Take Time to Pray

Don’t leave! Please don’t leave!” were the words that stopped me in my tracks as I reached for the door to leave my prayer and study room. I slowly took my hand off the door handle, surprised by what I heard from the gentle voice inside my heart. “What?” Stunned by His words, I turned around, moving away from the door.

“Did you say something to me, Lord?” My heart started beating faster as I realized I had heard an incredible cry from God’s heart. I said, “Lord, I didn’t know You felt that way.” I was amazed that God was longing for me to stay with Him.

I returned to where I was previously praying to spend more time with God, but my mind was on the many things I had on my agenda for the day. Couldn’t the Lord see my schedule and how much I had to do? Didn’t He know I had only an hour of prayer time available—and that prayer time was now over? I began to make excuses about why I couldn’t stay, until I started to sense the Lord’s disappointment.

Finally I said, “Father, You really don’t want to be left alone, do You?” I heard Him speak to me again, saying: “No, I don’t want to be alone. I was enjoying My time with you, son. And I want to spend more time with you today. You touched My heart, and there are many things I want to talk with someone about today.”

“What, Lord?” I replied. “You mean You want to talk to me?” I was humbled that God was asking me not to leave.

Maybe this was what Moses thought when he, being called a friend, talked face-to-face with God. Exodus 33:11 says, “The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (NKJV). I believe God wanted to be with Moses and didn’t want to end their time of fellowship.

That morning I saw how deeply God wants our fellowship. As Psalm 14:2 reveals, God is looking around the earth for anyone who will find the time to seek Him. That day forever changed my life by helping me understand prayer is special to God and cannot be taken lightly. It is easy in today’s fast-paced society to get so distracted that our time with God is lost.

After my experience with God that morning, I realized the great danger facing us is that many Christians don’t pray, or they are fighting to maintain what little time they do have to pray.One of the greatest sins in the church is not necessarily gossip, strife, addictions, adultery or fornication—even though all these things are sin. I believe the greatest sin today, especially in America, is prayerlessness, or leaving God alone.

We can easily become caught in the trap of making the few moments before meals the only consistent time we pray. Prayer, however, is about so much more than that. We need a deep commitment to prayer that goes far beyond our meals or times when problems arise. God wants our time consistently, regardless of our circumstances.

The way to develop this type of personal relationship with God—the kind that moves His heart—is to set a time and a place to meet Him. The Lord looks forward to your special set time together. You can become determined to not leave God alone by developing a consistent prayer habit.

Give God the desire of His heart—He wants to fellowship with you. Be committed to it until the habit takes a permanent hold in your life.

Talk to the Lord about your desire to be with Him. By doing this, you remind yourself that to have a fruitful walk with God, you must find devoted time to fellowship with Him. If we would refuse to leave God alone that way, miraculous things would begin to take place.

Hank Kunneman is the senior pastor of Lord of Hosts Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and co-founder with his wife, Brenda, of One Voice Ministries. He is also the author of Don’t Leave God Alone (Charisma House), from which this column is adapted. If you enjoyed reading Prophetic Edge, be sure to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter Prophetic Insight by clicking here.