This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.

    Lamentations 3:21-25

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

  Matthew 6:6

For this topic, let’s begin with the New Testament. Jesus tells us exactly what our private prayer life needs to look like. Jesus instructs us to find a quiet place, free from distractions, and to enter into a personal time with Him. No one else needs to know what is taking place during this time. In fact, this instruction is written within a greater context of making sure that we are not doing anything spiritual (i.e. fasting, praying, giving) in order to be seen by others or to be praised by them. This private place, where we spend time with God, is where we will find our victory in this world. Neglecting this time and we will find ourselves becoming overwhelmed by what is taking place in this depraved, fallen, and dying world. 

Here are a few suggestions for this time:

1. Find a place that is free from distractions
2. Don’t take your mobile device with you
3. Take a Bible and a highlighter
4. Remember that praying is talking to God and reading/speaking/studying the Bible is listening to God

The promise is that we will find reward during this time. I personally believe that this reward is the presence of God Himself. But however God desires to bless you, we know that there is great reward in spending time with Him.

Looking at the Old Testament, we find a great reason to pursue God on a daily basis. 

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.They are new every morning…

        Lamentations 3:21-23a

The hope that we have, as Christians, is this…that no matter what happened yesterday, last week, last month, last year, or even decades ago, the Lord’s love and kindness never ceases. God’s compassion is available to all of us, even after gross sin and rebellion. Every morning that we awake is a gift from God and is a new opportunity to repent, seek God’s face, and determine to serve Him that day. 

But let’s not go past this too fast that we miss what is being said about the Lord’s loving kindnesses. This word is actually a compound word that demonstrates two of God’s qualities: love and kindness (compare to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). For a long time, while teaching, I would separate this word into its two components, revealing that it is God’s love that never ceases and it is God’s kindness that never ceases…and I still do that. But while sitting under a gentleman, who was an expert in the Hebrew language, I learned that this word “lovingkindnesses” reveals that God is a promise-keeping God. In other words, God will never fail to keep the promises that He has made to us in scripture. So God’s love never ceases, His kindness never ceases, and neither will His faithfulness to keep His promises the are found in His word for all who belong to Him. That’s worth getting out of bed for in the morning! This is why we can proclaim at the top of our lungs…”Great is Your faithfulness!” 

A reason to seek God? How about this: “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25). We will find the Lord when we seek Him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). That’s what it means to be a Christian. We enter into a relationship with God, enjoying all of the rights and privileges that come from being in right relationship with Him. We have the privilege of approaching His throne everyday; praying, asking, and enjoying His presence in our lives. Christ didn’t die on the cross to establish religion. He died on the cross so that sinners like you and me can be saved, forgiven, healed, redeemed, and restored. Christ came so that nothing would separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39). This is what it means to spend time with God everyday. He wants a relationship with each of us. He wants us to dwell in the protection, provision, and promises that He so graciously offers all of us who are in Christ Jesus. And this all becomes a reality in our lives when we surrender our lives to Jesus (John 3:3). 

God’s mercies are new every morning! Why not awaken today and spend private, quality time with your Savior! Time spent with God is never a waste of time and is the very lifeblood of being a Christian, serving God with our lives!