As you deal with the busyness of everyday life, your daily list of things you have to get done may seem overwhelming. Depending on your responsibilities, it may seem like you don’t enough hours in the day to get everything done and still find time to sleep. While life can certainly be busy, it is still crucial that we spend time with God every day. Yes, God is everywhere, and He walks with us anywhere that we go. However, it is still crucial that we carve time out of our busy schedules to truly seek the presence and the power of God. There are plenty of Biblical examples of men and women who sought the presence of God and reaped the benefits of doing so. We can learn from those examples and apply their principles to our own lives.
Moses was Transformed by God’s Presence
Exodus 33-34 In chapters 33 and 34 of the Book of Exodus, we find Moses leading the children of Israel through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Exodus 33:11 says that when the Spirit of God was at the door of the tent during the day, the Lord would speak to Moses “face to face, like a man speaks to his friend.” Even after talking with God daily and seeing His mighty works that delivered the children of Israel, Moses recognized the need for one-on-one time with God. Moses was pretty busy with everything he had going on in his life, but he still wanted to find the time to be alone with God.
God will always honor the request of His people who want to get closer to Him. That is why God told Moses that He would bring him to the top of the mountain and hide him in a cave. Once Moses was hidden away, God would pass by the place, cover the crevice with His hand and allow Moses to see His back, since anyone who saw God’s face immediately fell dead. God held true to His word (as always), and Moses got to experience a fresh interaction with God and His glory.
By the time Moses came down from that mountain, he was completely transformed. In fact, the Bible says that Moses’ face was shining, and he didn’t even realize it (Exodus 34:29). Aaron and the other leaders were so blinded by the shining face of Moses that they had to put a veil over him! That interaction set a new precedence for Moses’ alone time with God. When he would go for his time with God, he would remove the veil. But when he came back from communing with God, all of Israel knew where he had been because his face was glowing again (Exodus 34:34).
Spending time with God had a way of changing people. No, you may not come out of your living room with your face shining so bright that your family has to put a veil on you, but you and the people around you will begin seeing a difference. The man or woman of God who spends time with God experiencing His glory will experience a change. Spending time with God allows you to focus more on His goodness than on your current situations. That’s why doing so is such an important part of a Christian’s life.
What Does Time with God Look Like?
The answer to this question is probably different for each one of us. Depending on your work schedule and other factors, your “free time” may come early in the morning or it could be late at night after the kids are all tucked into bed and the house is quiet for the first time in hours. Whenever the opportunity to quietly commune with God makes itself available in your life is the right time to do it.
It’s a great idea to put on some worship music when you have your alone time with God. Psalm 22:3 teaches us that “God inhabits the praise of His people.” Getting yourself into a state of worship invites God to come and communicate with you. We are constantly bombarded with news, social media, music and all sorts of other communications. Put some worship music on and really begin to think about the words. Allow yourself to become more focused on God’s goodness and faithfulness than you are on your own problems and the list of things you need to get done.
Secondly, spend some time in prayer. It is important to understand that prayer isn’t just an opportunity to tell God everything that you need. While we are encouraged to “make our requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6), we are also admonished to do that “with thanksgiving.” Allow your prayer time to focus more on thanking God for every good thing in your life. In Exodus 33 and 34, Moses didn’t simply tell God about how the people were complaining about their wilderness wandering. Instead, he praised God through prayer! During your alone time with God, speak directly to God and thank Him for His faithfulness in every aspect of your life.
God’s Word is one of the ways the He communicates with His children. Whenever you enjoy your alone time with God, spend some time really reading His word. More importantly, allow God’s word to speak to you. Hebrews 4:12 teaches us that “the word of God is living and active.” That means that when you open your Bible, or your Bible app, God is able to show you something that is applicable to your life in that moment! Just like Moses received a revelation straight from God, you and I can receive the same thing from His word.
Life is busy. In fact, there are times that life is downright chaotic. However, God still wants to spend time with you every day. Maybe the only time you get any peace and quiet is during your commute to work. Take advantage of that time to pray, listen to worship music and listen to an audio version of the Bible. God doesn’t require you to climb up on a mountain and hide in a cave to see His glory; He is willing to meet with you wherever you are.
Pray the following prayer if you are looking for some alone time with God:
Lord, you know exactly how busy my life is. You have blessed me with a job to go to, a family to care for and friends who I enjoy spending time with. However, I know that I still need time with you every day. Your word says, “as the deer pants for water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). God, I need time with you every day. I’m asking you to show me opportunities where I can experience you like Moses did on the mountain. I want to spend time with you in a way that causes the people around me to notice it. Direct me God to take advantage of opportunities during the day to worship You, talk to You and read Your word. In Christ’s name I ask these things, Amen!