I know that I'm really blessed to have a group of friends who all get on with each other, who I can turn to for different points of view when I'm facing a dilemma, and who also look to me to support them in their times of need.
But I've also been a member of friendship groups in the past where I've only been close to one or two members and discovered during times spent alone with the others that I didn't know them very well at all, and in some cases concluded that I didn't like them very much either.
The distance between us wasn't as noticeable during the times we were in the company of others but it was stifling when there were no distractions or other people.
If you're attending church regularly, take part in group prayer, and are a member of a house group, you can find yourself spending a considerable amount of time meeting with God as part of a community. While each of these activities help us to mature spiritually and each play their role in helping us to get to know God, we should also endeavour to spend scheduled and unscheduled time with Him on our own.
While I don't think that if we spend more time alone with God, we'd discover that we don't like Him, I do think that it can only improve our understanding and relationship with Him. And in some cases, we might come to realise that He's quite different to how we previously thought of Him.
There's no reason to avoid meeting God with others, it's what He wants us to do but he also wants us to come to Him when we're alone.
Here are three reasons to have some important one-on-one time with God.
He gets our full attention
We always have God's full attention when we go to Him, but He doesn't always have ours. The spiritual disciplines of praying and worshipping alone foster spiritual growth and encourage us to fix our hearts and minds solely on God, something that isn't always possible when we're surrounded by others.
Use your one-on-one time with God to develop your ability to devote your complete attention to Him. If you make a habit out of doing this in your own time, you'll be better placed to do so when distractions try and take hold.
We can practise uninhibited honesty
We might not find it easy to say "I feel distant from God" in a group full of other Christians who we assume are feeling His presence in that very moment, but it can be easier to express our deepest concerns to God first when it's just the two of us.
If you're having difficulty being honest in God's presence when other people are around, let your guard down to Him in private. This should reduce your fears and leave you better equipped to practise honesty outside one-on-one prayer.
Tailored time
Although there will be other people present who needed to hear a particular sermon at a specific time, not every message will relate profoundly to what we're experiencing when we initially hear it. However, when we meet with God alone we can tailor our time to the needs of our individual relationship – what we need from Him – specific guidance, peace, reassurance and what we need to give Him – praise or thanks for a recent blessing.
If you didn't give your all during worship, don't feel as though you need to wait for the next Sunday to come around. During your one-on-one moments with God, remove the ringfences around prayer, silence and worship by doing each of them for as long as necessary.
