“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16
As we look in the Bible, we can see that people of faith in God had regularly routines of spending time with God in prayer. King David practiced set times of prayer seven times a day (Psalm 119:164). The prophet Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Faithful Jews prayed at morning, noon, and night. Even after the resurrection, it appears Jesus’ disciples had fixed times of prayer as a routine (Acts 3:1; 10:2-23). This pattern was a practical way to keep their lives centered on God at all times.
When Jesus was in the height of His earthly ministry, He was busy. He was a very popular person and many people wanted to talk with Him, receive a miracle, or hear Him teach. Yet we are told something fairly surprising in Luke 5:15-16, “The news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” In other words, Jesus had continual demands placed upon Him, but frequently said “no”, pulled back, and spent time with His Father instead.
Does that surprise you at all? It surprises me a little bit. If there ever was a true “superman” it was Jesus. If there was ever a man who could “do it all”, it was Jesus. Yet even Jesus would often, frequently, routinely, regularly, pull away to a place where no one was and simply pray.
What the Old Testament faithful and Christians throughout the centuries have discovered is that pulling away routinely to be with God is the key to creating a continual familiarity with God’s presence. It is the key to being open to God’s presence in all that we do. And as Jesus modeled, this is a priority. Even when the demands of the world are many, and perhaps especially so, we must often withdraw just to be with the Father.
God does not want our doing for Him to get ahead of our being with Him. Like Jesus, and so many faithful followers of God, make regular take time to rest, refuel, and recharge in God’s presence. Don’t let this fall by the wayside. Make it a habit. Do it often. Come away with God. The devil, demands, and distractions of this world will try to get you to not to spend alone time with God. “You’re too busy. That’s a waste of time. There are more fun things to do. Look at your to do list!” Silence the noise and follow the example set by our Lord. Come away with Him and tell your to do list, “I have something more important to do.”