Jesus Spent Time With The Father – Spending Time With God

Today we will take a look at some ways we can spend time with God by looking at the life of
one of the influential men that has walked on this earth. A man that had all the reasons to
say that He is too busy, but He didn’t. We are of course talking about Jesus himself. Simply
put: if Jesus spent time with the Father, we need to.

There is a saying that time is the money of our time, the thing we feel like we don’t have
enough of, the thing we struggle to manage and feel like it’s a big sacrifice for us to give up
any of. We want to use our time well, but I think most of us feel like time management is a
challenge. I pray that this text can be of inspiration for both me writing in and you reading it
to take some extra time with the Father this week. I think we all know that things tend to flow
better when we actually take that time.

I will not touch so much on Bible verses on spending time with God in general, we will mainly
look at the life of Jesus, but for some more resources you can read these texts:

10 Bible verses on spending time with God or Making time for God.

For now, let’s look at how Jesus did it.

1. Early in the morning
   
   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.
   Mark 1:35
   
   Here is an example of Jesus getting up early in the morning to pray. It says that He left the
   house to find a solitary place for prayer.
   Not all of us are morning people, I’m definitely not one of them, but there is something both
   beautiful and powerful about starting the day with God before the day gets busy. To get a
   good start and foundation to the day. It’s also a time to seek God’s guidance for the day and
   be prepared spiritually for what is to come. For the ones who are not a big fan or early
   mornings; maybe try to take one morning the upcoming week to get up a bit earlier, and
   maybe that will be the start of a new routine, to do it at least once a week.
   
2. Before making a big decision
   
   “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying toGod. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.”
   Luke 6:12-13
   
   Just before making one of his most important decisions, who should be his disciples Jesus prayed all night. If Jesus needed to seek the father like this, how much more are we in need of the same? So often we make quick decisions or we spend hours and hours trying to figure out what we should do.
   
   Let’s not forget that we have access to God, that has promised to be with us and guide us.
   We don’t need to make decisions alone, we can seek Him. Let’s follow the example of Jesus in this.
   
3. Together with His disciples
   
   “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,
   “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”
   Mark 6:31-32
   
   Our time with God and time of rest doesn’t always need to be alone, it can also be with a closer group of friends or family. To rest in His presence together and to recover strength.
   
   Maybe this could be something similar to a weekend retreat for your church, your small group or even your family?
   
   To not just spend time with God as an individual but also as a group and make that maybe a yearly habit to do.
   
4. In difficult times
   
   In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus had one of His most difficult times of his time on earth. He knew what was about to happen, he was going to the cross and at the same time take the sin of the whole world upon Him. This moment gave him so much anxiety so he was sweating blood.
   
   Jesus went to the Father for strength, He knew he needed it. He showed us an example of depending on the Father. Sometimes we think we need to have it all figured out before we go to God, but He doesn’t need our ready made plans, He is the one that can strengthen, comfort and bring light into the darkest moments. We can run to Him in the most difficult moments of our lives. He can take our honesty, He took the honesty of Jesus.
   
5. In the body of Christ
   
   Jesus lived a life surrounded by people and by doing that He showed us that if he did that, we should probably be doing the same. One way of spending time with God is in the simple company of other believers, maybe sharing a meal together. We are not meant to go through life alone, but we are also not meant to keep our faith as something that is only personal. We are part of the body of Christ and where two or three are gathered He is also there.

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matt 18:20

Matthew 18:20

What can we learn from this?

If we want to spend time with God – be where His people are
gathered! Together we can build each other up and share the joy it is to spend time with the
Father, as one big family in Christ.

I hope that these examples can be of inspiration in spending time with God. I know it’s not
always easy to find the time or the moment, or to be motivated to. In those times it’s also
good to remember that a little is better than none – maybe this week it’s one early morning
and next week a worship session in the car on the way to work.

Prayer:

Father, I need you. Thank you for the example Jesus gave me in seeking you. I want to seek
you and live guided by you. Help me find ways to do it in my daily life. I want to prioritize you
and to have you in the center. I also thank you for the family in Christ you have given me,
help me to find good people to share life with. Thank you for guiding me every day! Amen.