And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Mark 1:35 ESV
There is something amazing that happens when we pray in desolate places. In fact, we know from the gospels that when Jesus went to desolate places and prayed, incredible things happened. That time in prayer, communing with God allowed him to stay in touch with the father and helped him focus on the mission at hand. As a leader, we always want to be able to focus on the mission at hand. The only way we can do this is by going to desolate places and praying, just like Jesus.
The details are pretty sparse in this passage in Mark, however, we can infer why Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. The questions we need to answer if we want to model this in our own lives are:
- What constitutes as a “desolate place”?
- What do we pray?
I’ll answer both for us below.
What constitutes a desolate place?
The word, “desolate” in the dictionary describes a place deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness. Jesus had to go early in the morning and travel some distance away from where he was to find a place deserted of people and empty. To apply that in our context, assuming you live in a city or a suburb, that means any place without people and quiet.
For us, that may mean we have to turn off our phones, and find ourselves in a place where there is absolutely nothing to be distracted by– no people, no things to watch, and nothing to pass us by. If you have kids or roommates or a spouse, that may literally mean locking yourself in a closet, your garage, or a bathroom when nobody is awake. The key to a desolate place is that nobody is able to reach you and you’re not able to find something else to do.
How do we pray in a desolate place?
Now, we don’t know exactly what Jesus prayed when he went to this desolate place in the Gospel of Mark, but I am thinking his prayer involved a lot of talking with God about things on his mind and listening to what God had to say.
Whatever you’re feeling, the good, the bad, and the ugly: no filter, tell God about it. The point is to be honest. Share with him your gratefulness, your anxiousness, your confusion, your questions, etc.
On the flip side of that, listen to what God is saying through his Spirit. When you’re in this desolate place where there are no distractions, God can feed you thoughts, feelings, images, and desires into our hearts and minds if we are open to it.
Conclusion
When we go to desolate places to pray, and there is absolute quiet, physically, you can quiet down your mind and your soul here. In this type of place you become a blank slate for God to speak into your life. When God speaks into our lives, our hearts and minds become renewed. We become empowered. Emboldened. Focused. Then and only then can we experience the incredible things he has in store for our day.
Seek out the desolate places to pray and experience the power of God in your life.
Prayer: God, our life is too full, too busy, filled with too many distractions. Give us the ability to be discipline in our search for a desolate place where we can meet with you and speak with you. We know that it is in these types of places that we can experience you best and we want that in our lives. Thank you for giving us an avenue unhindered by life to meet with you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
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