Job 22:21-30: Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. One who thinks about problems and enemies lives in the bustle. Whenever you notice that you are worrying about something or in a panic, be aware that you have departed from the source of grace. When we are acquainted with God, He fills our lives with peace.
During a personal retreat with God you gain his trust and his secrets are revealed to you. You have access to knowledge that is closed and inaccessible to others. Proverbs 25:2 says: It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
For example, diamonds do not lie on the surface, one should search for them. But the one who finds a diamond will not remain the same. This valuable gem will make the person rich, influential and weighty. In this world God’s secrets also do not lie on the surface, but they are revealed during the time spent with God. When you spend time alone with God, it causes the power of God to come upon you and makes you “conceive” and also causes you (an ordinary person) to gain the authority of a king in the spiritual realm.
God would not entrust his innermost secrets to us, until he is sure that we are truly seeking him above all other things. He must be convinced that he is our first priority, he has priority over our families, work, finances and other concerns. We make God our first priority when we set out time to have a personal prayer retreat with him. Job 22:23: If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. As soon as we find God – our life comes to order.
1. All great achievements are as a result of personal retreat. It could be personal retreat with God, with books or manuscripts. If we do not participate in the art of personal prayer retreat with God, we cannot be placed on the record of history. God entrusts His secrets only to those who seek Him.
Great discoveries are born during personal retreats. During these periods new ideas and great insights are released from heaven. Those who despise personal prayer retreat – gnawed with bustle of this world and the claws of a crawfish firmly hold them in a trap.
2. Personal retreats can be carried out for self-development – to read, enrich and cultivate oneself. At this time one can hear the voice of God and receive instruction from him, tear oneself away from the bustle and outside voices of this world. It is so important to arrange personal prayer retreats with fasting for more than 3 days, because after the third day the flesh calms down and no longer dictate its terms and one’s thoughts become pure. Those that do not practice personal prayer retreat for 3 days or more do not understand the sweetness of communion with God and one can say that their Christian lives has not started yet!
Note for yourself that my great and brilliant speeches are always the result of concealed rehearsals. In other words, invisible sacrifice and exhausting secret work, always glorify you in front of an audience on the world stage. If there is no secret preparations and exhaustive work then it is pointless to dream of applause, recognition and glory. You will not get on to the podium without secret exhaustive work. Whenever you see someone with a good public reputation, then think immediately of the backroom exhaustive work, which the person has placed on the altar.
Personal prayer retreat reveals secret information and skills which causes you to shine like a diamond in the world arena.
Matthew 13:11 says: He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mark 4:11 says: And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
Luke 8:10 says: He said: you is given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, and the rest in parables, so that they are seeing, not seeing and hearing, may not understand.
a. All great ideas and dreams are born only in the secret place; this is the result of hard work, maximum effort during personal prayer retreat.
b. All great books are the result of someone’s personal retreat. Work during a personal retreat give results of greater significance than the usual, standard work.
c. Studying history of all great discoveries, you will find rejection, loneliness and personal retreat in the lives of those involved. It is better to spend your life in a closed room and then 3 days of glory than walk on the earth all your life and do not place yourself in the record of history. Due to personal retreat with God one can become a walking mystery for the world.
d. Any visible success is work matured in a secret place. Birth is always the result of the secret work of conception. Every conception occurs in secret. If we cannot find time for the secret life, then we have no right to expect a birth. Visible success is a secret work.
e. God created man in such a way that he would need to make a deliberate effort to find time to be alone with the Lord.
f. Personal prayer retreat was one of the significant aspects of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 6:12 says: ” And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
Luke 9:10 it is saying: And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
Luke 4:1-2 says: And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
One would think that Jesus Christ had no need for a personal prayer retreat, but Jesus was not able to do anything while he was in the flesh until he reunited with the Father.
Exodus 34:29 says: And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
Believe me my friends, it is impossible to come out from personal prayer retreat unchanged.
It is very important for each of us to have our own personal experiences of walking with God. This would make us God’s Oracles and not someone’s echo.
What do you do during personal prayer retreat?
During personal prayer retreat it is necessary to focus on prayer.
Apart from praying, you can also spend some time reading a book, watching or listening to a sermon or singing worship songs to the lord.
It is very important to have your entire focus on the lord and avoid every external distractions (fleshly, worldly affairs).
You will need to set aside sometime to rest (good sleep) in order to spend your time in a constructive way with renewed strength.
Personal prayer retreat is also a time to cast your burdens on the Lord and he will give you rest.
Pastor Sunday Adelaja
Translated by Anna Krets
Edited by Vera Azeta
