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Scripture Reading: Matthew 14

How do you balance the time you spend loving others with your actions and taking time alone to pray?  How do you meet the needs of others and still have time alone with God?  One way is to follow the example of Jesus in Matthew chapter 14.  Although Jesus was regularly among the multitudes, He also regularly withdrew to solitary places to pray.

In this passage, Jesus and His disciples were inundated with people who needed them.  In fact, Mark says that “so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,” so Jesus said to the disciples,

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). 

It was also at this time that Jesus truly needed some time alone with His Father.  John the Baptist had just been beheaded―John, who was Jesus’ cousin, Jesus’ baptizer, Jesus’ forerunner in calling the people to repentance, and Jesus’ predecessor in giving his life for the kingdom of God.

But as Jesus tried to withdraw to a quiet place, the inevitable happened.  When His boat landed, the people had already beaten him to the spot on foot.  Mark says,

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:33). 

It was in this context that Jesus performed one of his most famous miracles.  It had been a long day of ministering to the people and the disciples finally said to Jesus,

“Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food” (Matthew 14:15b). 

I can almost read their thoughts between the lines: “and maybe we’ll finally get a chance to eat, too!”  That’s why they came out to this solitary area in the first place!

There were over 5,000 people there, and all the disciples could find were five loaves of bread and two fish.  Jesus looked to heaven, gave thanks, the food turned out to be enough for everyone, with twelve basketfuls left over…one for each of the disciples!

Now fast forward a few hours, and we find that Jesus was finally able to get alone to pray.  He sent the crowds home satisfied, and sent the disciples on ahead by boat to their next stop.  After praying, Jesus was able to perform another of his most famous miracles:  He walked across the water to rejoin them in the boat.

It’s interesting to me that two of Jesus’ most famous miracles were done for the sake of expediency, not for the sake of wowing the people!  While Jesus obviously made it a priority to be with people and love them as much as possible, He also made it a priority to take time alone to pray.  Through those prayers, God was able to accomplish things that would otherwise have been humanly impossible.

Elijah did some of his most impressive miracles for the sake of expediency, too, such as splitting a river in two so he could cross over on dry ground.  He didn’t do this to impress anyone; he simply had places to go and people to see before he was taken to heaven (see 2 Kings, chapter 2).

Has God given you seemingly impossible tasks?  Do the needs around you overwhelm your human abilities to meet them?  Let me encourage you to take time alone to pray.  I’ve heard several spiritual men and women say, “I have so much to do, I don’t have time NOT to pray.”  They realize that it is only through prayer that they will be able to accomplish all that God has put on their hearts to do.

No matter what else you have to do today, make sure you take time to pray.

Get alone with God, the Creator of time itself.  He’ll show you how to make the most of the time He’s given you, even accomplishing things that seem humanly impossible!

Prayer: Father, give me supernatural wisdom to know how to do all that You’ve put on my heart to do.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.