Prayer / Secret Places

Well I wanted to start our night with a moment of prayer over our devotional tonight.

So let me pray.....

So tonight I wanted to talk about one of the hardest things for us as leaders to do. Being still, and using our time for something other than work or tasks. And it begins here in Mark 1:21-35 where Jesus has a crazy busy day. Like, I thought a day of ministry serving 2 services or preaching 2 sermons back to back was hard but check this out...

Mark 1:21–35 ESV

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

So Jesus is having a busy day. I mean this man, taught all day long, “ON THE SABBATH” . A demon possessed man comes and Jesus starts casting out demons. Like idk if it is like the scary movies, probably not, but it looks pretty tough and taxing. After finishing up, check this, still wasn’t done…goes back to Simon and Andrews and Simons mother in law was sick and he heals her. Not only that! But they bring everyone who was sick and oppressed with demons. So I believe it is safe to say that Jesus has had a longer day of ministry than we ever have. And you would think after a crazy day that you would be like sleeping in and resting up. But he wakes up early and goes to an isolated place to get with God.

Jesus not only begins his ministry with 40 days of silence and solitude and thats it. He continues to live and practice this throughout this ministry. And I think Jesus gives us a great example that the things he did and the ministry he lived out wasn’t filled with one and done’s but filled with consistency. He was consistently coming to be filled by the Holy spirit. And the reason it is so important for us to know this is because the bible tells us these things so we have a path way to know where we should go to be filled by the holy spirit even through our toughest days of ministry and leadership.

Just as Jesus prioritize his life around making time for God, we as leaders and followers, also need to develop this practice.

On the Sermon On The Mount, jesus teaches us the importance of creating space to encounter God: We see this in Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” The greek, for a room, is an inner room without openings to the outside. And this is specifically in there to help us know the exact place that we should go to create spaces for God.

A good example is right before the Lord’s prayer. Before Jesus teaches the disciples on how to pray and what to pray, he first teaches them where to pray. So this is the first part of our devotion, which is.

1.) Jesus invites us into places where we can close the door.

This is incredibly important for us as ministry leaders. We all have families and lives and ministry and the unfortunate thing sometimes for us is that ministry can feel a lot like work. And so our daily lives are full or work and distractions. I love the example of driving down the highway, how many signs and advertisements do you see a long the way? Everyone wants you to come give them your time and effort. And if we are real and honest there are a lot of things pulling us in a lot of directions. It is critical that we shut the door. And I mean literally. Wherever your prayer space is, don’t go in and leave the door open, it is almost a metaphor for letting the door open for distractions. Jesus could of just walked outside to pray and come to God. But he not only went outside but walked to an isolated place where he could be alone, free from distractions.

2.) Another thing is Jesus not only invites us into a quite place, but ask us to come with a quite heart.

Not only is Jesus showing us that these isolated place are good for outside distractions but he asks us to come with a quite heart. A heart that desires to come to the Lord. Solitude and silence not only refer to alleviating outside disturbances but also inward noise and interruptions.

And I will say this is the scariest one of them all. Because it is work to create a space to pray and come to God and shutting the door to outside distractions. I mean, tonight you could turn your phone off and go to a dark place to pray and you have already full-filled the first step. But how do you come quietly to this place and the shut the door on things that are not physical.

I can physically shut a door but it is impossible to physically shut off my anxiety and worries. Because without taking care of them, you can have the greatest prayer room ever and have all the inward distractions that completely negate this sacred moment with God. But the beautiful thing about this situations is that there is an answer within the bible. And the bible shows us that our hearts and our minds are connected.

As we can probably guess, the things that fill your heart will effect your mind and things that fill your mind will effect your heart. It is a inward connection. And the reason it becomes difficult is because you are trying to get your heart ready for God but your mind is on a million different jobs and tasks and worries. Or you know that you should come to the Lord but your hearts desires are in other things not of God.

If we are going to be able to come quietly to the lord in silence and solitude than we have to fill our minds with the ways of God and fill our hearts with the love of God.

So we see the 2 battles we must face in order for us to create a consistent behavior to come to God in solitude which is create a physical space and come with no outward or inward distractions. But was is the reward for doing these things

3.) We can encounter God’s Immediate presence in our solitude

The bible says “when we enter the inner, secret place to pray to God, he is “unseen”.”

Jesus is saying “pray to your father , who is in secret.” Because your father is already in that secret place.

God goes before us in our secret places. He is waiting for us. He has gone ahead of you. Because the moment you enter in your secret place, you are in the immediate presence of your father. So many people ask me what is the greatest benefit of praying in solitude. Is it because my prayers are better heard? Is it because it helps with my spirituality? No, it is because it is the place where you have immediate access to the almighty God who is prepared to be with you.

