Re-treat
Re-Charge • Sermon • Submitted
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Luke
16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
While people came to him. He healed them, but would constantly withdraw from them to places of solitude to pray.
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Luke 15:1
15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.
16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Before Jesus starts something new he would also go back and pray to the Father.
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
English Standard Version Chapter 1
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
After feeding the five thousand. Which probably required a lot of work Jesus decided to go up the mountain and pray. Perhaps he needed to restore his strength with the Father from the work he had done.
The truth is not that we should rest, but that we need to rest. There is great importance in retreat. Jesus himself is a great example of retreating, withdrawing, departing, going out.
There are two things that stand out and are similar in all of these passages. One is that he did it alone. “places of solitude”, “a desolate place”, and “by himself”. This does not necessarily mean that being with others is bad or that we must be physically alone, but it definitely tells us that we need to take time to work on ourselves. As leaders we get so tired of working with others, that we do not pay attention to our own spiritual condition.
The other thing that these occurrences of retreat have in common is prayer. It is a connection between God and us as individuals. We often ask God about the people around us, the ministry at our hands, because truly we need to pray about these things. But God wants us to connect with him at a personal and intimate level.