Steve's Blog

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. . . . To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— . . . . He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. . . . Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. . . . To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

(Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21)

Success is measured against only 1 standard. God not men. And God's standard for success is Faithfulness. The overcomer is not the one who conquers all or who does the most. The overcomer is the one who remains faithful to the end.

Did you know that Jesus had three different type of Prayer habits that He used to keep him in touch with the Father?

I didn't either until just recently. Lately, I have been studying the gospels in a new way (for me). Instead of focusing in on a few verses, I have been looking for trends and teaching relating to a specific topic. When I looked at the topic of how Jesus kept in touch with the Father, I was excited to learn about these three types of Prayer habits and see Jesus using them. Here they are.

1. Regular (Daily) Alone time with God
Mark 1:35³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. NIV

Luke 5:16

¹⁶But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. NIV

This habit of daily prayer is actually the one that is the least clear Biblically. What seems to be clear from these verses is that often (ie. regularly? maybe nearly daily?) Jesus made a point to get by himself with God. From the context of these two passages it would seem that this time of prayer was used to distance himself from the demands and acclaim of people and to reaffirm his commitment to follow God's plan for his life.

2. Ongoing Prayer through the events of the day
As he went through life, we see Jesus praying about the things he runs into during the day. He prays in the midst of healing. He prays for the city of Jerusalem. He prays for the disciples. He teaches on prayer. He was ready at any moment to bring that moment's situation before God.
( For a few references check out: Matthew 11:25-30, Luke 10:1-24, John 11:38-44, Luke 13:34-35,John 17)

3. The Prayer Getaway
The third habit of Jesus was to get away for an extended time of prayer. I believe this differs from the first habit in both duration and in purpose. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days at the beginning of his ministry. During this time he fasted and prayed and faced temptation. At the end of his ministry he spent an entire night in prayer wrestling with following the will of God all the way to the cross. He went up on a mountain and spent the night in prayer before he made the big decision of who to choose for the 12. Another time, he went up on a mountain and prayed in grief over his cousin John's death. Another time he went up on a mountain and was transfigured in a show of support and strengthening from the father before he entered Jerusalem for the last week of his life. In all of these events we see Jesus at a crossroads of some sort. In each case he retreats for an extended time to be with the Lord and gain guidance and encouragement.

Some Concluding Thoughts
So Jesus spent some amount of time alone with God on a regular basis, he interacted with God in the midst of his day, and he sometimes escaped to God for a longer and deeper connection. When I examined my life in comparison, I found that while I worked at the first 2, I rarely or never practiced the third. When crisis and struggle came to me, I just toughed it out. Never thinking it might be something that needed an extended prayer time with God. So now I am working on figuring out how to put Prayer Retreats into my life.

What about you? Are you good at taking the issues of daily life to God right in the moment? What obstacles do you struggle with and what helps you succeed?

Are you good at getting alone time regularly to reestablish your focus on doing God's will? How do you do it?

Do you sometimes "go up on a mountain" for an extended time with God? How do you know when it is needed? What do you focus on throughout the time? Where do you go?