LUKE 5:16 ‘But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray in seclusion’.
A number of years ago my husband and I were flying back from England, there had been some weather issues and we had been diverted to another airport. We were coming into land and the plane was making its usual descent. I was looking out of the window but could see very little as there was thick fog all around us. Suddenly there was an enormous roaring sound. Everyone was thrown back in their seats and the plane quickly began to soar back up into the air! There were anxious cries from across the cabin and a tangible sense of panic filled the air. Now if you were to have asked people before entering the plane if they had a relationship with the Lord and prayed on a regular basis you might have had a mixed response. But I can almost guarantee that at that moment when we were all confronted with the thought that the plane ride might not be as plane sailing as we thought I believe many cries for help to God were being uttered!!
The truth is many of us as believers can neglect our prayer lives or leave intense prayer to moments of crisis, pain or loss. The Lord is always there for us and will always answer us when we call out to him for help. Psalm 118 v 5 assures us, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.” However when we look at the Life of Jesus I believe there are many things that he wants to teach us about prayer. Let’s look at the story in Mark 9. The disciples have tried to deliver a boy from a demon and they have failed. It’s not that they didn’t know what they were doing, they were actually really experienced, in fact the most experienced deliverance team in the world at that time! They were like the A Team! Yet in this instance they were unable to help the boy. They turn to Jesus, He steps in and delivers him. Now, many people would say, well obviously Jesus could deliver the boy He is God after all. But we need to remember the fact that Jesus was operating from His humanity, He was trusting and putting his faith in the Father to bring heaven to earth.
After the child is delivered the disciples take Jesus aside and ask Him how this happened. They want to be able to do it too!! Jesus tells them (vs 28) this kind only comes out through prayer and fasting. Now what is interesting here is that we do not see Jesus praying or fasting at this point. He simply tells the demon to leave. So why is this his answer? You see, we often pray as a reaction or when we are on the defensive but that always leaves us behind the curve. Jesus did fast for 40 days at the start of His ministry which tells us that He was not fasting for a problem, but for a lifestyle. Jesus often withdrew to pray, not in response to a need but because He desired communion with his Father. Jesus knew that all life and blessings come from the Father and it was from this place of connection that he brought victory.
Today Jesus wants us to cultivate a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. He wants us to know him intimately each day. He wants us to commune with him, to hear his heart, to have him impart his faith into our situations so that we are fully equipped for the trials and challenges that might come our way. He wants us to take an offensive position, in which we proactively build ourselves up in the knowledge of him and allow our hearts and minds to be shaped by his grace. In this place we will have boldness and confidence to face every situation with the perspective of heaven and we will see his life flow in all circumstances!
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Unshakeable Hope Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2021