Creflo Dollar - The Art Of Being Alone With God
Now let's hop into this. Mark chapter 10 and verse 27. We've been talking about knowing God, but tonight I wanna call this teaching "The Art of Being Alone with God". Ooh, "The Art of Being Alone with God". I think we need to pause and examine our alone time with God. There is more to this than meets the religious eye, but I am telling you that there are some things that God is gonna be able to do because you take seriously the time spent in his presence. There is something about the time spent in his presence, and so, you know, I wanna just get into it. I don't wanna give you too much tonight, but I wanna give you enough to get you stirred up like this has stirred me up.
Mark chapter 10 and verse 27. So, most of life's problems are solved through an intimate relationship with God, being alone with God. I want you to think about that. Most of life problems are solved through an intimate relationship with God and through the art of being alone with God. Now, when you hear something like that, to think that most of my problems can be dealt with because of an intimate relationship with God, that most of my issues can be resolved because I have been practicing the art of being alone with God is an extremely true statement that can only be realized when you do it. It can only be realized when you do it, and so I wanna read this Scripture and just kinda walk you through here.
Verse 27 says, and this is Mark chapter 10:27, "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible". With men it's impossible, so there are a lot of things that, you know, with men you think can happen, and he says with men you're gonna meet impossibilities, but not with God, but not with God. Turn to your neighbor and just say, ask 'em, "Who you with"? You know, Bernie Mac. "Who you with"? With God all things are possible, so this has given us some indication that a relationship with God will begin to open up the door to impossibilities becoming possible.
And how does that happen? It happens with God. The implied statement here, it happens with a relationship with God. With God it happens. May not happen with men, but with God it happens. All things are possible with God. Now, look at Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9 and verse 23. Verse 23 says, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe". If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes, so that adds another layer to it. With men things are impossible, but with God all things are possible, and it's possible to those who are believing.
Now, let me tell you something about an intimate relationship with God. It is going to be extremely difficult, a struggle, for you to not believe in a God that you have intimate relationship with. This is something you don't have to worry about. I have a relationship with God. Belief is a outflow of my relationship that I have with God. Belief is like the wet with the water. My relationship with God is going to produce belief. My relationship with God is not gonna be an issue. I'm not gonna struggle to believe because from that relationship belief shows up. With God belief shows up. Say that with me, "With God belief shows up". And then, he says all things are possible to him that what? Believes, so then, ultimately, the key is a relationship with God, and you begin to develop the intimate relationship with God by learning the art of being alone.
Now, let me show you something here in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31. I'm gonna do next week a detailed teaching on what does it mean to wait on the Lord, but I wanna use a piece of this to kinda take us to where we wanna go tonight. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31. Very familiar Scripture, and I'll tell you some things about this. He says, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint". Now, notice this now. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Now, look at all the things that happen to people that wait upon the Lord. They renew their strength, they mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, so this issue of waiting on the Lord appears to be I am waiting here in order to receive something.
Now, at one time I was taught and used to teach that to wait on the Lord was like waiting as a servant getting ready to serve the Lord. And that may be okay, but I have so much more understanding on that, and I just wanna tell you exactly, and we'll teach on this later on. But for time's sake waiting for the Lord or waiting on the Lord, it means, first of all, looking to the Lord, consulting or seeking his will before any human aid or pursuit. So, to wait on the Lord, it means I pause to consult his will before I release any human aid towards the situation, before any human aid is pursued. Before I pursue any human aid I pause, and I seek the consultation, or, you know, actually, I go before God and I begin to pray before I act, so I'm waiting on the Lord.
It's the type of rest that we talked about. It's entering into the rest. It's not being in an emergency to solicit human aid. To wait on the Lord means... so, I'm obviously in trouble. All of Isaiah is telling you about folks that were in trouble and here is what you do, and you see "wait on the Lord" several times. I'll show you another verse. When in trouble, pause. Wait on the Lord in expectation. Don't solicit human aid and watch him come through. It's a person who has a relationship with God to a point where he doesn't panic. Panic is groundless fear. He knows God, and he knows God to this point of intimacy, where he says, "Hold on a minute. Let's check with him first".
