But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. –Luke 5:16 (New International Version)

Jason M. Alexandre, Voices Against the Grain Devotional Writer

To have a strong life, prayer must become a daily discipline. Spending time in prayer alone with God is essential for our faith to grow, for us to be confident, and to have a clear direction in our lives. Jesus made it a point during his earthly ministry to get in solitude and pray. Many people will say “I don’t have time to pray. I’ve got to do this and that. There’s this deadline and that appointment.”

What could be more important than talking to your Heavenly Father? He knows exactly how your day will go more than you do. Truthfully, there will be no time for prayer if you don’t make time for prayer. Jesus was often by himself, alone, talking to the Father. The scripture says that he “withdrew to lonely places,” but Jesus wasn’t alone. He spent quality, intimate time with the Father away from earthly people. It’s extremely important for us to be strong spiritually.

We need to draw from the Father inexhaustible resources of love, wisdom, and power. We see again in the book of Matthew after Jesus demonstrated a miraculous sign by feeding five thousand people, he made a conscious choice to then separate himself from the crowds and his disciples. For the Bible says, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”–Matthew 14:22-23.

One may ask, “Why is it necessary for me to withdraw from people to be alone with God? I feel fine spiritually and emotionally, I can pray wherever I am.”

Well friend, while you may feel fine, you are missing out on building a deeper relationship with God. Spending time with him alone is how we cultivate our relationship with Him. We are the only creations made in His very image.-Genesis 1:27 An image of spirit and soul. He created us in order to reveal His love and truthfulness to us. “God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth.”-John 4:24

Friend, I want to encourage you that if you don’t have a prayer room or a secret place where you can fellowship with God, find one today. I promise you it will radically change your life and you will know your Heavenly Father in a way you have never known Him before. If you’re at work, find a place there. Wherever you are, it doesn’t matter. God wants you alone, no people, no iphones, no ipads, or laptops—just you and Him. To have the experience of the one and only sovereign God, getting alone with him consistently is part of it. God bless you. Amen.

-Jason M. Alexandre

About Jason M. Alexandre

Jason Melchizedek Alexandre was born on November 29, 1989 in Brooklyn, New York. However, at two years old he and his family moved to Philadelphia, PA. Later, Jason moved to Limerick, PA where he now resides. Jason is currently working toward obtaining his Master of Social Work degree at Widener University. Although Jason’s career is Social Work, his spiritual passion is missions. Jason believes in actively answering the great commission call Jesus gave all Christians for the gospel to be spread from nation to nation. On a yearly basis, Jason primarily goes to Haiti on a mission trip with Haiti Christianity Inc. Each year Haiti Christianity visits different cities and/or villages in Haiti bringing children educational supplies, clothes, and medical supplies. They also facilitate conferences in which bible study, budgeting tips, financial planning and most importantly evangelization takes place. Jason is currently their public relations director. Jason’s vision is for the gospel to continue to be spread throughout the world and believes it is Christian’s responsibility to carry out this mission effectively.