I hope that you have had some vacation time recently. In retirement, many days feel like vacation. However, Cheryl and I still like to take trips. And we have learned that we don’t have to try to fill every moment with activity. We take plenty of time to just “be.” Whether it is sitting on a beach or visiting with friends, we enjoy the moment. Take it all in.

Something else I strive to do on my vacation is to converse with God. I certainly spend time praying, but I try to listen to Him as well by reading His Word. Part of my days are spent reflecting on the tremendous love of God that led him to send His Son to pay for the sins of everyone, including me.

However, I never seem to have private time with God often enough. When I do take time to read Scripture and pray, I am blessed by that. But I still get distracted and busy with too many other things and neglect this necessary part of my life.

Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Our Lord knew the value of quiet time to speak with the Father, and modeled the practice for us. His humanity needed it as much as we do. Being fully human, he went through all the problems and distractions we have to deal with. There were times He had to postpone His private time with God.

In Matthew 14, Jesus heard the news that John the Baptist has been killed. He tried to withdraw to a solitary place to grieve and pray. But the crowds followed Him, and in compassion He saw to their needs before seeing to His own. In fact, He ended up feeding about 5000 people with five loaves and two fish. After that, He dismissed the crowds, sent His disciples ahead of Him, and finally got His time to pray.

Often we get busy with our lives and push aside our time for prayer and reflection and private time with God. It happens. It happened to Jesus. But if we follow His example, we will not just forget about our devotional time just because we got busy. We will get right back to it at the first opportunity.

Someone once asked Martin Luther about his plans for the following day. He replied that it would be a very busy day, that he had many things he hoped to accomplish. And then he said “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

We should all see prayer and private time with God as something necessary and important.  It is a powerful and efficient use of your time, and a way to cultivate a deeper relationship with your God.