Today is the 3rd day of Lent, a 40 day season of spiritual reflection, repentance, and renewal. During these 40 days we’ll explore the prayer life of Jesus, walking chronologically through every mention of Jesus’ prayer life and prayers in the Gospels.
Here is today’s prayer event: 15But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. (Lk. 5:15-16 ESV)
Success. Busyness. Tyranny of the Urgent. All three hit Jesus.
- Success: “even more the report about him went abroad…” Jesus becomes a household word.
- Busyness: “great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed…” Jesus has increasing crowds to tend to and teach.
- Tyranny of the Urgent: everywhere Jesus turns there is a life begging to be touched.
Yet what does Jesus do? “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” Luke’s language indicates this was a habit. Regularly, Jesus would step away from the spotlight, the to-do list, and the legitimate needs to pray to the Father.
Which is keeping you from prayer: Success? Busyness? Tyranny of the Urgent? Walk away from it today, and every day for the remainder of these 40 days. Every day for these 40 days spend significant time in prayer. Trust that God will still be at work even when it seems you are not. Believe that your need for prayer is more urgent than anything else today.
SHARE WITH OTHER READERS BELOW WHERE YOUR “DESOLATE PLACE” IS, WHERE YOU FIND A SAFE AND QUIET PLACE FOR PRAYER…
[image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/articnomad/241620406/]
I am plagued by the tyranny of the urgent. I confess that I do not have a plan to break free from it, nor desolate place where I retreat, at least not with any regularity. I want to become intentional in my prayer life which, right now, seems random and haphazard. It is not a coincidence, then, that my life feels a little out of control. I am so grateful for these posts and for everyone’s comments.
Melanie,
Thanks for being such a rich part of this prayer conversation. I too am so often dominated by the tyranny of the urgent. My primary means of attacking it is to stubbornly (and often very tiredly) to dedicate the early morning hours to prayer and study, when even “urgency” is still in bed. I’ve found those dark and quiet moments to be foundational to the tone and spirit of the rest of the day.
Thank you, Chris, for helping me to see myself in Jesus, and reminding me of how he faced the same things that we face in this world. My “desolate place” is my mornings. I am the only early riser in my family and usually enjoy a full hour before anyone else gets out of bed. While I occasionally run (outdoors or treadmill), I almost always pray, read from my Bible or from a devotional magazine or spiritual book. Melanie, I pray that you will find a desolate place, even if it isn’t a daily thing, perhaps a weekend getaway, a stroll in a park or a walk around the block. Because I know firsthand how renewing it is just to be in His presence alone. Like you, I want to be more intentional in my prayer life. Not just more regular, but less ME focused and more praying for a “Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Him better.” (Ephesians 1:17)
I was just listening to a podcast of a speaker at a downtown church yesterday who made this interesting observation: Lent is about removing the masks we wear at Mardi Gras. Well, I have never been to Mardi Gras but, like most of us, I do wear masks. So this season is an uncomfortable one, as those masks are confronted and I have to decide whether to strip them off. At the same time, that is also very freeing. The line in your entry above that hit me the most (or got behind the mask, to carry on the metaphor) is “Trust that God will be at work even when it seems you are not.” Ah, there’s the rub!
My “desolate places” are usually exactly that: out in the woods somewhere. Lately, it has been my classroom early in the morning before the onslaught of the day begins.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to have one speed… Fast!
I hate wasting time and find myself getting frustrated at others when they don’t appear to move fast enough! I am finding, in my later years, that slowing down is a good thing. All this time, Jesus gave me example after example of slowing down but I didn’t make the choice to apply his example to my life. I’m still not where I need to be in this discipline. I will continue to pray for help to slow down, retreat from time to time to allow God to work .
I have had desolate places in the past, but the responsibilities of marriage, job, homeschool, raising 4 kids, etc., have made ME a desolate place. I have been trying to be more intentional since the beginning of the year about taking time out of my evening at work to read, study, reflect or pray. (It’s been along time coming for I have been in the dessert for quite some time moving from oasis to oasis.) But in my work world the tyranny of the urgent can happen at any moment when that pager starts beeping and I realize the trauma and heartache is heading my way. So I’m trying NOW to take time out when I first hit the office. I usually have about an hour of uninterupted time (until I am given the pager) that allows me to just take a deep breath and center myself before the throne.
My favorite desolate places throughout my life have been outdoors. Growing up I would walk a few blocks away from my house to a quiet cemetary, and walk the paths to pray. One of my favorite places in the world is Two Lights State Park in Maine, standing on the rocks that make up the shoreline and letting the ocean tease me with its fickle waves. Several times in my life I have lived near a woods or park where I could wander, and the still greenness of those places has created a quiet place within my spirit even now.
These days I do not have the chance to get away by myself very often, but I have found a labyrinth which I love to sneak away to. Walking the labyrinth forces me to slow down, push aside the “urgent” voices and tasks of the day, and focus on staying on the narrow path. It isn’t silent there, but the natural and manmade sounds surround me like a blanket, a cushion between me and the outside world. It calms me slowly, as with every foot fall and every breath I creep closer to the center, not only the physical center of the labyrinth, but also the spiritual center of my life.
When I can’t get away to the labyrinth, I create a “place of desolation” somewhere quiet in the house. I light candles, close the door, and find cocoon, a retreat, an oasis, where I can drink deeply of the living water that cleanses me and refreshes me for another foray into the desert.
I met a customer today that had just bought a house. The previous owners were buddhists. One upstairs closet was literally a prayer closet. The strong smell of incense and ash outlines on the walls of where idols hung was an interesting sight. While I do agree with the sentiment of prayer in a closet for private time with our Father, it reminded me of the fruitlessness and true emptiness of the closet. My job affords me lots of time alone. Even still, it has been hard to stay focused on prayer during these times. It has been the intentionality of my walk along with the ipod that have made these times fruitful and meaningful. I can truly relate to the busyness and urgent times that pulls us away. It is easy to get trapped in the fast paced drudgery of our lives. One of my hopes for these initial days is to strengthen my “pray without ceasing” desire, that my walk will be in spite of the things around me.
I too am most often connected with God when outdoors. There’s something about creation that moves my soul. In the cold winter time, however, I am grateful for the way God breaks through when all I have is a desk and a chair.
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