Jesus often left the crowds and went into hiding. Here's an example.
"Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, 'Everyone is looking for you'.” Mark 1:35-37
Jesus sent the 12 disciples out to do ministry. When they returned, He encouraged them to separate from the people who were following them and rest.
"The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves." Mark 6:30-32
Early in His ministry Jesus spent the whole night alone in prayer. The next day He chose his 12 disciples.
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles."
Here is another example of Jesus spending time alone in prayer.
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16
If you want to see God move in your ministry, then you have to hide away to a secret place and seek His face.
Look what Matthew 6:6 says about this.
"But
when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray
to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will
reward you."
If you want to see God move in your ministry, then you must first hide in a solitary place and seek God's face and ask for His blessings.
The Bible reminds us in Zechariah 4:6...
"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," saith the Lord of hosts.
You cannot build a fruitful ministry without the power of God. And you can't have the power of God on your life if you are not spending time alone with Him.
I remember when I first started in ministry. I was just a 16-year-old-kid. But more than anything, I wanted to be used of God to help people know Jesus and follow him.
I was invited to speak at a special youth meeting at a church. I was so excited. Back then, I kept my sermon outlines in small brown binders. As I was getting ready to leave and drive to the meeting, I grabbed the brown binder on my desk and left.
I got to the church and after the songs, it was my time to teach the young people who were there. I got up, went to the podium and opened my brown binder.
My heart dropped when I looked at the binder. I had brought the wrong binder! And the sermon in the binder had not to do with young people. I began to panic. I tried to adapt the sermon to work for the young people, but it was a disaster. I stuttered and stammered around for a few minutes and then closed the binder. Embarrassed to death.
I told the people in the audience what had happened and apologized. I told them we would go ahead and have an invitation and invite people to come forward if they want to invite Jesus into their life.
We started the invitation and to my amazement, people started to come forward. There were tears, There were prayers of repentance. There were people inviting Jesus into their life. God did a great work in many lives.
That was Saturday night. The next day I was scheduled to speak again in the service. I got in my car and drove an hour one way to my house to get the correct binder. I found the right binder and headed back to the church.
I was confident that God was going to do an even greater work since I would have my "great' sermon now.
I got back to the church. It was packed with people. I brought my "great sermon." It was time for the invitation. I thought lots of people would come forward to make decisions in response to my great sermon.
Guess what happened? Nothing. It was dead. No one moved at all. I wondered what had happened? Why didn't anything happen?
On the way home, God told me why. It's wasn't about my "great" sermon. It was about seeking Him and hiding in His presence. My sermons without His anointing would produce no fruit.
It's easy to get so busy serving God that we don't make time to hide away and seek God. But without hiding and seeking God, our ministries will fall flat.
But when you practice the spiritual discipline of getting alone with God and spending time with Him and His Word, you will see God moving and working in great power in your ministry.
Always remember to "hide and seek."
