I had this discussion with a dear brother in Christ just a couple of hours ago. In our short exchange we labored to remember the centrality and importance of Communion with God in the life, theology and practice of the Christian person. And this observance is first a reflection toward our own lives, of how we fall so far short on what is to be had by any professor of Christ as defined by Scripture.

5:01 AM | Aashik Rao: Hey bro.

5:02 AM | Me: Hello brother.

| AR: How goes it, bro ~ haven’t heard from you in a while.

5:05 AM | Me: Doing better brother. God’s dealing kindly with us all. Lately, I’m laboring to commune with God more frequently and more “deeply” than I ever had. Pouring deep groanings for you and Holly too before the throne of great grace…

| AR: thank you so much…and I understand what you’re saying. I take it that’s why you’ve been less on fb?

5:06 AM | Me: yes brother… I just want to be alone with God. Oh, to be discipled first by Him. What blessedness it is.

5:07 AM | AR: I totally agree…Facebook over the last month has not dealt well with my soul…and I have left for a while. The original reason was because I had a public debate in school this week (Christianity vs. Nihilism) to prepare for…but I think I will take more time…just away from teh clutter and to simply give myself to His Word and to prayer. More than anything… It just shows how much fluff your supposed “spirituality” had in the past… Terribly self-abasing and humbling.

5:10 AM | Me: Me too brother. Fellowship is good, but sometimes we tend to forget where our affections must first be consumed. There should first be a deep seated desire to long and groan for communion and consecration with Him… I didn’t have that in months… And yes, terribly true how much trifles we give ourselves to… in a single hour, a day, a week.

| AR: Yeah – I agree… And wow, that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. See…I feel that in ministering to people in general (preaching or lay) there’s both the horizontal and the vertical aspect of it and sometimes, it’s so easy to be caught up in the supposed success of being horizontally successful – helping people, teaching etc…that you forget the vertical aspect of doing things to the glory of God and I’ve found that so often… Many of my FB statuses… Sure they’re “great” and “liked”… But the heart with which I write them… It is rotten! It thinks so little of God! God can use stuttering mules to minister to people… He does not need me whatsoever. He desires a consecrated and lowly heart, not one who can do a lot of things…

| Me: Most definitely true as well with my life and heart brother.

5:15 AM | AR: Yeah… Sometimes, I wish I could get out and go off to a mountain and pray.lol Just away from people for a while… Not because they aren’t such a huge blessing to me… But just because they can give you an easy false joy and false hope. It’s really easy to enjoy people as people… Not as lenses through which we behold God’s glory.

| Me: You said that there is a horizontal and vertical aspect to it. I believe that is true. But isn’t it equally true that any horizontal reality we labor in must be nothing but a mere reflection of the vertical reality we have with the living God? It’s such a painful thing to see in myself how I care little about the vertical and labor so much at times for the horizontal. A vain exercise to have the vertical validated by the horizontal. Where instead it must and should be the other way around.

| AR: Amen – I totally agree… Yeah… They aren’t separate.

5:18 AM | Me: No laboring for our fellow man can ever give us a true sense of communion with God. But it is only in our first consecration and communion with God that any labor and fellowship with man would ever have any value in it.

| AR: When we are empowered by God…and we come to truly know Him… It will inevitably flow out into love and service unto our fellow men.

| Me: Yes, and the operating word there is “inevitably”… [It is an inevitable reality that will happen in the heart that is consecrated to God.]

| AR: Exactly… Else, are we any different to the “let’s do lots, pray little” mega-church movement?

5:19 AM | Me: It’s a sad display to see. [Instead], Where all that is our practical Christian life must be nothing but a dim reflection of our deep consecration with God. What a sad thing it is that there are many days that I can confess that my practice is so bright and yet my communion with Him is so pitiful.

| AR: And at the time, we justify it by saying “I’m showing love to my fellow humans…” when in reality it just reflects a heart that cares more about the needs of the world, than of eternity.

5:22 AM | Me: Yes… But even at times when we do care about the walk of others and to edify them… the question that must be asked is… “Where do these words flow from?”

5:23 AM | Me: From a heart that spent all it’s energies in the academy of God’s Word and Closet? Or from a heart that thinks little of it?

| AR: Right – are we now to think we may finish the race with the power of our flesh?

| Me: Ugh, so true brother. And the thing is, we scarcely see it when we are engaged in our activities.

5:24 AM | AR: Right… And it just leaves you so powerless and exhausted… In a way that doesn’t draw us to our knees, but just makes us lay on our beds and excuse our prayerlessness and lack of communion.

| Me: Exactly, and there it is nothing less but practical atheism and idolatry…

Can you be alone with God?