Do you seek his presence? Go to a desolate place.

Do you seek being heard? Go to a silent place.

Do you seek peace and comfort? Go to a place of solitude for prayer.

It is where you will find peace, love, comfort, quietness, stillness, and most importantly the presence of God.

4.) It creates a moment of intimacy with your savior

Intimacy with Jesus must be the center of our lives, not ministry for Jesus.

Our ministry should come from our intimacy with Jesus.

Our ministry should not be what causes us to go to a quiet place of solitude, but our solitude must be the place where our ministry comes from.

Bob Storge- “Hell will do everything in its power to misrepresent and distort the exuberant

delight of this dynamic reality; this present world system is strategically designed

to squeeze out your time and energy for the secret place; the church usually

focuses its best energies on getting saints busy; and there seem to be relatively

few believers whose secret life with God is so vibrantly life-giving that it kindles a

contagious desire in others to follow their example”

Meaning that we have to be careful as leaders from the busy side of things of ministry. We can become so blinded in thinking that our ministry is a great thing when we are full on busy in it. And the reason being is we like to say well at least I am not so absorbed with work but yet you are so absorbed by work but it is painted in a prettier format that doesn’t let us see that we are becoming drained in our ministry because it is lacking the intimate parts that should balance everything that we do.

So since it is so important that we balance our lives, ministry, and leadership with this intimacy in the solitude moments with God, I wanted to bring some way that maybe we could create this in our daily lives...

1.) A practical way to enter into solitude and silence with God would be establishing a regular rhythm of praying in the morning or evening.

I want us to try and stick with these 2 if possible. I know everyone is different but from my own experience, I have tried every way. Morning is best, night is second best, and any other time is a stretch. The reason is because in the morning, you have just woken up. You havent had any time to think too much. Stress has not been thrown your way just yet. You have not encountered the world just yet. Your heart and mind are as clear as they are probably going to get which makes it the easiest to clear all distractions to have an amazing encounter with God. Night time is a typical go to because we are busy beavers and like to hit the ground running in the morning or we are not morning people. But night time can be difficult because if you have kids then you have to put them to bed before getting yourself ready. You are tired. You are worn out. Some days will be great but some days will be rough.

And middle of the days is usually a no go because we say we want to do that but life is a lot of time work. We are moving and there are distractions and is usually not the best to go into solitude. But saying that, we all have different lifestyles and habits and as long as there is a constient habit being created and formed than that is all that matters, but pick a time and do it.

Obviously the number one form of distraction in our lives are our phones and I am the worlds worst at the very first thing I do when i get up is reach over and grab the phone. But try to start a distraction free zone for the first few moments of getting up and going to bed. And the last way to establish a habit for coming to God in solitude is by preparing the ight before. Set your alarm, have your bible and journal in place, grab a cup of coffee and go.

This is a lot like meal prepping. We know that if everything is prepared the night before then when we get up it makes it that much easier.

2.) Another way which is something I have tried and it has worked and I have kept with is by creating fixed hours of prayer. So throughout the day, I have alarms that go off (most of the time silently but vibrating), and it is a daily moment reminder that life is way more than work, distractions, and errands. Usually i only do about 2 of these so I will have my one big moment of prayer in the morning, and I will set two alarms to stop be through out the day and I usually set them up according to my schedule that day and it help remind me to stop and pray for 5 min. I will thank God and thank him for this reminder of his goodness and pray for what has happened and what is planned to happen in the day. Sometimes my alarm goes off and I don’t pray because I am busy. I dont get discouraged though because if anything, when I see the alarm or reminder it is just a simple reminder for me during the day that God is good and I should find time for him. Without that sometimes you forget the morning and nothing reminds you and next thing you know you are asleep and the cycle repeats

3.) Lastly, are walks for Jesus.....It is what I like to call them. When I know I am having a hard time staying still in a silent place. I will walk in a silent place and talk with God. Find trails or if you have a good neighborhood to walk in, go for an isolated walk. Also, walking helps us give us things to pray about, you could be walking in your neighborhood and praying for each family and every house you see. You could walk through your place of employment and pray for every person and coworker. Our enjoy Gods creation and create a space and habit to give thanks to God.

So these are just some things I have used and have worked in my life. The main point is to make a change. Do something. An inch is better than staying in the same place. God calls us out of our places of business and into the isolated places in his presence. He wants a intimate moment and relationship with you and just like Jesus we can come to him.