The temptation is always going to be do something. Solicit human aid, but to wait on the Lord, he says because of your relationship, let's not pursue what humans can do. Let's go before God. Let's consult him. Our first posture is him and if you'll do that there are great things that will happen. I'm here tonight to tell you to slow down. You have a relationship with God. Chill. He knows about it. It's not like he doesn't know about it. You have a relationship with him. He knows about it, so I'll teach a detailed teaching on that for the next week. So, they that wait on the Lord, you're gonna gain something.
Here you're gonna gain new strength. They that wait on the Lord, they are looking for something. They're looking for his way, his instructions. They have a hope. They have a expectation. They have a trust. That they're relying in him. All of this is a result of the relationship. I'm trusting, and I'm relying on him. I'm expecting from him. In fact, let's look at the Amplified of Isaiah 40:31. When you have a relationship with God you're waiting on him because your whole Christian life is tied into your personal relationship with him. The Amplified says, "But those who wait for the Lord who expect, who look for, and hope in him".
It's in him. It's in him you move and breathe. He says here is what's gonna happen, "He shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and shall not faint or become tired". Seems like everything you need in the midst of this challenge you get in your relationship with God, so he says don't solicit human aid. Trust in the Lord. Wait on him. Now, I'll show you Tuesday... well, next Wednesday there are gonna be two things you're get hear from God: either pursue or be still.
So, to wait on the Lord means not only to wait to hear what he says to do, but he says, "Pursue," pursue, but even when you're pursuing you're still waiting on the Lord, because while you're going you're like, "All right, what's next, God? What's going on, God"? What are you doing? You're practicing the presence of the Holy Spirit. You become a barefooted priest, and you are totally relying on him to get you through and out of the situation that you're in. And the Bible says there is great reward that comes out of that relationship you have with God as you are waiting on him, and you're gonna find out that you're not gonna need the human aid that you thought you were gonna need.
That God's gonna do something that you hadn't even thought of or that nobody else can do for you because of that intimate relationship with him. And what happens? When you get alone with God and get away from the clutter of the world, he will begin to instruct you, renew you. He will begin to give even the expectation of what you need, but you got to learn how to enter into a rest and wait on God, amen? Now, let's go to Isaiah 64:4. Isaiah 64:4, if you start at verse 1, man, this is about a God who is working, and I mean he does good work. It's about a God who through creation did all the things he needed to do in the creation and caused these things to come to pass. Isaiah 64, verse 4.
Now, I'm gonna move down to verse 4 and just begin to show you that when you begin to look at this, Isaiah 64:4. Hurry. There you go. He says, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that," what? Did you hear what he says? There are some prepared things for people who will enter into a rest and wait on God and consult him and depend on that relationship, and he says you have no clue of the awesomeness that will come your way for those who will wait on him.
Man, that's powerful. That lets me know that while I'm developing this relationship with him I am gonna learn how to enter into a rest, and I'm gonna learn how to wait on the Lord, because he said from the very beginning of the world, he says you hadn't heard. You hadn't perceived. Your ears and eyes hadn't gotten ahold of this. He said the things that he's prepared for him. Him who? Him who has a relationship with God that will be willing to wait on God instead of pursuing human aid.
Now, you think about how often you're quick to go and try to get somebody else to help you, and you got a relationship with God. Think about how quick you are to employ somebody in on your situation, and you have a relationship with God. Say out loud, "I have a relationship with God. Therefore in the midst of trouble I choose to wait on him. I choose to pause, pray, and consult him and whatever he tells me to do that's what I'm gonna do, because I have no idea what he has prepared for me because I wait on him".
Boy, that got me so stirred up. That got me so stirred up. I'm like praise God. Praise God, so the first place you look, the place you lean on, the one you rely on is that relationship with him. You have no idea what he's prepared for you, and I'm telling you that is the truth, so it's time to spend some time with him, rely on him, have confidence in him, so no matter what happens up, you'll say this to yourself, "I have a God. I have a God". That's what happens with that relationship. No Christian can accomplish any great thing for God without learning the art of being alone. No Christian can accomplish any great thing from God without the art of being alone with God.
Now, I know this. I know this part. I've lived this part. I can't explain to you all the intricate details or the timing that's involved when something manifests, but I knew, and I was convinced, and yet know today that that alone time with God was probably and is probably the most valuable time you can spend. Now, if you look at your life and you see how your life has been just kinda spread out with all kinds of stuff, and you ask yourself, "When throughout this day, when according to this schedule do I have alone time with God"?
