Alone With God

This really resonates with me. I think it's because I'm trying to have more meaningful prayers and better communication and connection with God. 

Meaningful time alone with Him - to me this means more than a quick prayer when I'm tired at the end of the day or rushed at the beginning of the day. This is focused, deliberate conversation with a loved one, with someone who knows and loves me beyond my ability to comprehend. It means spending enough time that I can truly feel I'm with God, not just saying hello on my way to somewhere or someone else. 

It takes time, focus, and concentration to be able to feel I'm with Him. I like the comments from Desmond Tutu on this. He's talking about his evolving relationship with God. 

"'I am learning to shut up more in the presence of God.'  One model of prayer, he acknowledges, is that 'you have a kind of shopping list that you bring to God.' But more and more for him, he says, communion with God is about 'trying to grow, in just being there. ..Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire,' he says. 'The fire warms you.'"*

This brought many thoughts to my mind and heart. Too often I come away from a visit with someone and realize I did too much talking and not enough listening or simply enjoying being with that person. I do this with God too. 

The feeling of being warmed by the fire - I have wonderful childhood memories of lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, often with our dog Katie - somehow alone in the midst of a house full of six people. Even today I can feel the peace and contentment of those moments. Being with God can be like that too - home in a cozy place with a loved one. 

The idea of growing just by being there - sometimes I've been blessed during prayer to let my mind and heart get in a place that's totally open to God and His presence. I can't say I've had any epiphanies during these moments but I have sometimes felt overwhelming love and peace. 

Prayer, scripture study, worship - these are all ways I can be alone with God and strengthen my relationship with Him. He knows me. I need to get to know Him better. 

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Tutu quote

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