Alone Together

Distraction has never been so prevalent. Jesus did something daily which kept him undistracted from God. This practice is not out of reach to anyone, for it is innately human.

In this age of distraction, humans have never had to fight so much to maintain relationships, especially our relationship with God.

“This prayer isn’t being answered… I’m not seeing breakthrough here… God is feeling distant… why did this happen?” Many of these common issues would evaporate if we spent more time in prayer.

But we know this. It is a platitude, yet it somehow doesn’t translate into action. We tolerate a superficial relationship with Him, and so, nothing changes.

Mankind once had an enthralling relationship with God in the Garden of Eden, but we have since been distracted. Jesus was deliberate about not being distracted.

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”¹

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”²

“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.”³

On a daily basis, Jesus went into the bush to be alone with God. Not in his room. Not just outside while the disciples remained talking inside. He withdrew to lonely places and prayed for a long time. And it was there that the unbreakable friendship with his Father was forged.

I find that this deepest intimacy is found away from the crowds, phones, work, traffic, and flat mates. We go to the beginning of time when we are alone with God in the bush. We go to how things used to be.

The beginnings of everything great was God and man alone in the wilderness. Adam in Eden. Moses and the burning bush. Jesus in Gethsemane. Mary in the garden just before she embraced the resurrected Christ.

I have started emulating this practice by walking and praying in a nearby forest. I get everything on the table. I can honestly say that there hasn’t been a routine which is more beneficial to my faith, and life generally.

I see other people walking and wonder where they go to receive guidance, encouragement, and joy. I see them listening to music and wonder what comfort it gives them.

I see children at play lost in their imaginations, and I realise that they aren’t dissimilar to someone deep in prayer. Both are walking and speaking. Both are dreaming and longing. Both are at play.

No one had to teach us this practice. We were doing it before we could read. And I often find this, that many of the essential practices of the Christian life are inherently human. We don’t need to embark on a deep exegesis of scripture or to consult the clergy about how to improve things with the Big Man. He made us to be in a relationship with Him. It should be second nature. It is what we have always known.

Let us go back to how it was in the Garden of Eden when we were with God in every way. Let us relive the days in our own gardens when we spoke out loud, and dreamed. When we were one with God, even though we didn’t know it.

"'Return to Me', declares the Lord of hosts, 'that I may return to you...'"⁴

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."⁵

1. Luke 5:16

2. Luke 6:12

3. Mark 1:35

4. Zechariah 1:3

5. Psalm 37:4