Mark 1:35: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

The purpose of your new found faith in Christ is to keep you connected to God. Jesus the Son would repeatedly separate himself from the company of his disciples and the crowds to do just that. He would go off to a quiet place to pray. As a follower of Christ every believer must do the same.  There can be no growth in a relationship where there is no communication.

The reaction of the disciples to this habit of Jesus is so interesting. They would go looking for him and exclaim: “Everyone is looking for you!” Of course they are! (Men you can make your own list, but here I’m partial to women). I know the drill. Everyone in your household needs you to know where every item of his/her clothing for the day is; the children need to be fed and need help getting dressed and their lunches packed; you must remember to pull something from the freezer for dinner, and to top it all off there were 3 e-mails from the boss overnight!!!

So when is there time to get alone with God? Early in the morning! As a working Mom, my time was between 5 and 5:30 a.m.  It was tough at times, because I rarely got to bed before 11p.m. But it made the difference in the quality of my days if I would meet with my Father first. Evenings or lunch time work better for you? Then by all means! One possibility is to do an inventory of how you spend your time now. Is there an activity of little benefit that you can curtail or eliminate?  Just make the time to read the Bible and meditate on what you read – it is food for your soul. Let the characters come alive in your imagination – see how God dealt with ordinary people. Pray for insight and understanding as you read. Confess your failings and ask to be forgiven, ask for strength and for wisdom from the Holy Spirit to guide you throughout the day. Lay out before God everything that is causing you pain or anxiety.  God delights in full disclosure.  Soon you will begin to view your circumstances in new light and come to realize that your God is with you.