Why do some people have such great experiences with God? Much can be traced back to their time of prayer and communion with Him. This does not mean that
the effectiveness of prayer can be measured by the clock. But we must see the link between a deep knowledge of God and our time alone with Him being influenced by His presence.
The important secret of knowing God and having His influence is time spent alone with Him, absorbing His power and being changed by His presence. Hasty
visits to the inner chamber are deceptive. When our life is inconsistent it’s because we pray hastily. Our prayers lack power because we have not entered
the realm of faith that fellowship alone will produce.
In the classic book Power Through Prayer, E. M. Bounds makes this statement: “Much time spent with God is the secret of all successful praying.
Prayer which is felt as a mighty force is the mediate or immediate product of much time spent with God. Our short prayers owe their point and efficiency
to the long ones that have preceded them. The short prevailing prayers cannot be prayed by one who has not prevailed with God in a mightier struggle
of long continuance.”
It is the deep roots produced in private fellowship that bring power for public benefit. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness
and He came out in the power of the Spirit. He was led to fast and pray before beginning His public ministry.
Jesus was not brought to this secluded spot so the devil could take shots at Him. He was there to complete His preparation for revealing the presence and
power of His Heavenly Father. It was right at the end of this time that Satan tested Jesus in an effort to get Him to compromise and thereby fail to
fulfill God’s plan. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus took the Scriptures and beat everything Satan threw at Him. Then He returned to Galilee,
and the Bible says His fame spread through the whole region (Luke 4:14).
If only each young believer could learn from the beginning of his Christian walk the importance of this truth: If Jesus Himself needed to go into the presence of His Father to be renewed and find guidance, how much more does today’s child of God need to do this?
In Exodus 34, Moses fasted in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and nights when he was given the Ten Commandments. Notice verse 29: “Now it was so,
when Moses came down from Mount Sinai…that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.”
When Moses stood in the presence of God, there was a very dramatic outward effect — an unconscious effect. Moses was not even aware of the shine
of God’s glory on his face. Through communion in the inner chamber, our lives and attitudes will be affected in such a way that will result in an outward
expression of inward progress. We may not shine as Moses did but the evidence of our time with Him will be no less impressive.
