“Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.”
(Luke 6:12-13)
One of Jesus’ most important assignments, picking the 12 disciples who would soon be tasked with ferociously taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, was bathed in solitude and prayer…
Background
It is interesting to me that some of God’s greatest works were done on the back end of solitude.
David had spent years alone in the wilderness as a shepherd right before his rendezvous with a giant. Much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.
Moses spent close to 40 years in the wilderness before the burning bush experience which catapulted him into some of the most legendary leadership confrontations in scripture. Much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.
Jesus spent 40 days alone in the wilderness fasting and praying just before his thunderous 3 year ministry began. Again, much time to think; pray; listen and reflect.
Reflections
These examples beg a question…is there something powerful that God often births in focused solitude? In quietness do we more clearly hear the holy spirit’s whisper?
We live in a culture that demands our time. Our jobs require our attention during long working hours…and in many cases demand keeping connected in the evenings and weekends. There may not have ever been a generation where our children’s activities consume so much of the family’s time. Of course, we don’t want our kids to get behind. And with the residual left-overs many of us collapse into our escapes: tv; social media; internet surfing; sporting events; and news cycles. And..sadly often there is little time left over for much else.
But, in this unprecedented competition for our time are we on a dangerous track and missing something? Is it possible that Satan is intentionally using busyness to distract us away from our savior and thinking about “things above”? And therefore incapable of hearing the Lord’s whispers?
If there was an app that each day could monitor how much time we thought about scripture and the lord and worship, how would the results compare to our thinking on the alternatives above?
Lord, these last 6 months have been hard. I’ve spent most of my time separated from my family due to my work requirements. On many levels this seemed so wrong. Yet, I’ve come to wonder if this was part of your plan to reset me. There has never been so much time with just you and me. You’ve been whispering so much. So much that I’ve never heard before in the noise of my previous life. Let me continue to deepen my meditation and reflections on you. Not out of legalism. But out of a deepening love and desperation for You. Please change my heart. I love you. Amen.
What if in the next year we dedicated ourselves to thinking; praying and meditating on “things above” 50% more than we have done in the previous few years? What would God do in shifting our desires, affections and our heart?
What if... 