Day 4: Into the Wilderness with Jesus
Bible passage: Mark 1:12–13; Mark 1:35; Matthew 5:6
Why Jesus Stepped Away
Today is Monday 4th of January 2021. Welcome to Day 4 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Yesterday we fed on the Word of God. Today we ask what is filling us up in its place.
Mark tells the story in two verses. The Spirit sent Jesus out into the wilderness. He was there for forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was among the wild animals, and angels took care of Him (Mark 1:12–13).
Just before this, Jesus was baptised and heard His Father’s voice. Just after it, He began to preach. In between came the wilderness.
The Gift of the Wilderness
Led There by the Spirit
The wilderness was not a mistake and it was not a punishment. The Holy Spirit took Jesus there. Sometimes God leads us away from the crowd because He loves us and has something to give us that we cannot receive anywhere else. Luke tells us that Jesus came back from those forty days in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14).
A Habit, Not a One-Off
This was not the only time. Mark records that Jesus got up before daybreak and went out to a lonely place to pray (Mark 1:35). Luke says that He often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer (Luke 5:16). If the Son of God needed to step away from the demands of people and ministry, so do we.
What Fills Us
Jesus said that God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). Hunger for God is a gift. But an appetite can be spoiled. A child who fills up on sweets does not want dinner.
Our phones, our screens, our busyness and the constant noise of the world are not wrong in themselves. But they can take the edge off our hunger for God until we hardly notice that it has gone. Fasting lets us feel hungry again, and it teaches us to turn that hunger towards Him.
Making Room
Three Steps for Today
Find your quiet place. Choose a chair, a room or a walk, and a time when you will not be interrupted. Guard it.
Trade, do not only stop. Whatever you have given up, use that same time to pray and to read. An empty space will soon fill with something else.
Check your treasure. Jesus said that wherever our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:19–21). Ask what your time and attention say about what you treasure.
Paul wrote that those who keep themselves pure will be ready for the Master to use for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21). That is what the wilderness is for.
Remember too that Jesus was not alone out there. Angels were with Him. God will meet you in the quiet place.
Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You that You went into the wilderness before me. Forgive me for filling my life with so many things that I have lost my hunger for You. Lead me to a quiet place today. Give me a thirst for righteousness that nothing else can satisfy, and make me a vessel You can use. Amen.
Keep going
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