Matthew 17:8

Left alone!” What different emotions these words bring to mind for each of us! To some they mean loneliness and grief, but to others they may mean rest and quiet. To be left alone without God would be too horrible for words, while being left alone with Him is a taste of heaven! And if His followers spent more time alone with Him, we would have spiritual giants again.

Our Master set an example for us. Remember how often He went to be alone with God? And there was a powerful purpose behind His command, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray” (Matthew 6:6).

When Samuel Rutherford lay in Aberdeen prison, we are told he used to write at the top of his letters, “God’s Palace, Aberdeen.”

When Madame Guyon was imprisoned in the castle at Vincennes, she said: “It seems as though I were a little bird whom the Lord has placed in a cage, and that I have nothing now to do but sing.”