Alone With Jesus

Jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself. (Jn. 6:15b)

John 6:14-15; Matt. 6:6, 15:29 and 17:1-8; Luke 5:16; Gen. 32:24; Jere. 9:2

What Is God Saying?

Jesus leaves the lowlands and seeks the solitude of the hills after He expends His physical and emotional energies. In the miracle of the loaves and fishes, feeling compassion for the hungry, hearing the cries of children, and feeding the five thousand must have been draining. Then, because He gave them what they wanted, they saw in Him the King, the Messiah, for whom the Jews waited (Deut. 18:15). He healed them and put food in their mouths. Did they need further proof? They would have lifted Him then and there to a throne. This was not the time, the place, the way, or the reason. It is exhausting to deal with a mob, even a friendly one, insisting on its way. To the hills He went, then, to be alone, to be with the Father, and to renew His mental and physical strength.

After his journey to Tyre and Sidon (Matt. 15:21-29), weary from traveling, He went again to the hills. He heard the breakthrough of His disciples' faith, ‘You are the Christ,’ and realized that it was time to take the last journey to Jerusalem (Mt. 16:16-21). He took Peter, James, and John, to a mountain apart to be alone with them and with the Father.

How Does This Apply To Us?

If Jesus, with inexhaustible resources, human and divine, needed to get away, how much more do we need to shut out the world and be alone with God? As we turn from the world with its insistent demands, we turn to the Lord to hear His Word and be renewed in body and spirit. It is just as necessary as filling up at a gas station on a long drive. If we don't stop, we can't go on! To bring His love to a spiritually hungry, physically needy world, we must stop and spend time with Him. Is that not the ultimate meaning of ‘Be still and know that I am God’?

Pray With Me

With You, dear Lord, I want to withdraw from the pressing problems and cares of life until I find Your calm. When life is drained of spiritual energy and covered with the dust of the commonplace, lift me into Your holy presence. There I find clear vision and deep, healing rest. I would be with You, for until I am beside You I must always be beside myself. You chose Your disciples to be with You. I am redeemed. I am bought back and I am brought back to live with You. May I see how much I need to withdraw to the hills for high inspiration and quiet calm. Help me to withdraw. Let it be a conscious act of the will. Let it be a decision to leave the shallow comforts of half-way discipleship and half-hearted following. Let it be a decision to believe that God has better things to fill our hearts than the trivial and the ordinary. Let it be a decision to go upstream against the downward drag of all that caters to the flesh O Christ, Your loving Spirit is ever present. Draw me that I may be with You. Let this be my withdrawal.

To drift is easy. To climb is hard, but as no energy is expended in drifting, so there is no vision in drifting. Only those who climb the hill can claim the thrill. Only those who seek the heights will see the sights. There in the quiet of prayer, ‘Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart.’ Help me to withdraw to the hills. Yet never by myself. For You are already there. You are always there, waiting for my coming. Your hand swings open from within the gate to prayer. Your love beckons from the hilltop like a beacon. Your presence lingers as a benediction. For His sake, let me withdraw, again and again, to be by myself.

In His name, I pray. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

Disciples, then and now, see the transfiguring glory of Jesus and hear the voice of God, speaking out of the cloud (Matt. 17: 1- 8), when they are alone with Jesus in a place, away from pressures, distractions, and interruptions. It may not be, it need not be, far away or on an actual mountain. Jesus said in Matt. 6:6 that it could be our room so long as we shut the door. Any place is a place for prayer when we are there alone with Jesus.