12 Feb - Solitude

Thank you again for sitting down and allowing me to share my life with you and you to share your life with me as we walk through the Bible together. For our today, and that's all we do, it’s just give you one thought. There’s so much beautiful stuff from Psalms and Proverbs in our passage in the Old testament but for our thought today, I want to deal with something that is very difficult for us to comprehend. Mark 1,“Very early in the Morning…” Verse 3, “while it was still dark Jesus got up left the house went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Solitude, a necessity for rest. Solitude, a necessity to lift up your soul to God. Solitude, a necessity for prayer. You're never going to really be able to open your heart in real genuine prayer without solitude. Now, brothers and sisters, solitude is a very difficult commodity. I mean you can understand with Jesus and 2000 years ago in the Judean hills, in the hills around Galilee. Yes, It's easy to find solitude. Where do you find solitude in Manila? My goodness! “I've got six people that sleep in the same room with me, Pastor.” Where do we find solitude in the middle of thirteen million people Solitude is something that you have to work after. Jesus had all these guys sleeping in the same room with him also. They didn't have all separate bedrooms and guest suites in a five-star hotel as they travelled around. The would have all slept on the floor of the same room together. So, in order to have solitude Jesus had to get up early in the morning. So, it’s a decision about time. And Jesus had to walk away from the crowd to find a solitary place where He could pray. So, it’s a decision of time and it’s a decision of place. Just like Peter went up to the rooftop to pray. Throughout the Scripture we find that when people wanted solitude they had to make decisions of time and decisions of place. I want to encourage you. In my house it's a decision of time. Because I get up between three-thirty and four every morning, and Sis Bev [My wife] is sound asleep The only ones up are me and the dogs. I let the dogs out for a little bit, eat my breakfast and then read my bible and pray. For Sister Bev [My wife], it’s also a decision of time. After she [My wife] puts her two children to bed, Sha-sha [our daughter] and me, then she stays up with the dogs. You say,“Pastor, I'm not sure your dogs ever sleep.” “Oh, they sleep all day.” but then she stays up past midnight, one o'clock in the morning and that's when she is alone with God. So solitude is a decision of time. Solitude is a decision of place. Remember, Jesus said you go to your room and close the door. In other words, you have to make a decision to be alone. If you are ever going to really learn to pray, If you are ever going to have a prayer life, You need to learn the key of solitude.