It is good for us to have more quality “alone time” with our beloved Heavenly Savior. We can do this by having more of our prayer time with Him, completely on our own, separated from all those around us and in the complete privacy of our own hearts.
I am of course referring to a much more private way of having prayer time than what many people are probably used to. Sadly, this is not happening as much as it could. Now days, a lot of Christians seem to prefer having their prayer time together with others. Remember, Jesus often prayed on His own when He was still on this earth, when in serious need of being close to His Heavenly Father.
It is probably fair to say that over the years, strong emphasis has been placed on having personal prayer time with others in groups or gatherings of some sort. And maybe not enough was done to show us how rewarding it actually is when we learn to do this all on our own, where there is just you and the Lord in very private prayer.
Don’t get me wrong, having prayer time with others is an important experience for all concerned, and it is an excellent way of getting started with a person’s walk with the Lord. But there are times when it is just as important for us to learn the value of having more of our prayer time completely alone, and away from everyone else. If you have always conducted your prayer time together with others, and have little or no experience praying on your own, take time pray by yourself and you will soon come to realize that this is a wonderfully intimate and rewarding way of having your time with the Lord.
Jesus Himself said in 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.”
There is no mistake, Jesus has made it clear that we are to conduct our prayer time in a private and personal manner and to do it out of sight of all others. To do this properly you have to be able to separate yourself from all those around you just as Jesus did, when He deliberately isolated Himself from the multitudes for a period of time—so He could humbly pray and be with His beloved Father in heaven.
We can do the same by finding a nice quiet spot somewhere, either in nature or in a quiet location of our own choosing far removed from all others; where there is only you and silence before Him, or the sounds of nature softly in the background, so you can spend your precious time exclusively with the Lord in very private prayer.
By having these particularly useful and timely separations from all those around us, we can personally gain so much through supplication, prayer and praise. Even a quiet or remote room located nearby will do, just so long as you can secure it for this worthy purpose, with absolutely no interruptions or disturbances of any sort.
By the way, that also means no computers and no phones my friends; no devices at all while you are deep in prayer with Him. You must have everything turned off, or better still, don’t have them anywhere near you while you are praying and spending time with the Lord Jesus. Please respect the sanctity of your special time with Him by having your electronics switched off. Even in movie theatres or where live theatrical performances take place we are asked to put all devices on a silent mode for the duration of the event.
Your own personal time with the Lord Jesus is far more important than any play or movie being shown, so please don’t disrespect Him by having any of these devices go off during your precious time with Him. Remember, your full attention is required.
If you have already been transformed by the incredible blood-bought sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, then this should be your goal in life anyway, to spend as much time as you possibly can with Him in the privacy of your own heart. To be able to take in all that He wants to impart to you through these special and intimate moments in prayer—can be a wonderfully rewarding personal experience.
You only need to look at how Jesus handled Himself when He was here on earth. Once again my friends, He has always been a shining example to all of us, of how we should live our lives on this earth—in full view of heaven and all who occupy it.
Please read your Bibles and renew your hearts about everything written about this extraordinary individual, who willingly accepted the sins of the entire world upon His shoulders, in His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead—so that we would all be able to walk happily with Him and our beloved Heavenly Father for all eternity.
The Bible tells us that Jesus quite often deliberately separated Himself from the multitudes for periods of time so He could clear His mind and gain strength from reconnecting with His Heavenly Father (in the solitude of nature), and in very private and personal prayer.
He also did this to get rest from the fatigues of preaching, from healing diseases, casting out demons, raising the dead and to catch a break from being around certain men who were constantly trying to trick Him or influence Him—or catch Him out in some particular way for their own agenda by using skillfully eloquent words.
I imagine this was of course emotionally draining for Him, having to constantly put up with this mischievous and provocative side of humanity. But He knew and accepted that this was something that He had to go through in order to fulfill His Father’s will.
These crafty men specialized in artfully subtle and shrewd speech; with gifted words they tried to catch Him out. Their goal was to publically shame Him before all those who looked on. They clearly failed because Jesus verbally outwitted them. He knew full well that He was being publically tested by those cunning individuals who sought to embarrass Him, and catch Him out in a mistake by a slip of the tongue.
