Pragmatic or Dependent?

“But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” (Luke 5:15-16)

If the Lord uses us for a special task and blesses that ministry, there’s a danger that we’ll attribute at least part of the success to ourselves. As a result we then tend to act recklessly and neglect prayer because we think we are doing quite well. As JB Stoney aptly put it, “We have a tendency to become independent while enjoying the fruits of dependence.”

This wasn’t the case with the Lord Jesus. After we’re shown in Mark 1:35 how He was in dependent prayer before His Father early in the morning, we read shortly afterwards that He healed a leper. There had never been anything like this in Israel before. Many were deeply impressed by this miracle and came to Him in droves to listen to Him and to be healed of their diseases.

This would have been the opportunity to make a big impact on the people. In this situation, many would have simply pragmatically continued with what had just proved to be successful, without asking about the will of God. But what did the Son of God do in this situation? Since His ministry flowed from fellowship with His Father, He did not seek the glory of men, nor did He let Himself be led by circumstances or opportunities.

He knew people’s hearts, and He knew that they only wanted to be healed of their physical ailments, but were rejecting the Savior of the soul. Instead of standing in the spotlight before them, He acted in dependence on God, retired to the desert and went back to prayer (see Mark 1:41-45; Luke 5:15-16).

Withdrawn from the people, He entered into the presence of God, where He received guidance for further service. Although He was in prayer at all times (see Ps. 109:4), He always had the desire for special times of communion with His Father. This repeated ‘refueling’ in the shadow of the Almighty was His highest priority.

What do you do after you have been enabled to do a service for God? Do you also—like the disciples—go back into the presence of the Lord, tell Him what you have experienced, and allow Him to guide you afresh (see Luke 9:10)? Do you consider before the Lord whether He wants you to continue as before? In the course of the day, as far as is possible, return to prayer every now and then (Ps. 55:17; 119:164).

J.P.S.