Alone with God

HERSEY HAWKINS is one of the best scorers in the history of American university basketball. At first no one thought the NBA was his place, but his mother wouldn't let him give up. He didn't like having to get up early and train hard, or travel, etc.

After he made a decision to follow the Lord Jesus, he began to understand what it meant to be happy in all circumstances, even when he had to train alone in the gym for hours. He became one of the best players for Philadelphia, and later the Charlotte Hornets.

The greatest rewards are always won alone in training and during those never-ending practices. Something very similar happens in our Christian life: time alone with God is the secret. Notice that I said "time". In the same way that no-one would expect to win an important game with only a few minutes of training a day, we have no right to think that our Christian life will go well if we spend only a few minutes a day alone with God.

We have spoken and sung so many times about the importance of spending a few minutes with God, that now we may have the impression that that is all we need. That is not completely correct. We can't discern his plans for us in a conversation of a few seconds. We can't tell him about our life in a matter of moments. We need to spend time alone with our God. We need to talk to him.

The Lord Jesus is an example for us. Before making any decision in his life, he always did the same thing: he would slip away to a quiet place to pray. Sometimes it took all night! And he was God himself, in the form of a man. If he needed that time alone in prayer, how much more do we! When things get difficult, we need to pray to God. When we are unsure of the future, we need to talk to him. When something very important is going on in our lives, we need his insight. When we tell someone about the Lord, we need to ask him to draw that person to himself. AT ALL TIMES we need to talk with God. 

Just one more thing. Understand well that I am talking about praying and having a conversation with God. I am not speaking of memorised prayers that come to have no meaning. Nor am I referring to those clichés that we always add before and after our prayers. Some people waste their time when they pray; they might just as well record a tape of themselves praying and play it daily, for they always say the same thing. No, to pray is to have a conversation with God, to be sincere and transparent before him. To pray is to open our hearts to God. To pray is to talk with the Best Friend we have, our Father, our Protector, our Helper, our Refuge, our intimate Lover, our Creator. He is always listening. There's only one secret to gain the victory - time alone with God. What are we waiting for?