The Secluded Place: Luke 4:42-44
“42) When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. 43) But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44) So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Luke 4:42-44
His open air meeting near Peter’s house in the previous verses had a big impact. Many people started seeking Jesus. It might have been an all nighter!
But notice that Jesus left for a secluded place, most likely for prayer and solitude with His Father. Many equate this text from Luke with Mark 1:35-39. It appears that Jesus had the habit of rising early for quality times of communion with His Father.
One of the secrets to overflowing ministry is spending much time in secret with God. Many get so busy “for” God their time “with” God gets squeezed out.
The daily habit of spending quality time alone in the presence of God is the signature of every great man and woman of God through the ages. It was true of Moses, David, Daniel, Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Many of his Epistles give a snap shot of Paul’s daily prayer life.
Spending daily time with God in the Spirit focusing on prayer, praise, worship and intimate communion with God is the secret of tapping into the rivers of life that never run dry. (See John 4:24; 7:36-39)
This is the biblical antidote to burn out. Thus Moses spent much time alone with God in the tent of meeting despite the millions of people clambering for his time and attention. (Exodus 33:7-11)
Acts 3:19 talks about “times of refreshing” coming from the presence of God. There is no substitute for spending daily time in solitude in the presence God.
Satan will throw every imaginable distraction at you. In this text, it was throngs of people clambering after Jesus. Even the disciples scurried about trying to find Him. Many times it’s your own lack of self discipline that slams the door on spending quality time in the presence of God.
According to John 15:1-16, ministry fruitfulness is directly proportional to abiding in Jesus, His Word and prayer. When these are squeezed out of your life you become dry and barren.
Fleshy self effort cannot match walking in the Spirit! Self effort will run dry and leave you empty, discouraged, depressed, angry and bitter. You can fake it only so long before your house comes crashing down!
Self effort is a poor substitute for genuine Spirit energy. Activity is a poor substitute for unction. Programs are a pathetic substitute for spiritual power. There can be no sustaining fire apart from spending quality time daily alone in Gods presence.
Jesus exemplified putting quality time with God as the first and highest priority in His daily life. Everything else was the overflow of His walk in the Spirit.
These few short verses speak volumes! Ponder them until they become real in your life. If you don’t have time for everything chasing after your attention, learn the secret of spending more quality time alone in Gods presence until you begin to delight in Him.
This involves removing time suckers from your life! It includes casting your cares upon Him! It involves slaying worry and anxiety with prayer, praise and worship. Be still in His presence and watch Him miraculously calm the storms in your life.
At some point a precious transition will take place. You will begin to delighting more in spending time with Jesus in the Spirit than any worldly entertainment. Jesus will become your best friend. Prayer will become a delight. Instead of “burning out” you will discover what it really means to be “fired up.”
You are not walking in the foot prints of Jesus until your daily path takes you into solitude in the presence of God.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
“42) When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. 43) But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44) So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Luke 4:42-44
His open air meeting near Peter’s house in the previous verses had a big impact. Many people started seeking Jesus. It might have been an all nighter!
But notice that Jesus left for a secluded place, most likely for prayer and solitude with His Father. Many equate this text from Luke with Mark 1:35-39. It appears that Jesus had the habit of rising early for quality times of communion with His Father.
One of the secrets to overflowing ministry is spending much time in secret with God. Many get so busy “for” God their time “with” God gets squeezed out.
The daily habit of spending quality time alone in the presence of God is the signature of every great man and woman of God through the ages. It was true of Moses, David, Daniel, Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Many of his Epistles give a snap shot of Paul’s daily prayer life.
Spending daily time with God in the Spirit focusing on prayer, praise, worship and intimate communion with God is the secret of tapping into the rivers of life that never run dry. (See John 4:24; 7:36-39)
This is the biblical antidote to burn out. Thus Moses spent much time alone with God in the tent of meeting despite the millions of people clambering for his time and attention. (Exodus 33:7-11)
Acts 3:19 talks about “times of refreshing” coming from the presence of God. There is no substitute for spending daily time in solitude in the presence God.
Satan will throw every imaginable distraction at you. In this text, it was throngs of people clambering after Jesus. Even the disciples scurried about trying to find Him. Many times it’s your own lack of self discipline that slams the door on spending quality time in the presence of God.
According to John 15:1-16, ministry fruitfulness is directly proportional to abiding in Jesus, His Word and prayer. When these are squeezed out of your life you become dry and barren.
Fleshy self effort cannot match walking in the Spirit! Self effort will run dry and leave you empty, discouraged, depressed, angry and bitter. You can fake it only so long before your house comes crashing down!
Self effort is a poor substitute for genuine Spirit energy. Activity is a poor substitute for unction. Programs are a pathetic substitute for spiritual power. There can be no sustaining fire apart from spending quality time daily alone in Gods presence.
Jesus exemplified putting quality time with God as the first and highest priority in His daily life. Everything else was the overflow of His walk in the Spirit.
These few short verses speak volumes! Ponder them until they become real in your life. If you don’t have time for everything chasing after your attention, learn the secret of spending more quality time alone in Gods presence until you begin to delight in Him.
This involves removing time suckers from your life! It includes casting your cares upon Him! It involves slaying worry and anxiety with prayer, praise and worship. Be still in His presence and watch Him miraculously calm the storms in your life.
At some point a precious transition will take place. You will begin to delighting more in spending time with Jesus in the Spirit than any worldly entertainment. Jesus will become your best friend. Prayer will become a delight. Instead of “burning out” you will discover what it really means to be “fired up.”
You are not walking in the foot prints of Jesus until your daily path takes you into solitude in the presence of God.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
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