August 6

Alone with God

“Come ye yourselves apart” (Mark 6:31).
“And he took him aside from the multitude” (Mark 7:33).
“And Jacob was left alone” (Gen. 32:24).

The Lord filled me with desire, and made me feel that I must be as much with Him alone as with souls in public.—Andrew Bonar.

Alone with Thee! Alone with Thee!
O Friend divine!
Thou Friend of friends, to me most dear,
Though all unseen, I feel Thee near;
And, with the love that knows no fear,
I call Thee mine. . . .
Alone with Thee! Alone with Thee!
In Thy pure light
The splendid pomps and shows of time,
The tempting steeps that pride would climb,
The peaks where glory rests sublime,
Pale on my sight. . . .

Alone with Thee! Alone with Thee!
There not alone,
But with all saints the mighty throng,
My soul unfettered, pure and strong,
Her high communings shall prolong
Before Thy throne.
—Ray Palmer.

It has been said that no great work in literature or in science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude, and we may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion that no large growth of holiness or real and continuous success in Christian work, was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often and long alone with God. Someone spoke to John Nelson, making unfavorable comparison of John Wesley with a prominent religious teacher of the day. Nelson replied, “He has not stayed in the upper room like John Wesley.” It is there where we get our message, and where we win our battles before they are fought.
Our Gideons must Isaiahs be, visions first—then victory.
(From New Testament Holiness by Thomas Cook. Used by permission of the Epworth Press.)

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