He responded to them with stunning wisdom, incredible patience and bold honesty. He spoke with heavenly inspired speech that had them silenced on many occasions. Jesus possessed an unrivalled personal knowledge of the Scriptures leaving the Scribes and Pharisees (these learned men of the Law) often speechless.
He did it all so convincingly both before the people and before His beloved Heavenly Father. This amazing individual called Jesus, spoke directly from His heart, to fulfill God’s will.
While we are talking about the “heart” there may be some that don’t fully understand exactly what it means when the Bible talks about the heart of an individual. It is not talking about our physical hearts, organs that pump blood around the body every day to keep us alive.
No, it is actually speaking of something entirely different that is only visible to “heavenly eyes.” Eyes that watch us from their lofty and majestic vantage point; eyes that are penetrating and see everything in great detail.
Our hearts make us uniquely special and instantly recognizable before the Lord. Mere mortals cannot look directly into a person’s heart as He can. The heart has equal capacity to hold and cherish the Light and all its goodness in Christ, as well as hold and cherish the darkness and all its evil in Satan.
Typically, our hearts include having a conscience of their own, and also free will; so we can decide for ourselves and make up our own minds about all sorts of things. Everything that is in each heart is clearly visible to Him, whereas we mere mortals only see the outside appearances and mannerisms of others; and sometimes we will make hasty judgments based on our observations of the people that we encounter.
These “limited” observations of ours will only include the very basics, the character of that person and all the different emotions that are visible to us. These are merely the outward visible manifestations that we see when we converse with one another.
So please keep in mind that when we look, observe and make judgments of our own about others, we are not, by any stretch of the imagination seeing the full picture at all. If you could actually see what our Heavenly Father can see when He looks into some of the hearts of those that walk freely amongst us, you would be both shocked and horrified. It would be so terrible that you would close your eyes, and turn away immediately.
Many people have dark secrets that are well hidden in their hearts. They thrive and flourish in the depths of their wickedness; these are indeed the children of the evil one—Satan. These hypocrites are those who secretly hold and cherish the darkness that is in their hearts and lead double lives. They could potentially be anyone, both small and great, especially those who stand on public platforms of rebuking evil, family values and God. They might be pastors, politicians, comedians, professing Christians and the like. So remember, nobody can see into a person’s heart as the Lord can, so please don’t always believe what you see.
Make it a strong point to seek out the Holy One—Jesus, to hold and protect you and your loved ones from all the darkness that is out there, much of which is well-hidden from us. This is precisely the reason why we need to dedicate more of our prayer time toward being entirely on our own with Him, so we can be personally enriched in our hearts.
If you are still unsure about how to do this on your own, all you have to remember is that Jesus values sincerity, honesty and humility from His loved ones. It is actually much easier than you might realize, to share how you really feel in your heart with Him. You can take in all that He is, and everything that He wants you to be in the privacy of your own heart. This is the glorious reality of getting to know the Lord all on your own.
You don’t always have to talk out loud with words to Him, just say them privately inside your heart. Jesus can see and hear everything that has happened to you in your life at a single glance. Believe me, He is quite capable of doing all of this and much more. Because where He sits is next to our beloved Heavenly Father, upon His lofty throne high above all His creation, at the very summit of the heavens where there are no secrets, where nothing is hidden and all is laid bare before Him.
That’s right, He can see it all, so it would be best if you accepted this right now, and know in your heart that you could never be successful in hiding anything from Him. To hold back or hide anything from Jesus is really very silly. By doing that, you are not showing Him any respect at all, and you don’t ever want to go down that wrong path. If you sincerely love Him, you would not even think about doing anything like that.
You must learn to be an open book with Him right from the very start, and He will reward you according to your level of sincerity, honesty and humility—which you show Him in your heart. Give Him the respect that He deserves and you will never regret it.
It is also important to ask Jesus to refresh your heart on a regular basis so that certain bad habits that plagued you before you knew Him, and were so graciously taken away by Him not so long ago, do not creep back into your life and start causing havoc again.
