How to Pray

This devotional is written by Charlotte Anderson. Charlotte is queen of all things prayer here at St Mary's.

16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

There are so many verses about Jesus withdrawing to lonely or solitary places.
It is interesting that most of these verses about Jesus withdrawing are surrounded by passages about people making demands on him, for healing, to hear the wise Rabbi teach; he is pursued by massive crowds. I think Jesus is full of love and no way resentful of these things – after all, it is part of what he came to Earth to do. However, I do think he got tired, I think sometimes his throat must have been sore from all the talking, his legs ached from standing for hours, I’m sure he must have got headaches.
Jesus experienced all the things we experience when lots of demands are made on us and our time. These times of withdrawal were life giving, spending time with his Father in heaven was the ultimate act of self-care. Jesus knew he had to ask God his Father for his daily bread just as much as we do. I wonder how many demands on us and our time we have just accepted instead of giving ourselves space to withdraw and be with our Father who loves us more than we can fully comprehend. Our Father knows our every need and wants to meet us exactly where we are at.
I wonder what would happen if we reframed withdrawing to a lonely or solitary place to meet with our loving heavenly Father as the ultimate act of self-care. Instead of depriving us, it is in fact the place we are refilled and our needs met in a way that no human could possibly ever do.