How You Can Spend Time with Jesus
Focus: When we overcome the intimidation of time spent with God, it becomes the joy of our hearts.
Our Calling
Our Apprehension
Our Expectation
The Lord our Healer
Our Calling
Our primary calling is to know Christ and to be with the Lord.
A Maskil of the Sons of Korah
Psalm 42:1-2 ESV
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”
Whether we realize it or not, this is the cry and deepest need of every heart.
The Sons of Korah understood this and Jesus made an unhindered way for it.
Mark 3:13-15 ESV
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”
When we make time to be with Jesus, the Lord transforms us and invests in us his authority to advance his Kingdom with his gospel and power.
Our Apprehension
Though God calls, we can be apprehensive when we don’t know how to respond.
So what should we do when we are with God?
Set a time and place every day - plan for it like a date night.
As we discussed last week, it seems that both Moses and Jesus had a rhythm of times and places to pray (Exodus 33:7-11; Mark 1:35-39).
Mark 1:35-39 ESV
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”
In the Jewish culture, there was “the hour of prayer” where Peter was able to encounter the lame beggar and see him supernaturally healed by the power of God and the name of Jesus (Acts 3:1-10).
We begin with worship.
To spend time with God, the Scripture encourages us first to worship, which means to pay God our respects, lavish on him our love and honor him for who he is.
Psalm 100:1-5 ESV
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
When we worship, we humble ourselves and exalt God as holy - meaning he is, amongst other things, greater, purer, wiser, more compassionate, more powerful, more able and more willing than ourselves.
This is why we begin and end our Sunday services in song.
When we do this, we are reminding ourselves of who God said that he is, shown that he is and posturing ourselves for proper interaction.
How to worship?
When we worship, we can stand, we can kneel, we can bow, we can prostrate ourselves, we can be silent, we can play music, we can clap, we can dance.
All of these are expressed as legitimate expressions of Biblical worship of the Lord and it is good when we engage them all at different times.
To seek the Lord and to wait on him is our high calling in Jesus.
What happens when we do?
When we seek the Lord through the word of God and prayer, we are cleansed in our souls (mind, will and emotions) to begin to see things as God sees them, think his thoughts and have a desire to do his will.
We begin by meditating on his word.
This is important because we are sensitized to God’s voice through Scripture.
What does it mean to meditate on God’s word?
Psalm 119:9-16 ESV
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
Storing up the word in your heart can practically mean memorizing it in small portions at a time so that you can both remember and access it in time of need.
We learn to walk with God through prayer.
How should I pray?
Prayers should be Biblical.
Many people pray things that God never intends to answer and get discouraged while doing so.
When you approach God, he intends to show you who he is and deal with the sin (areas where you are missing the mark) in your life.
Psalm 66:18-20 ESV
“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!”
As you are developing your prayer muscle, faith, and confidence of what to pray, you can begin by praying the word of God, using Scriptural prayers as examples.
Why do we pray Scripture?
John the apostle gave this encouragement to believers as a motivation:
1 John 5:13-15 ESV
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
When we understand how to pray Biblically, we also understand that prayer gets personal.
Talk to God openly and honestly.
This is what the Psalms highlight for us.
*Begin with honesty and end in faith - your declared trust in who God said that he is and what he said he will do.
We must also learn to listen to God.
How to listen?
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 ESV
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.”
Why do I think that I could ever hear from God?
Jesus himself gave us this great comfort when he said:
John 10:3-5 ESV
“To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
How do I know if I’ve heard God?
God will never contradict his written word.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit testifies to it.
Other believers confirm it.
How to apply Scripture?
We need to juxtapose our manner of living and habits to the prescriptions of God’s word to bring our lives into alignment with God’s will.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Jesus said:
John 6:63 ESV
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
This is why the writer of Hebrews would later say:
Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
How do I learn to sit and be ministered to?
Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Go through Tozer’s checklist and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you to give you practical correction and direction.
Rules for Self Discovery:
1. What we want most;
2. What we think about most;
3. How we use our money;
4. What we do with our leisure time;
5. The company we enjoy;
6. Who and what we admire;
7. What we laugh at.
-A. W. Tozer
For those who would desire a structured format to help mitigate distractions, a good resource is:
In this book is a chart that helps provide five minute increments of how to spend your time with the Lord.
Leave that space with a practical way each day to serve the community with the gospel.
Our Expectation
Our expectation is that when we approach God, he responds to us - and we are continually transformed as we wait on and submit to him.
Jairus the synagogue ruler and the woman with the issue of bleeding came to Jesus based on his reputation as a healer, surmising that if he healed others, he was also able to show mercy to them.
Mark 5:21-43 ESV
“And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.”
The picture of Jairus the synagogue ruler and the woman with the issue of bleeding can both give us pictures of how to develop a life of prayer.
The beauty of God’s instruction to wait on him without a time limit gives us a foundation of perpetual hope.
Mark 5:35,36 ESV
“While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."
Because God did not clarify how long we are to wait on him, whether long time or short, it is just a matter of time before he shows himself faithful to his word.
If you are waiting on the Lord, you can be too rushed, but you can never be waiting too long.
It is never too late for God to fulfill his promises, even when we think the opportunities are dead.
The Lord our Healer
When we choose to submit to Jesus, whether now or in the life to come, there will be complete healing, restoration and joy.
Because of the cross, we have access to God’s present and eternal healing.
We appropriate, meaning we see that healing applied, as we approach Jesus as did the synagogue ruler and woman with the issue of bleeding.
Isaiah 53:1-6 ESV
“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
The apostle Peter, who witnessed Christ’s miracles first hand, would later apply this directly to Jesus as an encouragement to believers who put their trust in Jesus’ sacrificial death, burial and resurrection.
1 Peter 2:22-25 ESV
“He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
As we repent of our waywardness and put our trust in Jesus’ sinless life, sacrificial death at the cross for us and resurrection from the dead, we can be forgiven and have unbroken access to the Lord, our healer.
Jesus can start the healing in a moment, and does so progressively each time we choose to meet with him.
God will complete our healing when we see Jesus face to face, as all of those whose names are written in the Lamb of God’s book of life are welcomed into their eternal home.
The irony is that once we spend time with God like this, he points us right back to interaction with flesh and blood - to represent him to real time people in our home, our church and our community.
We’ll speak about this in the following weeks.