Some who read this will know exactly what I am referring to.
For most people, these habits are very well-hidden and powerfully entrenched in their lives. For some it is a constant battle to get rid of them. It is when a person finally realizes that he or she is outmatched and unable to get rid of their dark habits on their own (and need the Lord’s personal intervention), then their lives can be healed.
When people realize that Jesus finally removed the vices that have plagued them they are relieved and grateful. So, if you too, don’t ever want to see your vices back again, seek Him out right now for His all important “refreshing of the heart.” And do this regularly so you can be free at last of all satanically-inspired “bad habits.”
Many will deny that they even have a problem. They stick their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge that their bad habits exist. But this will not make them go away. These problems can be small or great, and will eventually become like concrete in their lives.
The noxious and destructive personal habits that have a powerful stranglehold on their lives will continue to flourish and grow in strength like poisonous mushrooms. And they will become even more deeply rooted, in the darkness of their own denial. These people might even start to say to themselves that they are not hurting anyone but with each passing day will continue to be bound in chains by their constant denial.
They have to start being honest with themselves, and realize that they have serious problems and that they won’t go away without the Lord’s personal intervention.
Self-honesty is the very first step for them if they want to be personally healed and released from the tight grip of sin that holds them mercilessly. They must first fully acknowledge this before Jesus, and they must do this wholeheartedly so they can finally get relief. All of us must acknowledge in our hearts that Jesus is the only One who can help us.
Also, ask Jesus for His strong and unwavering protection from the evil one—Satan, who if given half a chance would pick your life clean like a South American piranha. This is the harsh reality of the evil one and this world, who would do destroy any one of us if he could, so please sincerely seek out the Lord Jesus with all your heart and soul. Ask for His powerful protection, for you and your loved ones.
When in prayer don’t just quote random words, phrases or sentences which you might have read or heard somewhere, for all you will be doing is just repeating phrases without meaning a single word of it. This is called random mutterings or vain repetitions.
Just think, if some people ever spoke to you like that and kept repeating the same things over and over again and without meaning a single word of it, wouldn’t you get bored pretty quickly having to listen to something like that? With no sincerity at all from the heart, I’m sure that none of us would ever enjoy being spoken to in that manner.
Well, this is exactly how Jesus would feel, having to listen to this sort of thing being directed toward Him in a prayer. Without any feeling or meaning or substance from the heart, it is a complete waste of valuable prayer time and is very disrespectful to Him.
So please, make sure you really mean what you say to Him in your prayers. Do it all with complete sincerity, honesty and humility before His face, directly from your heart.
Remember, Jesus lived on this earth, too. He personally experienced the same things that we go through every day—the highs and the lows. He knows exactly how hard it is to be human and live on this earth under the incredibly punishing weight of sin.
This is especially true when we are having some sort of trouble in our lives. It could be in times of strife; in times of personal grief; in times of loneliness; in times of physical or emotional pain; in times of financial stress. There are in fact a whole host of valid reasons why we need to rely totally upon Him every day of our lives.
While on earth Jesus spoke openly of the caring, compassionate and understanding side of Almighty God (having first hand personal knowledge). He introduced us to a side of the Heavenly Father that we can genuinely relate to, and fully embrace in our hearts. A side that the Scribes and Pharisees were clearly unable to convey to all those who desperately needed to hear what Jesus said. They needed be comforted by His knowledge. Jesus also told us that when we see Him, we are seeing the Heavenly Father as well.
When you are having trouble in your life, when you are going through some incredibly difficult times, you might be unsure whether you will be able to make it or not. In these very difficult circumstances, you must inevitably return to the One who cares so very deeply for you, so you can gain all His strength, love and peace for yourself.
Once again, we would not even know about any of this if it were not for our beloved Lord Jesus informing us about these wonderful qualities. He came to the people and spent His time amongst them, showing them in simple and easy to understand language how to conduct themselves before heaven, and He did this with much love and patience in His heart because He understood the needs of the people.
This clearly resonated with all those who heard Him at the time. The people went absolutely crazy when they heard that He was coming their way. The multitudes could not get enough of Jesus as He passed through their local villages.
