He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples” (John 11:53-54 NLT). As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. “So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. WITHIN A TRIAL? When you need strength to face a trial, go first to a quiet place and meet with God. When they found him, they said, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’ But Jesus replied, ‘We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Sometimes God will move you in a different direction even though things seem to be going great! What happens if you are too fixed on your current strategy and success to hear Him moving you on? In the midst of seemingly great success, Jesus experienced a shift in direction after focused prayer.
Even then, you still need to come away with Him. NEED STRATEGIES? Success and popularity are not always proof that God wants you to keep doing what you are currently doing. That’s intense, but it proves the importance of prayer before major life decisions. Before choosing His twelve closest men, Jesus went to a lonely place and prayed all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles” (Luke 6:12-13a NLT). “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 4:11)īIG DECISIONS TO MAKE? Jesus got alone with God before He chose His twelve disciples. It was there at the beginning of His ministry in this lonely place, after enduring temptation that the angels of the Lord began to minister to Him (Matt. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil” (Matthew 4:1 NLT). But that solitude and the battles fought alone were necessary for all that was to follow.
That certainly seems like a counterintuitive way to begin a ministry. Immediately after He was proclaimed the Lamb of God and publicly announced by John the Baptist, Jesus was compelled to go to a lonely place for forty long days and nights. PREPARING FOR SOMETHING? When in preparation for a new work, be sure to allow even more time alone with the One who has called you. And it was how He prepared for all the demands on his life. Time alone with God was how He nourished His soul. Yet He regularly sought out moments to pause in prayer. TOO BUSY TO PAUSE? Some days Jesus was so busy He had no time to stop and even make a sandwich (John 4:31-35).
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