Getting Away to Pray
This morning, I was reading through Luke 5. I was struck by the 16th verse that talks about Jesus retreating to the wilderness alone to pray. It reminded me that just yesterday, in the 4th chapter of Luke, I had read that “Jesus went out to a solitary place” (4:42). This was in the midst of his ministry on earth. He was busy teaching and healing the people. And yet, Jesus…the Son of Man…God in the flesh, took time to be alone to pray. He did what he could to get some alone time with His heavenly Father.
This struck me! It reminded me of the importance of getting away to pray. It’s vitally important for Christians to get away from the noise, the busy-ness of our daily routines to pray. The Message paraphrase tells us that Jesus did this “as often as possible.” Wow! As I’m sitting here typing, I’m hard pressed to recall the last time I found a solitary place, a time to wander out into the wilderness to pray. And, yet, I’m struck by a strong desire, a strong need to do this.
Where is your solitary place? Where is your spot in the wilderness that you can retreat to in order to be alone with God and pray? For some it may be a bedroom, a car, an empty sanctuary, an office with a closed door, a big rock on the shore of a lake…the location isn’t the most important part. The crucial part is that we are finding time to focus our hearts and our minds in prayer.
I like the following translations of the verse from Luke 5:
Luke 5:16:
“As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out–of-the-way places for prayer.” (The Message)
Luke 5:16:
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (NASB)
Jason, Thanks for this thought…we have been looking at this at church, and I on my own. Matthew 6:6 reminds us how Jesus told us to pray. Go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is the the secret place…I have been thinking about how little time I really do this too. Praying in the car, office, etc is easy but real quiet time with the Lord means examining things…
Thanks agian have fun today at the docs…
Comment by rachel — January 25, 2006 @ 9:41 pm
I totally agree bro. I am just getting away now at the beginning of this week to just pray, read, write and refresh. Good stuff
Comment by Matt — January 30, 2006 @ 3:14 pm