Alone with God
In this busy world in which we live we have been slowly but surely losing the sense of the presence of God.
When the Prodigal Son returned home the elder brother found fault with the generous reception given him by the father, and complained because there had not been given to him even so much as a kid with which to make merry with his friends, the father’s gracious answer was, “Son, thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine.”
It is as true to-day for us as then for him, even though we be rebellious, inconsistent and unfaithful God is with us, but for him to be with us is one thing, to realize his presence and practice it is quite another matter. I know of no way to recover that which we have lost other than to cultivate the practice of being more frequently alone with him.
It was when Moses was alone that he saw the 39 burning bush; when Jacob was alone that he was changed from the supplanter to Israel the Prince; when Joshua was alone that the angel of the Lord nerved him for battle; when Isaiah was alone that he beheld the vision which inspired him to service, when he said, Here am I, send me.” When Nicodemus was alone that the way of life was opened before him; when Paul was alone that he was caught up into the heavens; when Peter was alone that Jesus forgave him his wanderings. It was when John was alone that he saw golden streets and pearly gates, but best of all beheld the vision of him of whom he wrote saying, “I was in the spirit, and, behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne” (Revelation 4: 2). “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor, and power; for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4: 10, II).
We need to be more and more alone with him. “As much with him as with the world,” is the way the men of other days put it. Surely it was never more needed.
We need it for inspiration and refreshment. To be constantly giving out is to fail ultimately if the loss is not offset by gain; as in breathing we first breathe in then out, and breathe out in proportion to our breathing in, make all our effort to breathe in and breathe out without conscious effort. So it must be in our spiritual life. We must again and again breathe in of the very presence of God. We must learn to wait on the Lord to do this.
Take time to be holy,
Speak oft with thy Lord.”
We need it for instruction. God has a plan for every life and for every work. We would save ourselves from many mistakes, and often have much less work to undo did we but learn to wait upon him and say, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”
We shall have the sense of God’s presence in proportion as we shut the world out, and unless we have some place where we may frequently meet him we are deprived of blessing which comes in no other way.
Two rules certainly need to be observed.
First: Wait on the Lord, Do not hurry, better a moment of clear vision than an hour of meaningless prayer.
Second: Be still. Prayer is not always talking to God. It is very, very often Grod’s talking to us.
When we have the sense of his presence difficulties will vanish; when he is at our right hand we shall not be moved.
If I were asked to name the man in Scripture who had more practical difficulties to meet with than any other saint of God perhaps in the whole Bible, I should be inclined to say, Moses. He was leader, legislator, ruler, all in one. He had to say yes and no about everything for that multitude of people in the wilderness. How touching are his words, “How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?” (Deut. 1:12.) How did Moses get the wisdom and counsel he needed? It was through being always with God. I do not know an instance of close communion with God like that of Moses. His difficulties brought him constantly to God, and the consequence was that his difficulties were his blessings. Our crowns are made out of our crosses, and our triumphs out of our trials and tears. “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34: 10). Not in a similitude, or in a dream, but face to face. “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel” (Ps. 103:7). The children of Israel knew the acts, but Moses knew the ways behind the acts. He knew the why and the wherefore, he got into God’s secrets, he was always with God, he had no one else to go to. How could he have done anything without God? In the ninth of Numbers there is a striking instance of the way in which Moses hearkened unto the Spirit of God in an hour of difficulty. At the eighth verse we read that there was a practical difficulty which had never arisen before. There were certain men who had been defiled by a dead body, and thus had been prevented from keeping the Passover at the right time. They came to Moses and said, What are we to do under the circumstances? What did Moses say? Did Moses answer them out of his own head? He said just what you and I have to say, if we are to know the will of God. Moses said to them, Stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you “(ver. 8). Let us be still. Half our difficulties would disappear if we obeyed that one word, “Be still.” You are not silent enough to let God speak to you, you are too impatient, you are in such a hurry, you want to have it all settled directly, and put down in black and white, and done with. But God is never in a hurry — you must wait. “Wait,” wait, wait, “on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, wait I say upon the Lord.” I can recall times in my life when I have missed the way through not waiting, and I can recall times, many times, thank God, when by the grace of God I have found the way, and it has been always by waiting. “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28: 16). “He that hasteth with his feet sinneth” (Prov. 19: 2). We must take time. Be still, have a silence in your soul. “The words of the wise are heard in quiet” (Eccles. 9: 17).^
I «Thc Pattern P»ycr Book.”