Being With God

Stop

Take a deep breath right now. Slowly in and slowly out. Take a couple more.

Listen

Matthew 14:23 And after he had dismissed them, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Reflect

Jesus lived a life of action. He was constantly moving from village to village, healing the sick, casting out demons, confronting the oppressive power structures. It must have been exhausting.

Then we come across a verse like this. The crowd that he dismissed was the 5,000+ people that he fed with five loaves and two fish. That must have been a stressful, long day. 

Notice what Jesus does. He doesn’t collapse and take a nap. He doesn’t plop on the couch and scroll through Netflix.

He goes to the mountain to pray. Jesus does this regularly throughout his ministry. He began his ministry with 40 days of solitude in the wilderness. He snuck away to be alone with God on a regular basis. He ended his ministry pleading with God in the garden.

If Jesus, the Word of God incarnate, needed to take time to be alone with God in prayer, then, perhaps we do, too.

In Thursday’s devotional we watched a video on how to spend a quiet time with God. It consists of finding a quiet place to breathe deeply and get centered. Then it consists of:

Trust: Rest in the fact that God is with you and for you.

Investigate: Read scripture to give your mind and spirit something to chew.

Meditate: Chew on what you just read. Let it soak in. Breathe deeply and ask God to speak through words and connect it to daily life.

Express Yourself: Do something that will allow you to actively respond to the scripture. The most basic thing to do is to pray. Talk to God about the text. You might try journaling about it, or expressing your thoughts in a creative way.

Pray

Gracious God, help us to follow Jesus’ example and find time to be with you each day.

Carry On

Before you go into your world of DOing, may you take some time to BE in God’s presence today.