Pursue intimacy through solitude

Take a moment each day to withdraw from the busyness of life and spend time alone with God. Just you and your Savior, getting intimate with each other. This is the spiritual discipline of solitude.

The 21st Century Christian finds this notoriously difficult. He is constantly distracted by an immense number of entertainments that gnaw at his consciousness. James 4:4-7 identifies three major obstacles to getting closer to God: love for the ways of the world, pride that makes us believe we don't need God, and the Devil who deceives us into thinking God does not love us. Nothing can be further from the truth. God longs to draw near to us. James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

God's grace allows us to see our sinfulness—wherever and whenever we aligned ourselves with the values of the world. God's grace allows us to humble ourselves and ask God for forgiveness. God's grace allows us to draw near to Him. God promised, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). God knows your heart. If you sincerely long for Him, you will have intimacy with Him. It takes grace.

Many times in Jesus' earthly life He practiced solitude. He withdrew from the crowds to spend time alone with God. He spent the very first hours of His day in prayer alone with His Father (Mark 1:32-38). He directed His life according to His Father's commands.

"In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice. In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch" (Psalm 5:3). Susanna Wesley, mother of more than ten children, found a creative way to find solitude of life. In the midst of motherhood and housework, she retreats into the kitchen, pulls her apron over head, and spends time with God! Knowing God intimately is eternal life (John 17:3). In Hosea 6:6, it's as if God intimates a secret Himself: "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea rallies us in verse 3: "So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD." Make intimacy with God your primary goal in life.

There are many benefits to practising solitude. Any trial brings you closer to God and becomes a blessing. And you recognize that any blessing that might draw you farther away from God becomes a curse. In 1 Samuel 30, David faced a difficult trial. He clung to God and found strength in Him. He found the strength to ask God for directions, to carry them out, and to lead his band of soldiers to do the same. "The people who know their God will display strength and take action" (Daniel 11:32). People who know their God become strong because they are dependent upon the Lord. Quiet time is not a luxury. It is their means of survival.

Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). God longs to spend time with you. To sit down you, sip a little wine, and talk about anything and everything about life. Will you let Him in your heart?

Pursue intimacy with God

What is your life's pursuit? To answer that question, examine your schedule. What activity do you devote more time to than anything else? David's pursuit is intimacy with the Lord. In Psalm 27, amidst war and many troubles, he wrote, "One thing I have asked from the Lord: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple." The reward David longed for was God Himself.

David knew this truth: when you have God, you have everything. The opposite is also true: when you don't have God, you have nothing. Are you scrambling up the corporate ladder? Are you bent on the pursuit of your career goals? The apostle Paul once pursued the top of the religious positions, until he learned that nothing was more important than intimacy with God (Philippians 3:8).

Inside each person is an emptiness—a soul appetite. You will want to fill that emptiness, but instead of asking God to satisfy you, you tend to grab at the "good things of life" like riches, busy-ness, relationships, (Luke 14:18-20, Mark 4:19). But these won't be enough. Only God can fully satisfy. "This is eternal life," asserts John 17:3, "that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

True Christianity is knowing God intimately. The result is a deep and growing trust in God; a transformation where everything the Christian does flows out of his love for the Lord Jesus. The evidence that you are indeed a true Christian is a hunger and passion for God. The Christian knows that life is all about God, and not about him (Colossians 1:16).

Man's chief aim is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God loves you. He wants to hold hands with you as you walk together through the journey of life. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8). Pursue intimacy with God.

One way we pursue intimacy with God is through prayer and fasting. But why fast and pray? First Timothy 4:7 tells us, "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." We do not fast or pray for the sake of fasting and praying, but for godliness. Richard Foster pointed out, "More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us." We realize what our compulsions are. And we realize our deep need of God.

This is seen in the life of King Jehoshaphat. When he was surrounded by his enemies, he cried out to God (2 Chronicles 20). In his helplessness, he sought the Lord. "Prayer and helplessness are inseparable," said O. Hallesby. "Only the one who is helpless can truly pray. Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas."

God spoke to Jehoshaphat. "Do not fear... for the battle is not yours but God's" (v. 15). Don't fight. Stand and see my salvation. I AM with you. God does not speak louder when we fast. But we begin to hear Him better.

"O taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" the 34th Psalm sings with a promise. "They who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing."

When we pray and fast to draw near to God, He draws nearer to us, and we enjoy our fellowship with Him. Soon your heart will testify: "Thou will make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever" (Psalms 16:11).