Are you a lonely person? We’re talking about the loneliness epidemic. With the presence of Christ in our lives, we need not be lonely, no matter how alone we may be.

Why, then, are so many Christians lonely? Because they don’t practice the presence of Christ in their lives. You “practice” his presence—you develop the habit of calling on him, talking to him, inviting him to be a part of your life at all times.

Could it be you’re not practicing his presence because there is some sin that keeps you from sweet, intimate fellowship with God? If you’re living in disobedience to God and you know it, that could be the cause of your loneliness since it’s destroying the sense of God’s presence in your life.

Many Christians don’t know God’s presence because they don’t spend enough time with him. You can’t practice his presence very well if you’re not saturating your life with God’s Word and prayer.

Not long after I had come back to God and made him Lord of my life, I was sitting in my office one Wednesday when it occurred to me, I was facing a weekend with no plans! For singles, that can be seen as the worst of all fates, and in a slight panic I reached for my phone to start calling friends. As I started to dial, the Holy Spirit quietly said to me, “Can’t you trust me? The weekends are in my control just as much as the other days. You can make a weekend alone—with me!”

My somewhat fearful response was, “Okay, Lord, I’ll prove you are God of the weekends, too.” So, I made plans to be alone with God for those two weekend evenings. There were some tense moments when I again found myself thinking, “Something must be wrong with me, or I wouldn’t be by myself on a Saturday evening.”

But I took my Bible, sat down and asked God to again show me he was God, even of the weekends. I ran to God as my refuge, and I was free. Free from the need to have someone around all the time; free from those self-pitying, self-centered feelings of loneliness. Though it’s a lesson I have had to re-learn from time to time, I can tell you it became a treat to have some quiet Saturday nights by myself. It was a turning point for me, dispelling the fear of being alone. If that is more or less where you are, God wants to do the same for you.