It’s hard to see things as they are when we’re facing the wrong direction! If something is not right there in sight, it’s hard to understand it, know it, remember it, let alone identify it or get close to it.

Perhaps this experience will help you know, that you can’t feel Christ’s constant presence with you if you always have your back turned to Him and rarely engage Him face-to-face in meaningful conversation.

Jesus loved to spend time with His Father. After He had taken care of others, Jesus took care of Himself - by taking the time to be alone with His Father in meaningful, rewarding conversation. Just like any other child with a parent, Jesus appreciated His dependence on His Father, and took pleasure in spending time with Him.

Jesus taught us by example the importance and the reward of spending quality and quantity time with God. He shared with us the everyday details of living a human life; to show us how we can be like Him and how WE can share in the details of each others’ lives; and because of that connection, we become well-suited to share life with the world, and invite the world to know and share HIM!

There is a beautiful Psalm of David that speaks of our loving and merciful God. It makes clear reference to the importance of time spent alone with God. Take the time to read through Psalm 25:1-22.

I just want to highlight some phrases – encouragements and admonitions – that teach us the importance of time spent with our Father. Listen to these words taken from Psalm 25:1-22:

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
in You I trust, O my God.

No one whose hope is in You
will ever be put to shame,

Show me Your ways, O LORD,
teach me Your paths;
guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are God my Savior,
and my hope is in You all day long.

Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to Your love remember me,
for You are good, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant.

Who, then, is the [one] that fears the LORD?
He will instruct [us] in the way chosen for [us].

The LORD confides in those who fear Him;
He makes His covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the LORD,

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

Guard my life and rescue me;

for I take refuge in You.

. . . my hope is in You.

Check out these words from Psalm 131:1-3:

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
is my soul within me.

Jesus was raised on these passages. He was raised knowing the importance of spending time alone with God. He “stilled and quieted” His soul, and “like a weaned child with its mother” was Jesus’ soul within Him when He spent time with the Father.

Matthew 14:13 and 23 tells us that Jesus withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. . . and that He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. . .

Mark 1:35 tells us that 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.

Luke 5:16 teaches us that Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Early mornings, quiet afternoons, solitary places, happy conversations, intense discussions. . . being alone with your Father - Jesus taught you what to do.

The more energy you pour into these times, the richer your life becomes.

Jesus’ very own words to us about this rich time with the Father were pretty straightforward: “. . . when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

Get alone. Spend the time. Have a quiet time devoted solely to time with the Father.

What we learn from Jesus’ quality time with the Father is that a life of devotion must be cultivated and carefully tended.
• Devotional seeds are planted,
• nourishment must be supplied,
• weeding must be undertaken,
• care and nurture must be provided. . .
• . . . untended devotion is no devotion at all. Jesus knew that - and taught us by His example.

1. Devotional seeds are planted,

The other day I spent just a few minutes talking with someone about vegetable gardens. My friend knows what it takes to plant a vegetable garden. You have to know where to plant – and you need to know what to plant in the right location. You also need to know how to plant. When my friend plants potatoes, he finds the best redskin potatoes with the most eyes – then he cuts up the potato so an eye gets planted to create a whole new potato plant.

Jesus planted a devotional seed every time He stopped and sought out His Father. You and I must do the same. Every day – several times a day – we need to stop, find a solitary place – and seek out the Lord.

Remember these words from Psalm 25: To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in You I trust, O my God. No one whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame,

Once we get into the helpful habit of spending time with our Heavenly Father – planting those seeds of devotion – He begins to grow that garden up into full bloom. He meets us there – when we come to Him we find Him waiting on us! Then together – we water and bolster that investment of time alone with Him. . .

2. nourishment must be supplied,

Sometimes, we get into a rote and lackadaisical form of praying. We just get into a habit – and then get side-tracked into that same form over and over.

Take a look at this prayer and see if it sounds a little like some of your prayer times: Dear God: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun. Amen.

