#31: You Won't Regret This

On episode 31, Tim shares how Jesus is our example of being more intentional with our time spent with God.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome into episode number thirty of Bring Heaven Down. My
name is Tim and I'm the host of this daily
devotional podcast that shows up in your feed Monday through Friday.
Rate and review the show if you're willing and able,
and make sure you hit that follow button so this
podcast shows up in your feed Monday through Friday. Yesterday
I talked about how we can grow closer to God.

(00:23):
I said, God is like any other friend in our life.
If you don't take time to spend time with them,
you're not going to feel close to them. If you're
not in daily communication with them, if you're not making
an intentional decision to draw close to him, you are
not going to feel as close to God as you
wish or hoped you would. It's not that complicated. If

(00:46):
you want to be close with someone, you spend time
with someone. And today I'm going to talk about how
Jesus is the perfect example of what I was describing.
So grab your favorite drink or a cup of coffee,
and let's bring Heaven a little closer together. Oftentimes throughout

(01:17):
the Gospels, you see that Jesus departed the disciples, or
departed a certain place and went to a private spot
to be alone with God. Mark chapter one, verse thirty
five says Jesus would get up early in the morning
before it was late and go to a desolate place
to pray. His disciples would sometimes follow him and find him,

(01:39):
but he would tell them to go on so he
could preach in the nearby towns Luke five point sixteen.
Jesus would go to the wilderness to pray and arrest
from healing and preaching. He would sometimes pray for his disciples,
for all who would believe, or for himself John eleven
fifty four. As Jesus's fame grew, he would retreat from

(02:00):
more populated areas to spend time with his men and
less distracting places. If Jesus needed to spend time alone
with his Father in heaven, how much more do we
need to spend time alone with Jesus. If Jesus, who
is God, needs to spend time with his Father and

(02:22):
receive discernment received guidance, how much more should we be
doing that. Jesus is our example for prayer, and if
he needs to go to a private place and talk
to God, then we should be doing the same thing.

(02:46):
There's a website desiring good dot org. It's one of
my favorite websites, and it talks about this. It says here,
for Christ, the wilderness or desolate place often became his
momentarily sacred space. He regularly escaped the noise and frenzy
of society to be alone with his father where he

(03:06):
could give him his full attention. That sounds very similar
to twenty twenty five. We also need to escape the
noise and frenzy of everything that surrounds us, and we
need to be intentional with our time with God because

(03:27):
we live in a culture that's so boom boom boom
boom boom boom boom, do this, do that, do this,
do that, and I'm so guilty of this. Check my phone,
get my work done. Go once I get that thing done. Uh,
schedule this thing, schedule that thing. And sometimes we just
need to be still and know that he is God.
It continues. After his fame spread everywhere and the whole

(03:51):
city was gathered together at the door, Jesus took a
remarkable step. He slipped away the following morning to restore
his soul in secret, converse with his father. If you
are feeling run down, if you are feeling exhausted, we
do as Jesus did, He slipped away to restore his soul.

(04:15):
In secret converse with his father, it continues, what a
ministry opportunity he left behind. Some might say, surely some
of us would have skipped or shortened our private disciplines
to rush and bless the swelling masses. To be sure,
other times would come when Jesus would delay his personal

(04:35):
habits to meet immediate needs. But how many of us
in such a situation would have the presence of mind
and heart to discern and prioritize prayer as Jesus did.
Luke also makes it unmistakable that this pattern of retreat
and re entry was part of the ongoing dynamic of
Christ's human life. Jesus departed and went into a death place,

(05:01):
not just ones, but regularly he would withdraw to desolate
places and pray. So also Matthew. After the death of
John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew from there in a boat
to a desolate place by himself. But even then the
crowds pursued him. He didn't despise them, but had compassion

(05:23):
on them and healed their sick. Then, after feeding them
five thousand strong, he withdrew again to a quiet place.
After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on
the mountain by himself to pray. Oftentimes over and over again.
Jesus went to a place by himself to pray. And

(05:48):
I am guilty of not doing this enough. And what's
so interesting is when I do do this, I feel restored.
So what is stopping me from doing this sin selfishness, pridefulness,
my inability to be more intentional. My point being is

(06:09):
if Jesus needed to do this to restore his soul,
then we need to be doing this as well. In
the same article, it says Jesus didn't only retreat to
be alone with God, he also taught his disciples to
do the same thing. In Mark, chapter six, verses thirty
one through thirty two, he invites his men to join him, saying,

(06:30):
come away by ourselves to a desolate place and rest
Awhile Mark explains for many were coming and going, and
they had no leisure even to eat, And they went
away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
So also in the Gospel of John, Jesus, as his
fame spread, retreated from more populated settings, to invest in
his men in more desolate, less distracting places, and his

(06:53):
timeless sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught all his hearers,
including us today, not only to give with out show
and facts without publicity, but also to find our private
place to seek our father's face. Matthew six to six.
When you pray, go into a room and shut the
door and pray to your father, who is in secret,

(07:14):
and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
We need to be in secret with our father so
that we can align our will with his, so that
we can restore our souls because we need a break

(07:36):
from this world, and the world likes to throw a
zillion different punches or strategies or ideas our way in saying,
do this and this will make you happy, Do this
and this will restore your soul. And the truth of
that is none of them do. The one specific area

(08:02):
where our souls can be restored is time with our
father in heaven. Is seeking intentional time with him and
receiving his wisdom, you will not regret it. Thank you

(08:22):
for taking the time to listen to this podcast today,
and I hope it was encouraging. If you have a
question Bring Heaven Down number seven at gmail dot com. Everyone,
I hope you have a great day.