Torch, Spring-Summer 1999

\ l be especially busy if you care about people. When you reach out to people, it is draining. If you are going to be a servant of God who cares about people, you will be one exhausted person. That is what Jesus was doing, and it is why He was exhausted. If you are going to be a people person, if you are going to truly be a servant of God and reach out to people as our Lord did, it is exhausting. To be brutally frank, there isn't anyone here who has time to pray. You have to make time to pray. You have to determine that prayer will be a priority. Christ made it a priority, and we must as well. The second element you should notice about the Lord's prayer discipline is the place He prayed. I think it fascinating that the text says Jesus wanted to be alone. He went off to a solitary place where He prayed. One of the comments students have registered over the last couple of years with me is that we need a prayer room on campus. They tell us that with all of our strategic planning, with all of the buildings going up, there should be some place that could be built into a building that becomes a prayer room. They share anecdotes about other colleges where that has been done, and they recommend we consider something similar. I think it is a good recommendation, but I also understand that there isn't a room that we could build that would begin to handle the student body over the years. It is not as if you could have one room. If one room would do, then it tells us that prayer is not the priority it should be. I can recall that trying to find a solitary place was a problem for me when I was a student. I would try, but found it difficult to get alone. Maybe you have the same problem. There isn't a place at your workplace where you can get alone. Mothers with small children at home may find it difficult to ever really be alone. I usually found when I was in school that there were several times a day when I could get into a classroom; nobody was in there and I could read my Bible and pray. Maybe you can find a lounge or a vestibule somewhere. Perhaps you could walk out to the parking lot at your office and sit in your car for a few moments of solitude and prayer. Maybe you could just sit under a tree. It may be in the midst of great chaos, but you can find a place where your spirit and your soul are alone with God. You know what I like to see on our campus? I walk into the Ministry Center just before chapel, and I walk around to talk to our students. I like it when I see our kids reading Bibles. Maybe they are just doing assignments or working through the required reading during that time, but it doesn't make any difference. What I like is that our students are willing to sit down in the midst of the chapel activity and all that is going on around them and read their Bibles. I come upon students reading their Bibles all over the campus at various places, and it is thrilling to see. So, the place to pray is one of solitude. That can mean someplace physically apart from others, or it can mean a place of solitude we establish for ourselves, even in the midst of great activity. Jesus went out to a solitary place and so should we. The third thing we should notice is that not only did the Lord stress the priority and place of prayer, but He also stressed its purpose. When His disciples came to Him all upset saying, "Jesus, what in the world are you doing?