Of course they had their own reasons for wanting to see Him, and to hear Him speak on a whole range of important issues that affected them directly. And also to touch Him, and to be totally healed by Him as he uttered simple verbal commands.
I mean, wouldn’t you, if you heard that the most compassionate and understanding soul who ever to walk this earth was going to pass through your local area this very day? (And with freely available gifts of healings and casting out demons, raising the dead, with powerful words of love, wisdom, mercy and forgiveness, direct from Almighty God.)
Everywhere the people looked, as far as their eyes could see there was nothing but a totally uncaring world that surrounded them; the occupying armies of the Roman Empire and the religious leaders of the time who never really amounted to much, anyway.
Then one day word came that an extraordinary individual was coming their way. Someone absolutely nothing like the religious leaders or the Roman soldiers; an individual who sincerely cares for the people and their daily suffering, who speaks openly and honestly from His heart to all who desire to hear Him — about all sorts of important personal issues that directly affect them (both spiritually and otherwise).
The people in the villages and towns instantly recognized that this was somebody who knew exactly what He was talking about, and was not like the Scribes and Pharisees. He came offering freely available gifts of love, understanding, compassion and incredible words of wisdom. He cast out demons, performed physical and emotional healings (raising the dead); all of which were absolutely surprising and never seen or heard of before.
The multitudes found that this humble individual genuinely understood them and felt their pain every day, and was very easy to approach for all who desired to see Him. Today, His words and actions also resonate strongly with us as well when we read our Bibles, and also in faith through seeking Him out in our prayers all on our own.
Learn to share everything with the Lord Jesus; all your successes, all your worries, all your fears; all your mistakes, your concerns for family and friends, your physical or emotional pain, your financial stress. He wants to be your Rock and your Salvation.
You will quickly come to realize, like many of us who already depend on Him on a regular basis, that He is the most compassionate, most loving and understanding soul that you could ever hope to meet. No one else even comes close.
If you learn to personally seek Him out on your own, and make Him your priority every single day of your new life, He will be there for you. He will be your guiding strength and your comfort through all sorts of personal tragedies, trials and tribulations that you might be going through now or at some point in the future.
Get used to talking with the Lord Jesus privately in your heart, especially in the good times (because everybody knows that we need help in the bad times), that is expected. He is also there watching over us when we have good things happening in our lives.
For example, when we accept Him as our Savior, when we find love, when we get our first job, when our children are born, when they walk and talk for the first time, Jesus is there for all of those occasions, smiling with us and glad that we are happy.
You will come to understand that He is our ultimate prize, for everything that we could possibly need for our personal happiness and fulfillment; for all our physical needs; for our eternal life and strength through the toughest times imaginable in this life.
Picture Jesus next to you, just as a child in tears is being embraced by a loved one. He will hold and comfort you, as well. You will come to understand that He is the warm, loving and comforting Light that will come to you in your darkest and bleakest hours when you need Him the most.
He will sustain you, He will nurture you, He will guide you, He will strengthen you, He will comfort you, and He will pick you up when you make mistakes, and we all make mistakes, don’t we? Yes, we must be totally honest about all of this and admit the truth. It is extremely comforting to know that He still cares for us, despite all our failings.
He is our Good Shepherd. He is our beloved Heavenly Redeemer. He is our glorious Liberator. He is our magnificent Savior at Calvary. He is our wonderful Deliverer. He is our amazing heavenly Mediator between Almighty God and Man, and He is the King of kings. For us to be able to revere Him every day is indeed our wonderful privilege.
Please learn to love and embrace this extraordinary individual with all your heart and soul, and it will be the greatest accomplishment of your life.
These words on this page were put together sincerely with love for you to read and embrace, and to educate those who don’t know how simple it is to know the Lord Jesus, to have Him in their lives.
Finally this question must be asked: Which one does your heart embrace? The Light and all its goodness in Christ, or the darkness and all its evil in Satan?
It is sincerely hoped that your heart shall be fervently full of light in Christ, our Lord.
God Bless.