Guarding Your Prayer Life

Dear brethren,

I want to encourage you today by looking at how our Lord Jesus guarded his prayer life.

Let's begin with the context, which is the people bringing to Him everyone who was sick. He laid hands on each one and they were healed. And demons came out of many of them. It says:

"When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, 'You are the Son of God!' But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ." (Luk 4:40-41)

Now let's see if that affected the Lord's prayer life, and whether He skipped or shortened His time with the Father in prayer the next morning. It says: 

"At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them." (Luk 4:42)

Here is how it is recounted in Mark's gospel:

"Very 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. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: 'Everyone is looking for you!'"

We can easily observe that although Jesus was God incarnate, and supernatural signs and wonders were taking place in His ministry, resulting in everyone he laid hands on being healed, He didn't allow it to interfere with His prayer time. Instead He guarded His prayer time with the Father and kept it up as usual the next morning. When the disciples found him praying in a solitary place, they told Him that everyone was looking for Him, which indicates that He was in great demand.

Now imagine that you had a ministry in which every sick person you lay hands on is getting healed and you are casting demons out of many people. Imagine if you were in such high demand that there were hundreds or thousands of sick and demonized people standing in a long line stretching for a great distance, waiting for you to heal them and deliver them from their demons. And even though you minister to them all and heal them, you get up early next morning, and everyone is still looking for you. Would you begin right away ministering to them or would you still spend time with the Lord in prayer as usual? 

This is a valid question and a very realistic illustration, although the scale and size of the issue may vary from one person to the next. Ministers of the gospel, who are being used effectively by God in one way or another (e.g., healing, miracles, deliverance, counseling, preaching, etc.), often find that they are in very high demand. The temptation is to sacrifice time spent with God in order to meet the enormous demand, which can create pressure on the minister's life, as well as stress. However, that temptation must be resisted. As my friend Dave Wenrich, who is now a retired pastor and chairman of my board, once said decades ago when I was a young believer in the Lord:

“Nothing is a replacement for going into your prayer closet and praying to your Father in secret...If we are to walk in the power of God in ministry, nothing can replace that time alone with God...The greater the exposure of your public ministry, the more important is the private ministry...Don’t trade private time with God for public ministry.” -- David Wenrich, Founder/Co-Director of Max-Life Christian Counseling and Coaching.

I took those wise words to heart nearly forty years ago when Dave spoke them as my pastor, and I have sought to apply them in my life. That good advice has served me well, and I believe it will serve you well also. 

Closing Words

As I wrote in my previous article Ministering from the Overflow, the only way to effectively minister to others is from the overflow in your own life. And if you sacrifice your private time with the Lord for public ministry or anything else, you will no longer experience the overflow from which to serve others as you ought to. 

Follow the example of our Lord Jesus. Guard your prayer life carefully with the help of the Holy Spirit, and guard it well. Don't let anything crowd out your time with God, because if you do, you will eventually become drained of energy, depleted of supernatural power from God, and unable to effectively serve the Lord. In fact, in some cases, it could lead to very serious issues that could adversely impact your soul, your marriage, your family, and your ministry. These negative effects could even have eternal consequences, and I don't want to see that happen to you or anyone. It's not worth it. May the Lord help us all! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. I Have Prayed for Thee image is subject to copyright by Del Parson from Haven Light, used for educational and commentary purposes only, per the Fair Use Act

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page, such as Ministering from the Overflow, Seeking Him in the Wee Hours of the Night, Raising the Dead, The Pros, Cons, and Purpose of Structure, Success in God's Eyes, and Having a Servant's Heart. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.