Why Do I Need To Get Away?
The Holidays can bring a sense of being overwhelmed by everything and everyone that is around us. More often than not this is something that impacts our Spiritual life as well as our physical life and we do not take the time to address it. Being intentional about getting away from things that distract you will help with your prayer life and bring about Spiritual heath.
Why Is It Important?
Solitude is a practice that has been established in Christ followers for centuries because of what we see in the ministry of Jesus. passages like " 15 But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.16 Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray." Luke 5: 15-16. passages like this show us that this was something that Jesus "frequently" did because of the pressures and challenges of ministry. That need to get away is not just something that Jesus feels it is something that we also feel but sometimes ignore. Jesus took the time to "go up in the mountains" with a few of his disciples. The reason He does this was to help the disciples focus on what should be the driving and guiding force for their ministry.... God.
How Do I Know I Need This?
simple answer, look at yourself. These men are constantly being instructed by Jesus on the importance in prayer and they show us that they consistently dropped the ball(as we do). In one passage the disciples could not cast out an evil spirit from someone and Jesus says this "28 After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately ,“Why couldn’t we drive it out?”29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”… Mark 9:28-29. So the simple practical skill we need to learn is dependence on the Spirit. This is obviously something we will struggle to learn and Jesus is asking us to get better at. We all need this, so if we all need this how do we put it in action?
4 Practical Steps to Solitude
Solitude means to get away from distraction so here are some practical ways you can practice Solitude this week......
1) Ask Yourself- What is it that is distracting for you from your connection to Jesus? once you know what pulls you away from Him you can know what it will take to help your focus. (ex. work, fear of failure, etc)
2) Make Decisions- once you know what you need to get away from (work, phone, people, to do's, etc) to help your focus. Ask: what are you going to do to get away? What times work best for you to get away? What will you do while you are in solitude? All of these have an answer that fits best with your personal walk with Christ and once you make those decisions you can take the steps to truly experience solitude.
3) Make It Happen- In order to experience Solitude, you have to do more than just decide what it would look like, you actually have to put yourself there! ex. Go in the backyard, turn your phone off, set up a comfy chair, and close your eyes for 5 minutes. This is going to look different for every person and regardless of what decisions you made to get in Solitude.... you still have to do it. so pick a day...... get away.... and PRAY.
4) Don't forget your spirit- It is easy to take something that is meant to build up your spirit and make it about bodily satisfaction. go and kick your feet up somewhere.... but you didn't bring Jesus. Let Jesus be there with you, let Him speak, take the time to thank Him for the moment with Him, share your heart with Him. are you upset? happy? blessed? afraid? Get away.... to be with your Lord and not just to get away.
