Take Time To Pray

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come he was there alone.  Matthew 14:23

At times life can simply become too much.  The daily cares, interactions, expectations and demands of our daily lives can drain us to the point of physical, emotional and even spiritual exhaustion. Stress can easily turn the peaceful, exciting and inspiring wonders around us into a war-like zone where everything is but lovely. Life becomes more like a static TV Screen, a noise from which we desperately need to escape to alleviate the heaviness.

Jesus identified with every human emotion including stress. After spending hours and hours of teaching, listening, touching, healing, comforting and admonishing he longed for a time to just relax, to recuperate both physically and emotionally. For Jesus it was mostly about giving and meeting people’s needs. However, there was no one to give to him and meet his needs, no one except His Father in heaven. The difference with Jesus is that he had no problem in stepping away from the stress of ministry and into a quiet place where all noise could be muffled. That quiet place was in the presence of God. 

We may be able to squeeze in a little time to separate ourselves from the “world” around us, but rarely, if at all possible, do we find the time and place to be absolutely and completely apart from the noise. Such a place is not to escape from something, but rather to enter into Someone. It is a place where we can leave the world and its noise behind and meet with our heavenly Father, just as Jesus did; a time to truly PRAY. 

"Lord, when all around me captures my soul and imprisons my time, my heart and my energies help me find and run to a place far away where it’s just you and me, in Jesus name, amen." 

Pastor Joe Rodriguez