One of the main reasons I moved to Sarasota FL from Honey Lake near Greenville FL was to once again live near the ocean. I love everything about the ocean including its smell, its varying colors, the sunsets and dawns that adorn it, sugar beaches, its soothing rhythmic waves, and even its storms.
I love to catch the fish that abundantly inhabit the ocean. My son and I went fishing just this week and he caught a tarpon that was approximately 150 lbs. and it took nearly 45 minutes to subdue it, touch the leader and release it. I caught a rod-bending shark a few minutes later that put up its own battle. Great fun!
I’ve spent thousands of hours on the ocean and/or sitting on its shores staring at it, and yet I never get enough of it. I feel a closeness with God there, just like I do at Honey Lake when roaming through its forests, swamps, and native grass fields. Although God is everywhere and He hears our prayers regardless of where we happen to be, the outdoors is the best place to commune with God that I have found.
Jesus was cognizant of this as well. Luke 5:16 speaks to it: But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Mark records this penchant of His for solitude during prayer as well: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
He was in no danger of distraction, or of temptation to sin, yet he sought out isolated places to pray. Jesus was a model for the world and being in public was His calling, yet sometimes even He needed and desired to be alone with God.
We all need a special place to go to be alone with God. The prophet Habakkuk stated: “I will climb up into my watchtower . . . ” Habakkuk 2:1. It was his way of saying I’m going to get alone with God.
Jesus knew the importance of uninterrupted prayer. Luke 6:12. It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. Luke 5:15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Jesus prayed so much that all of his disciples took note of it. Like us, Jesus led a very busy life, filled with people, demands, tough decisions, work to be done, and goals to be accomplished. There was hustle and bustle, there was noise and confusion, there was running here and there. Jesus was busy traveling, teaching, debating, settling disputes, healing, preaching, and visiting. Someone always wanted something from Jesus — usually something miraculous.
Jesus did not slip prayer time into his busy schedule. He did not use travel time as prayer time. He did not pray while he was completing another task, like preparing for bed, or grabbing a bite to eat. Prayer was not a haphazard happening during the day. It was always intentional, and it was never combined with any other activity. Most often when Jesus prayed, he removed himself physically from everything that could interrupt or distract him. He dismissed the crowds and the disciples then sought out empty, lonely places of seclusion and silence. There he turned his attention exclusively to God.
What about you and me? Do we pray “on the run,” or do we withdraw from our families, friends, jobs, and recreational activities? Do we remove ourselves physically to a place where there are no distractions: no phone, no e-mail, and kids, or people hounding us for answers, and turn our attention exclusively to God?
Or do we pray as an afterthought.
Prayer is our opportunity to communicate with God. Though He is the most revered, important, and powerful King of all creation, He makes Himself available 24/7 just to talk to you and me one on one. I urge you to take advantage of this special time.
Not everyone lives near the magnificent ocean, or by the gorgeous forest and fields of Honey Lake, but we all can find a place to be alone with God if we make an effort. Jesus made the effort by getting up early, long before the others awoke. It was important to Him.
Find your own place of solitude to be with God even if it’s a park bench somewhere. If it’s important to you, and you are willing to expend some effort, then God will lead you to a special place where you can be totally alone with just you and Him. Then make it a habit to go there daily.
Remember that Jesus was a Man of prayer and often prayed ALL NIGHT and did so in privacy. What does that tell us about our own prayer life? What is the longest prayer you have ever prayed? I doubt many of us have had all-nighters. Jesus derived what He needed to perform the greatest ministry our world will ever know from the power of prayer. Just imagine what it will do for us . . .
Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
June 2, 2016 – Click here to listen