LIFE SCRIPTS

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 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 14:22‭-‬23 KJV

The importance of prayer to Christ’s ministry cannot be ignored. Here, Christ leaves all the other engagements including joining His disciples for another ministry engagement, spending time with the multitudes (surely, some must have had diverse needs) or even resting (remember, it was in the evening and the day had been eventful). He instead decides to retreat to a prayer time. He knew that for His ministry to stand, He needed to commit it to God. All this happened as the disciples drifted away into the sea. In fact, it was Christ’s intention that they go ahead of Him. He was relaxed that God will enable Him to join them. Priority at that time was that He prays. How often do we get distracted by happenings around us during prayers? How often do cares of life derail us from focussing on God during prayer? Christ here, remained alone on the mountain of prayer. The multitudes were gone, it was evening (night), the disciples were on the boat on the sea yet His mind was clear and focussed on prayer…not on how He would make it to join the disciples, not on the safety of the area, not on the great ministry of feeding the multitudes…but on God through prayer. We often forget that it is only through prayer that we’ll be rejuvenated and strengthened in this walk of faith. Too often especially after a great move of God through us, we stay up on the mountain of fame and bask in glory instead of running to the place of prayer to thank God, return the glory to Him and seek His guidance from then on. Christ had just performed a ground shaking miracle. The multitudes from now henceforth would balloon. The choice was His…to either rely on the fame accumulated through His ministry to propel Him forward or to rely on the One who sent Him. He chose the later. My prayer is that we’ll also do the same. Amen.