In the third of our series ‘When Jesus Prayed…’ we are going to focus a little more on one of the themes that came out of last week’s reflection – busyness – and what we learn from Jesus’ example.
Many young people spend their time wishing they were older because in their minds they think they can do more, that life will become better and freer as they break the shackles of their parents! To some extent that may be true, but the reality soon hits when they start working and being more independent that life gets fuller, busier, more responsibility means more things to do, more to carry, more to think about. Certainly, how you spend your time becomes a more important question to ask yourself as ‘time’ appears to be the thing that decreases as the other things increase. It doesn’t seem to stop; I have heard it said many times that when you retire you soon find that you are busier than ever and not sure how you had time for anything else before retirement.
So here are some things to ponder on…
How do you spend your time? Some things are a given like eating meals, work, organising the household, leisure activities, etc…
Is there something you would like to have more time to do?
It seems to me that from young people to older folk busyness has become almost an unavoidable trait, a characterisation of our culture at large, a hallmark of modern society. It follows that if you’re not busy then you are either lazy or very privileged.
Jesus was not lazy or privileged (he humbled himself and came down). He set about doing the will of the Father and there was much to do and lots of people who wanted a bit of him, needed him, asked for him… his life was very full.
Jesus gives us an example here in Luke’s gospel of what he did.
“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
“I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 5:12-16 – NIV
Jesus never wasted time. The last line of these verses (v16) tells us much about how Jesus used his time. Here are two observations:
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Prayer – OFTEN
What things do you ‘often’ do? I’m sure for most people we don’t even thinkabout it because it’s become habit, like checking your mobile phone for messages, news or other things, we just do it.
We read that Jesus often withdrew to pray. The word ‘often’ here is used to help us understand what Jesus was doing. In the Greek the word ‘often’ is not used, so a literal translation, which doesn’t read that well in English, would be:
‘he but was withdrawing into the lonely places and praying’The verbs ‘withdrawing’ and ‘praying’ are a continuous past tense, it is used in Greek to show an action that was done continually in the past, we don’t have a very good parallel of it in English. So, the NIV (and most translations) use the word ‘often’ to capture this process of withdrawing and praying regularly and not as a one-off.
Jesus would often withdraw to pray, despite the many pressures placed upon him with the crowds following him around, he knew the utter importance of making time for this space with his Father. It was necessary and everything else would have to wait. It reads as if this aspect of Jesus life was non-negotiable.
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Prayer – WHERE
Jesus withdrew to the lonely places, we don’t know exactly where that was on these occasions but it’s fairly clear that it is the places that were in isolation, perhaps the wilderness or a mountain. The places where you can be without distraction, without encountering another person, the place where you can focus and be still.
Where are the lonely places for you? Perhaps these are much harder to find in this technological age where there is plenty to distract us! The lesson here is to find the place where you can shut out your surroundings, take time to hear yourself breathe and concentrate on prayer both speaking and listening! Maybe it starts with switching the phone off.
I understand for some this will be easier said than done, perhaps even feels impossible! However, keep trying, keep seeking a way, keep at least attempting to withdraw if only for a short moment. This discipline could really help and changes your life forever.
My simple prayer is this:
“Dear God, In the busyness of life and with the pressures of work and family. Please help me to withdraw to pray, to find that place where distractions are few, where I can speak to you and hear you speak to me. May it become a non-negotiable in my life. Amen.”
– Mark.
