LUKE 5:12–16 – While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

THEME OF THE DAY. REFRESHED AND RENEWED BY PRAYER. How do we view prayer? Just take a few moments and consider prayer. Maybe even mentally form or write down a definition of prayer. When it comes to prayer, a ton of books have been written. I counted twenty-six in my library and I am sure there are more not on the right shelf. They range from the theology of prayer to exposition of the Lord’s prayer to a study of Jesus’ prayer life to praying like the Apostle Paul and a lot of other angles on prayer. And they are helpful but there is one aspect of prayer which I believe should be a key point in not only our understanding of prayer, but the practice of prayer. It is modeled in today’s scripture by our Lord Jesus.

Enter the setting. Jesus is busy. Extremely. He is in high demand. The word is out of the miraculous works of healing He is performing. Not a few people are pressing upon Him for His time, His Person, and His power. And remember, He is the Godman. He knows human fatigue. He knows the experience of being exhausted. No doubt, the Lord felt this time and time again. We read of Him being “wearied” at Jacob’s well when He met the woman of Samaria (John 4:1-7). The word “wearied” does not mean a little tired. He was spent. Exhausted. So, after a long day of serving people, our Lord was fatigued. And notice what He did . . . “But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” There are two important lessons for us about prayer which are essential for our spiritual well-being and spiritual effectiveness.

First, we must choose to say “no” to demands upon us in order to give ourselves over to prayer. The crowds pressed upon Jesus with great needs, yet, He knew the priority of prayer. He knew He must be alone with His Father. This was not a “cold shoulder” to the hurting people. Not at all. He would continue to love, serve, and heal, but life cannot be all about constant service. If it is, stand by for a “crash and burn” to happen. If we are constantly giving out, and not being refreshed by the Lord through prayer, we are going to be exhausted which leads to being irritable, impatient, “grumpy”, “cranky” and a poor testimony to people of Christ. And I am not referring to just Christian service. I am talking about life in our families, jobs, and church. We must be recharged or we will wither with severe consequences spiritually, emotionally, physically, and relationally. And the primary means of recharging is fellowship with God through prayer. That leads to the second lesson on prayer from Jesus.

Prayer is to be a means of refreshment with and from God, not merely asking and getting things from God. Allow me to ask this question of all of us .. . “When is the last time we went to prayer for the single purpose to just be with God, enjoy God, love God, worship God, and wait upon God?” This is a major reason for prayer. If we are not setting aside regular times of prayer to seek God because He is God and we are His children, we are missing what I believe is the main purpose in prayer. Jesus is God. Why pray? He enjoyed it. He longed for the intimacy it brought with His Father. And it is to be the same for us. Certainly we pray asking God for things, but prayer is to be the chief means of restoring and recharging us through fellowship with God. There is nothing which will bring us greater strength than Word-based, Spirit-directed prayer both alone and with other believers. Learn this lesson. It is modeled by Jesus for our practice.

As we close, go back and rethink our definitions of prayer. Does it include the determined commitment to pray as well as the understanding of the renewing nature from prayer?

PRAYER: “Father, teach me to practice prayer that is far more than asking You for things.”

QUOTE: “Prayer is not designed to primarily get things from God but to get us close to and enjoy God”