Get Away

Get Away 

by David Brenneman 

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Mark 1:35

When do you really pray?  

Is your heart in your prayers?

When you lie down, when you are going about your day, are you keeping up with Jesus or your own agenda?

How healthy is your spiritual life? What efforts do you intentionally make in seeking to make sure you're healthy?

Many people believe that the good they do helps take care of this. The reality goes much deeper. 

Psalm 23 goes much deeper.

Life has mountains and valleys to go through. Sometimes we have moments, days, weeks, seasons in any part of those ups and downs along the way. 

Jesus showed by example to get away to be with Him in prayer. He did it quite often with His Father. 

Was reading in Matthew 26 last night, when Jesus was praying 3 separate times to His Father. My personal view is that the 4 study Bibles I use were incorrect in their study notes concerning whether or not the Father responded.  

Jesus said on other occasions that He and the Father were One. That He was in the Father and the Father was in Him. He said that His Father was always pleased with Jesus because He obediently did all that His Father wanted of Him. At His baptism, at the transfiguration, the Father spoke for all there to hear. Jesus got alone and prayed to the Father...the Father always responded to Him. There's absolutely no reason to believe that in the mere hours before the only time in history that He and His Father would be separated by all the sins of mankind that His Father would have nothing to say to His only begotten Son. 

His countenance, His behavior, after being in prayer with His Father those three times changed significantly. This alone says that His Father had been an encouragement to Him. Depending on the Gospel you read, at least one Angel came to strengthen Him.  

John Wesley is attributed as saying "God does nothing but in answer to prayer".

It was a prayer of childlike faith that brings anyone to Jesus for salvation. 

It is prayer that brought demons out of some as Jesus said was a requirement in some cases. 

It is prayer that helps tune us into a different attitude and way of living life in Christ. 

Prayer is there to help cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  

Prayer is there to bring peace when we can't find it in the world we live in. 

Prayer is talking to God. 

Prayer is getting to know Jesus. 

Prayer is our getting to know our Father in Heaven. 

Prayer doesn't need words all the time.  

Prayer cannot be stopped by Satan from getting to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

Prayer feeds the soul of man with the everlasting water and bread of life from our source in Jesus Christ. 

Does it mean a little bit more to you now than it did before you began reading this today?  

Prayer helps align what we want with what Jesus wants of us.

For me, I was on the right track with adding study Bibles to my reading plans for 2025. I have greatly struggled to understand how to learn by studying. So I came up with that. It takes me away to be with God for however long it takes to read. A month into that I was prompted by the Spirit to double that initiative. School was in session.  

I have struggled for years to understand what goals to set for myself. What dreams to dream to reach for. Prayer is where I began with this. In these first 3 months I'm hearing from God to let go of some things in my life as my desires and turn my attention towards these studies. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.  

Many decades ago it used to be a saying to describe children as being a treasure. Meaning that there was a unique joy to be had with them. 

We are the treasure of God. We have the attention of the Almighty Creator of the Universe. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is but a prayer away from our hearts and minds in Christ. 

The only treasure we can store up in Heaven are people. Jesus's praying before His betrayal was as much about Himself and His Father as it was about fulfilling the need for mankind in providing the only way to have eternal life.  

How much of your true heart is in your prayer life? Do you just repeat words or do you really mean what you pray? There's going to be times when you hear back from Jesus. There's going to be times when His response is in His actions rather than words. There's but only a few ways that He does answer.

Yes, no, not right now or wait...I have something better in mind. 

Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice. How can anyone honestly say they know His voice if they aren't actively intentionally praying with all seriousness?  

The notion that Jesus always speaks rather than in other ways is absurd. My Father on this Earth could give me a look and that look spoke volumes.  

With Mother's there is this phenomenon called "The Look". It usually involves a particular facial expression along with a raised eyebrow and particular position of the hands on the hips. 

Jesus searches the hearts. He knows full well if our hearts are set on Him or not. He knows if we're just not in it or if we mean it.  

Take time today to get real with yourself and your Savior and Lord.  

If you haven't come to Christ for salvation...you absolutely must start there. Otherwise your prayers go unanswered. Prayer is part of a person's relationship with Jesus. You have to have that relationship first.  

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Our highest priority isn't our jobs or even our family. It's the path of God for us to grow in Christ Jesus. We focus on that n whatever is really important is taken care of. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.