Holy Appointment
Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there. [Mark 1:35 AMP].
QUOTE: If prayer is you talking to God, then intuition is God talking to you (Wayne Dyer).
There is nothing more powerful than the alone focused time that we spend with the Lord. I like to call it my Holy Appointment because this is a sacred time that I protect. This is time that I spend writing, listening to the Lord, reading His word, or just sitting in silence.
Whenever we want to find an example of how we are to live, there is no one better than Jesus. Jesus showed us that even He needed to take alone time with God. He continually withdrew from people, daily life activities, and the demands of his ministry to be with the Lord and pray.
I totally resonated with how Jesus spent his time in silence and solitude because it was mostly outdoors and early morning. He walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He was in the desert, He was among wild animals, He was beside the lake, He was in grain fields, He was on the mountain side, He went by boat to a solitary place, or He was walking in silence in a garden.
In this constant, ever-connected, instant world we live in, it’s even more important to schedule that Holy Appointment and to disconnect from everything. My Holy Appointment starts before I even get out of bed by simply saying, “good morning, Lord,” and thanking Him. I make every effort to not look at my phone or check emails until after a few hours of being up. If I am still indoors, I make sure to that all distractions on my computer are closed except my journal, Bible Gateway, or whatever I’m studying or writing at that time. I don’t know about you, but this has taken me years of discipline to be consistent and to be still enough to actually listen to the Lord’s direction.
Again, let’s look to Jesus as the example as He shows us the importance of having solitude and silence with God. These six reasons may be something you may want to consider implementing into your life.
SIX REASONS TO KEEP YOUR HOLY APPOINTMENT
***Note the full scriptures are below in our daily scriptures
TO PREPARE: Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness praying, being tempted by the enemy, and preparing for his ministry. He was preparing to cast out demons, heal the sick, and speak the truth. He was tempted by the enemy in His thoughts, physically and spiritually. This is exactly why the Holy Appointment is sacred time; it is a time to seek power, strength, the right words and God’s anointing for whatever we are called to do for that day [Luke 4:1-2].
TO RECHARGE: Jesus took time to recharge after ministering and feeding thousands of people. He also encouraged the disciples to take time alone and be away from other people. For me personally, I am one of those people that require a lot of solitary time because this is what recharges me. Some people are recharged by being around a lot of people and so it may take a bit more discipline to take that alone time. But as Jesus shows us, it is important to be in solitude to recharge [Mark 6:30-32].
TO GRIEVE: Jesus took time in solitude to grieve. This was demonstrated when He heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded. Even though our society doesn’t allow us to take time to grieve, Jesus, sets the example, and shows us how important it is that we take time alone to work through our grief [Matthew 14:13].
FOR DECISION MAKING: Jesus spent time alone before making any decision. One example was before He chose who would be his disciples, He spent the entire night in prayer. This would serve us well to pray before making decisions. I found personally that it works better if I seek the Lord, listen and then do what the Lord guides me to do, instead of doing what I think is best and then going back and asking Him to bless those choices. Am I the only one that has done this? [Luke 6:12-13].
DURING TURMOIL OR PAIN: Jesus was in great anguish a few hours before he was arrested knowing what He was about to face. All He could do was fall on His knees and cry out to God about the emotional agony He was feeling. Although we may never face the type of agony Jesus did before He went to the cross, we will experience great turmoil and pain throughout our lives. Sometimes our pain is so great that we are not even able to pray. But we can be in solitude and silence, so that the presence and love of God can be wrapped around us [Luke 22:39-44].
FOR FOCUSED PRAYER: There are many Scriptures about Jesus withdrawing from people and going into solitude and silence to pray specifically for certain things [L uke 5:16].
HOLY APPOINTMENT: Reading these Scriptures and writing this content, it became very clear to me that even though Jesus who is perfect and holy, He still went to God in prayer, every single day, for every single decision, and for every life situation
So, who am I to think I can make it one minute without scheduling and showing up for my Holy Appointment?
=======================================
DAILY ACTION STEP
Say to yourself out loud
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM
========================================
FRIENDLY REMINDER: Take out your journal and write down your thoughts, takeaways, and progress for this week!
TAKEAWAY GEMS
- Holy Appointment: the most sacred and important DAILY appointment for us to make and keep.
- We need our Holy Appointment to prepare us for the day.
- We need our Holy Appointment to help us recharge from life pressures and daily circumstances.
- We need our Holy Appointment to mourn our losses and work through our grief.
- We need our Holy Appointment to help us make simple and major decisions.
- We need our Holy Appointment to work through the pain and suffering that life brings us.
- We need our Holy Appointment to ask God for specific things and to pray for others.
QUESTIONS TO THINK ON
- What time of day works best for you to schedule your Holy Appointment? Why does this time work? How will you spend this time?
- What actions can you take to eliminate your distractions?
- What is more important in your life that prevents you from making your Holy Appointment? Write these things down.
ACTION STEP SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT: Physically schedule YOUR Holy Appointment into your calendar. Do whatever it takes to keep this appointment, because your life literally does depend on it.
DAILY SCRIPTURES
DAY 1: Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, Pray that you will not give in to temptation. He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. [Luke 22:39-44]
DAY 2: Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. [Luke 4:1-2]
DAY 3 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. [Luke 5:16]
DAY 4: One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. [Luke 6:12-13]
DAY 5: Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. [Mark 1:35]
DAY 6: The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. [Mark 6:30-32]
DAY 7: As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. [Matthew 14:13]