Time Out
Bible Reading: Mark 6:45-56
He went up into the hills by himself to pray. Mark 6:46
YOUR YOUTH PASTOR might rant. Your parents may hand you a Bible and this devotional book! You might even have been hit with, “If Jesus needed to spend time alone with his Father, how much more do you need to spend time with God?”
Guess what? That’s the truth! See, there’s a definite link between Jesus’ powerful miracles and the hours he spent alone in prayer recharging his spiritual batteries. You might never walk on water, but you still need spiritual jolts.
Here is a simple plan for spending quality time with God:
- Get alone with God. Our noisy, pushy, in-your-face culture doesn’t make it easy to find a place to be alone with God. But if you think hard enough, you can discover a place where no one will disturb you. If you have a bedroom with privacy, use it to get alone with God. If you share a room with a brother or sister, look for another place-a storage room, attic, garage, or basement. When you get alone with God, get comfortable so you can concentrate. If you fall asleep when you pray lying down, walk around the room. If you’re uptight when you sit, lie down and relax. Kneeling might put you in the right frame of mind when you need to talk to God about something serious.
- Talk to God. Just talk to him as if he were sitting alongside you. Tell him about your anger, frustration, happiness, thankfulness, anything, everything. You can even say, “Lord, I don’t feel like talking to you today, but I will because I know it’s good for me.” How you talk isn’t as important as how honest you are. If talking to God bores you, it’s time to find a different way to communicate with him. You can write God a letter, sing him a song, or read Scripture to him. Use your imagination.
- Let God talk to you. If you give God the chance, he will talk to you. Not out loud, perhaps, but through the Bible and through your thoughts and ideas. The Bible is the main way God talks to you today. Make a point to tell God that you want to hear what he has to say to you. Then read a few verses during your quiet time and mull over them for a while. Listen to some Christian music, read a solid Christian book or magazine, or just ponder what God has done.
God probably won’t ask you to heal crowds like Jesus did. But God has plans for you, and you will be ready for those plans each day after some quiet time with God.
REFLECT: What changes might give you better times alone with God?
PRAY: God, use the times we talk together to get me ready for the cool things you have for me to do.