the water. Then two more miracles occurred; Jesus called Peter to walk to Him on the water, and then when Jesus climbed into the boat, the winds ceased and the sea calmed. WOW! What must His disciples have been thinking? Could there have been any doubt among them that Jesus was the Son of God?
I don’t know that I can expect results like this when I get apart from others and spend time alone with God in prayer, but I do know that I will have been greatly blessed and empowered to do the work assigned to me. Now it is up to me to make good use of the anointing I have received. Sometimes the anointing is given to me for the short term to help someone with an immediate problem, and sometimes the anointing is given for the longer term, something that may take planning and continued effort for a longer time. The important thing is that I not waste the anointing, “bury it in the sand,” but put it to the use intended by God. Then someone will be blessed by God through me, and I will have the spirit of joy for having been used by God. When I put it to the use God intended, He will bless it, His will will be accomplished, and He will be pleased.
Finding alone time with God in today’s world of tv, radio, cel phones, and computers is difficult. It often requires considerable effort, but it can be done. I find it easier to get alone with God in the great outdoors, where the only interruptions are caused by birds singing, streams gurgling, wind wafting through the trees, and maybe a distant rumble of thunder. These are what I call “God sounds,” and they enhance rather than interrupt my alone time with the one who created them. Perhaps you have a different set of requirements to get alone with God. Whatever you need to do to accomplish it will be worth it. I guarantee that when you make time to be alone with God, He will always be there. He is faithful!
0 Comments