Be Like Jesus
August 6th, 2010 by Angela
Matthew 14:23 “And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray; and when it was evening, he was there alone.”
Jesus had had a pretty rough day. An extraordinary day filled with horrible news and the demands of a large ministry. First he finds out that his cousin, John the Baptist, has just been beheaded. Can you imagine the shock and the sadness that must have hit him to hear this news? He attempted to get away by himself then, when he first heard about John, but the multitudes followed him, and instead, he spent the entire day healing and ministering to the crowds, and even miraculously feeding them all by the end of the day.
It was probably late by the time Jesus sent the multitudes home and the disciples out onto a boat. That is when Jesus intentionally went up to the mountain to spend some quiet alone time with His Heavenly Father. We might guess it may have been 9 o’clock by the time he was able to slip away. The Scriptures tell us that it was somewhere during the fourth watch, or between 3 – 6 a.m., when Jesus went walking out onto the water to meet up again with his disciples. We can figure that Jesus had been praying for at least the past 6 hours. Can you imagine spending 6 hours communing with God, when most people can’t even spare Him, the Creator of the Universe, fifteen minutes of their time?
What can we glean from Jesus’ example?
1) We must make it a priority to spend quiet time with our Heavenly Father.
2) Even when we are most busy, that is when we need time with God the most.
While it may sound counter-intuitive, it is during our most busy and frazzled days, that we most need to spend more time with God, rather than less. Typically, our quiet time is the first thing we can most easily eliminate from our daily planners when pressed for time. Instead, it should be THE thing that we hang onto tenaciously and preserve with all our might. To see Jesus prioritize this, it makes us realize that we, too, need to escape into our special corner or prayer closet, away from even our spouse or children, to restore and renew our minds with the Scriptures and leave our burdens and worries with our Heavenly Father. When we see the results or fruit that it produces in our lives, it should make us yearn for time with God all the more!
A daily quiet time with God is our way of tithing our time to Him and being able to connect with Him on a deeper level than a life without one. Do you yearn for this? Make it a priority today. Put it on your calendar, make an appointment with God, and then guard it diligently, for it is during these quiet moments in prayer and quiet meditation upon the Scriptures and precepts of God, that God speaks and fills us with His Spirit, and therefore can equip us for what lies ahead that day.
For those who are mothers with young toddlers or babies, or someone with an impossible work load and busy family, as a mother with five children, I must share with you that it IS possible to steal time away from your busy life to spend it with God, if it is a priority to you. People make time for what is important. If spending time with God is a priority in your life, then I guarantee you, you will find time, no matter what your day looks like. Don’t you think that it’s time to get honest with yourself, and look deeply as to why you’re not reading your Bible and spending time in prayer? It starts with a promise to yourself (no one else need to know), that you will carve out time in your schedule to meet with our Heavenly Father, no matter what, and you will then be amazed at God’s blessing and reward upon your heart, your mind, your day, your life!
Instead of the popular marketing slogan, “Be like Mike,” (for those of you who remember the commercials with Michael Jordan), I challenge you to “Be Like Jesus!” We may not have a large ministry that we are responsible for, but we do have troubles and sorrows that can make us worry or sad. We may not have a mountain to escape to, but everyone has a chair or couch or room that we can go to. God is there. He is waiting. Decide today, that you will take time out of your day to get rejuvenated with the powerful, transforming word of God and be in the presence of our Almighty God, in the name of our Lord Messiah Jesus, our mediator and High Priest. Be Like Jesus!
Angela
You are so right! And, on those days that you so frantically busy/ don’t feel up to it/ are depressed and don’t feel like talking to anyone, those are the days that, without fail, you connect best with the Father. James 4:8a says “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” If this is true (and it must be), the converse also applies- draw away from God, and He will draw away from you. What great strength we can draw from this time of prayer. A little further James continues :”Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you”. Not just comfort/reassure/advise us, but actually EXALT us! All we have to do is draw near and open our hearts.