Alone time where you disconnect from everything. You disconnect from decisions, and you have this alone time with God. I just think everybody ought to have a place in their house somewhere, whether it's the bathroom or a closet, and this is what he meant in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John when he said go into your closet and pray. In other words, alone time. Where is the alone time? A time where you can speak to him and a time where he speaks to you.
You know, God's speaking all the time. What happens sometimes we are so cluttered that we can't get the transmission, and he has some things that you don't even know about. Simply listening to God. Alone time. The art of being alone with God. It's amazing. Sometimes it may be early in the morning. You know, if God wakes you up at 4:30 in the morning and you're rested, don't look at the clock and say, "I think I'll lay here for two more hours". That's an opportunity. If you have kids and all that kinda stuff, that's an opportunity.
Let me go and get on up and spend this alone time with God. Somebody says, "Well, what do you say"? Well, thank God for praying in the Holy Spirit. I just start off by saying, "Thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning. I'm the righteousness of God, I'm redeemed, and I trust you in everything that I do," and begin to just pray. It's intimate. I don't wanna get religious with our intimate friend. I have an intimate relationship with him and begin to pray in tongues, and I'm not watching the clock.
I watch the clock now to make sure I'm not late going where I need to go, but I used to watch the clock to see how much time has expired, but now that's not it. It's you get lost in your relationship with God, because while you're praying in tongues you pause because now he starts saying stuff to you, and then you pray a little bit more and you pause, and then he gives you a Scripture and you pause. And y'all are having a dialog, and it's no longer a monologue, and you think, "Well, that was just a little time I had with God. Nothing is gonna come of it".
I'm telling you a lot is gonna come of it. It's what this Scripture is saying. That, you know, you don't even know what he's prepared for those people that wait on the Lord, those people that spend time with him. And while another Christian is out trying to perfect the ten steps of faith, you're spending time in faith with your heavenly Father, and there are benefits that come as a result of doing that. What I am preaching and what I've been preaching you won't know until you engage this. You won't know. It will just be words in your notebook, but until you engage this you won't know, but there is something so amazing, something so powerful. It's like putting a charge on a battery and when you need it the most it's gonna be there in life and all the things that are gonna come.
If you look at people and try to figure out where did this favor come from, remember it says favor is multiplied because of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Remember it says peace is multiplied because of that knowing that you have with Jesus Christ. I'm saying it's not a waste of time. I'm saying we need to engage it first and foremost as a priority in our lives as a Christian and when you do so all the things that have been prepared for you... can you imagine the honor heaven feels when you decide, "I'm looking to Jesus first". Wow. Wow. Wow. Look at a couple of Scriptures here, and I'm gonna talk about the benefits of knowing God, the benefits of this relationship with God. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16. Hebrews 4:16.
Now, you know, it's quite humbling as you begin to develop your relationship with the Lord. It moves your godly emotions. You're just excited in a really inward way, to the point where you have to ask yourself, "I don't quite know what's going on with me, but this is pretty cool. And I can't put my finger on it, but something is happening on the inside of me". Verse 16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly," or with liberty, "unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in a time of need".
Notice when I come to God, and I approach him in prayer, and I approach him in communion and fellowship, notice what he calls that. He says he calls it the throne of grace. You know, the boldness part is not coming loud and bodacious. It literally means to come with liberty, as a child can walk in her father's office while the biggest meeting he's ever had is going on. She comes boldly in there, knowing that she has a right to come boldly in that office because, "That is my father".
And so, likewise, as sons and daughters of God you have a right to boldly come before the throne of grace, but look what he says. Why do we come to the throne of grace? So we can obtain mercy if you need it or you can find some grace if you need it, he says, or some help. How many ever needed some help? But you go to the bank to see if you can get a loan first. Something happens when God is first. How many different things have happened in your life and he's not been first? He's not been first, and then we say, "Well, you know, that's church stuff".
But watch out. We're not talking about church stuff. We're talking about personal relationship with the Creator of heaven and Earth stuff and, man, he wants to take you to places you never been before. He wants to take you beyond what you know and beyond what you have understood in your life as a Christian. Come boldly with liberty to the throne of grace, unmerited favor. That we can obtain mercy. Mercy, man. You know, the bad you deserve you don't get, and so we can find grace to do what? To help in a time of need. This is relationship stuff here, man.