Now – I’m not trying to be sacrilegious! It may not be the exact words you use – but you get my drift: we tend to pray the same things over and over. That’s not personal! That’s not quality. You do not speak to someone you love with all your heart with continuously repeated words and phrases you’ve memorized!

At other times, we tend to be tired, or get into a monotone droning without really paying attention to what we’re saying. Look at this prayer and see if it resembles anything you might pray – especially if you wait to pray until right before you fall asleep.

God, I conclude with a simple and heartfelt request: can I spend some time by a lake and just think about all of this? I recall the extraordinary feats You did and was the janitor from Domino’s or Marco’s did the inadvertent involvement of walkie-talkies was also the system at Macy’s. As I was saying, God I love You and the stock market didn’t quite plummet but Johnsonville brats, buns, ketchup, Pepsi, buns of steel, the welders at the Jeep plant – with the union involved. G’night, I luvvv. . . SNNORRRE!

Where does nourishment come from? Regular time together. That’s one form of nourishment. Quality time together. That’s another form of nourishment. Quantity time together. That’s still another form of nourishment.

Psalm 25 teaches us:

Show me Your ways, O LORD,
teach me Your paths;
guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are God my Savior,
and my hope is in You all day long.

. . . He instructs sinners in His ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant.

The only way God can instruct us, teach us, show us His ways, and guide us are if we take the time to be alone with Him and nourish this important time with the work of our heart – to be intimate and devoted and fully connected to Him.

3. weeding must be undertaken,

Every garden grows weeds. When we plant the seeds of devotion – we also plant seeds of rebellion and disobedience and “I will forget” and “I’m too tired.”

I remember reading about one area of Africa where Christianity began to spread, where the new believers were incredibly zealous about their daily devotions with the Lord.

They would find their own spot within the wild thickets and pour their hearts out to God for long periods of time. After doing this for days and weeks and months and years on end, these spots became well-worn, and paths were created. Soon, a person’s devotional life was public knowledge!

If someone began to neglect his or her devotional life, it would soon be noticed by others. Believers would then gently and lovingly remind those in neglect, “The grass grows on your path.”

Psalm 25 reminds us:

The LORD confides in those who fear Him;
He makes His covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the LORD,
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
Guard my life and rescue me;
for I take refuge in You.

Does the grass grow on your path? Do the weeds grow in your garden? Will you not only allow – but actually request – that your brothers and sisters in Christ have the right and responsibility to remind you: “The grass grows on your path. . . it’s time to get back to your place of prayer!”

4. care and nurture must be provided. . .

When you think about your soul in the care of your Heavenly Father – how do you view it?

Is your soul fragile glass in His hands?
Is your soul putty in His hands?
Is your soul hard stone in His hands?
Is your soul like a child in the arms of its Father?

Psalm 131 speaks to us here:

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
is my soul within me.

Never lose sight of the fact that you are a much-loved child of the God of the Universe! The LORD is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:13 – NLT)

He will do His part to care and nurture you – but you must do your part to care and nurture the relationship by committing, showing up, investing time, and letting Him grow you up! Listen to Paul’s words to us: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire. . . (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19) Untended devotion is no devotion at all. Jesus knew that - and taught us by His example. He plugged in to the Father’s strength. His heart became in tune with the Father’s heart. Spending time with His Father put Him in step with God’s plans and purpose.

A young boy went to the local store with his mother. The shop owner, a kindly man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. Uncharacteristically, the boy held back. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him.

When outside, the boy’s mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy and wouldn’t take a handful of suckers when offered.

The boy replied, “Because his hand is much bigger than mine!”

When we learn to spend quality and quantity time alone with our Father, we move from how much we can grab onto, to how much He can heap up and pour into our lives!

Untended devotion is no devotion at all. Jesus showed us that a life of devotion must be cultivated. We plant our devotional seeds, water and nourish them, weed the garden as needed, and generally take good care of the garden of devotion in partnership with our Heavenly Father – just like Jesus taught us.

The more energy you pour into these times alone with God, the richer your life becomes. Isn’t it time you cultivated your “alone time” with your Father?