Ever Felt the Need to Withdraw?

SEDL Prayer Session • 18 January 2005

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known (Mk 3: 7-12).

Grace :

Lord Jesus I beg for the grace to be able to withdraw from the crushing crowd that I may be able to savor your presence in my life.

Points for Prayer:

1. Go back to your experience or experiences of prayer for the past two weeks. What graces have you been receiving from your God? What feelings surfaced in the past few weeks and where do these feelings lead you – towards God or away from God?
2. Meditate on the passage above. Read the passage slowly. Allow the words to wash over you. Savor each word. Stay with the words that especially catch your attention. Absorb them the way the thirsty earth receives the rain. Repeat the words or phrases, aware of the feelings that are awakened in you. Read and reread the passage lovingly as you would a letter from a dear friend, or a sweet lover, or your spouse.
3. Where are you now in your prayer life? Are you able, like Christ, to withdraw from the crushing crowd? Or, are you crushed by the crowd of anxiety, work, and worries?
4. What have you been doing that enables you to be closer with your God?
5. Share these fruits to your God by doing an imaginary conversation with Him. Listen to His response.
6. End by thanking your God.

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” (Martin Luther King)