Do you ever stop to think about how relationships work? They take a lot of time and effort. You need to spend time with that person in order to get to know them. There needs to be constant communication between the two of you. Even as time goes by, you still need to spend time together in order to keep the relationship strong.

Well, the same must be done if you want a relationship with God. A lot of us go to church, pray every once in a while, and maybe watch or listen to a sermon and feel like that is enough. However, it’s not. That is almost the same as having a long distance relationship where you only talk to each other once in a while through a video chat. It won’t work. We need to be engaged with Him in order to have a strong relationship with Him.

One of the biggest examples we can pull from is Jesus himself. If there ever was anyone who was close to God, it would be Jesus. You would imagine Jesus wouldn’t need to spend time with God since He is God incarnated. However, as we see quite a few times, Jesus would seclude himself to pray and spend time talking to God on his own.

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” – Mark 1:35

Jesus could have just stayed where He was and prayed there. Instead, He chose to go where no one would interrupt His time with God. If you read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you see that there were several times where it is mentioned how Jesus took time to be alone with God. Even in the last night before He was taken prisoner, he went to be alone with God. We need to follow that example.

I know that it is easy to get caught up in life. There is so much we need to do. We have our jobs, our families to take care of, our homes, our bills, our pets (if you have them), and countless other things that need our attention. Jesus had a very busy life too. He was going around preaching God’s word, healing people, raising the dead, and teaching of God’s love and mercy. He was a very busy man. However, He would set aside time to be with God.

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” – Matthew 14: 22-23

Now you may wonder what time alone with God entails. Time alone with God is praying to Him and also taking the time to read His word. There are many reasons why both praying and reading the Bible are so important. For one, by doing both it strengthens the relationship you have with God. Secondly, you become more aware of God’s love and mercies in your life. Thirdly, when you truly seek Him, everything you need will be provided for you. There are so many other reasons why it is important to have time with Him. Just remember that God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.

“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” – John 6:40

From personal experience, I can tell you that it really does make a difference. I used to just listen to sermons and pray every once in a while, thinking that was enough. However, there came a day when I woke up and this burning desire to get to know God engulfed me. I started reading my Bible and made sure to set aside time to be with Him. I can honestly tell you that even in just a short amount of time, I have grown. I have genuine joy in my life and have never felt stronger. I have learned so much while spending time with Him and I continue to learn every day.  

I want that same joy to live in your life. That is why I write this today. To encourage you all to make time for God every day. It doesn’t have too long if you don’t have too much time. Even 5-10 minutes makes all the difference in the world. You will have patience, peace, joy, knowledge, and security. Once you do that, you will see a huge difference in your life.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33