In The Secret

What's the secret to a successful yet intimate relationship with God? How do you know His will and purpose for you? In a simplistic manner, I share the common practice of Jesus in His life on earth

Luke 5:16; 6:12

What does it take to make a man of great faith? I believe the answer to that lies in this profound verse; “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Wow! Our Lord had quiet times! He saw the need to spend time alone with His Father even though He was perfect! What a great example Jesus set for us.

At a time when His popularity went before Him, nothing could take the place of time spent with His Father. So why was it so important to Jesus that He spent time with His Father?

There must have been countless reasons but I will only highlight a few key ones.

1. For Spiritual strength and stamina

Jesus was great in power and strength which was evidenced by the miracles He performed. Nevertheless, He still withdrew to be with the Father. He knew that the source of His strength was His Father and He was not about to stop spending time with Him just because He moved in power.

2. For direction

Due to His miraculous works, there was pressure coming in from all directions demanding Him to go there, to do this and that. Jesus understood that if He did not regularly check in with the Father, He would lose track. He needed to be with His Father so He could go in line with His Father’s plan and not the plans of men.

3. For wisdom

Jesus was frequently laid for traps by the Pharisees. They often would try to entrap Jesus but they could not because Jesus was full of wisdom that He got from spending time alone with His Father.

4. For communion/closeness

There was only one way to draw close to the Father though they were one. It was in withdrawing from the crowd into the lonely places where God was. Jesus valued the time He spent with His Father. I would imagine Him having thoughts of longingness in the course of the day to be with His Father.

5. To fulfill His purpose

In order to do that which His Father had sent Him to do, Jesus had to hear what His Father was telling Him which was only through quiet times. I believe God the Father laid out the specifics of the mission of Jesus on earth through the times they spent together alone. Jesus heard the voice of His Father most clearly during times spent with the Father.

6. To bring glory to God

The ultimate desire of Jesus was to bring glory to His Father and we see He did in the prayer He made recorded in John 17.

He realized that glory to God His Father was only going to be through spending time with Him in prayer apart from the rest of the world.

Jesus success in His mission was all because of the times He spent with His Father in prayer and alone with Him.

We too should emulate Jesus’ example of quiet times with God. You will never achieve anything great for God apart from Him, you need to take Him with you everywhere, make Him a part of everything and that is only possible through those silent moments spent with Him.

How else will you evaluate your walk with Him? It is only through those quiet times. It is good practice if you desire to grow in the grace of God. So make it your point today if you do not have quiet times, make it your top priority to spend time with God in the secret.