Where Our Help Comes From
In the words of Charles Spurgeon, 19th-century London pastor who came to be known as “the Prince of Preachers”: “Those incessant knocks at our door, and perpetual visits from idle persons, are so many buckets of cold water thrown upon our devout zeal. We must by some means secure uninterrupted meditation, or we shall lose power.”1 Spurgeon was committed to the essential nature of private devotion in pastoral ministry. He viewed one’s time with the Lord as a sort of spiritual battery, a power-pack that kept one going.
He was quite right.
As a young seminarian, I possessed subpar devotional habits as far as pastoral expectations are concerned. Private devotions were never something that I prioritized, and I was all the weaker for it. In the spring semester of 2021 at Southwestern Seminary, Dr. Chris Shirley presented our class with a weeks-long assignment that emphasized the spiritual benefits of routinely getting alone with God. After the completion of that assignment, I walked away a changed man. Contrary to my prior beliefs about communion with the Lord, I left with the understanding that, truly, unless we abide in Him, we can do nothing at all (John 15:5). Four years later, as a pastor in Louisiana, I now look forward to my devotional time with Christ, and stand forever indebted to the professor who changed the trajectory of my spiritual life.
Time with the Lord keeps us going. It is our true spiritual food and drink, without which all would be done in vain. Christ’s under-shepherds, following in His footsteps, faithfully serve the flock of God by relying on the strength that He provides, that is, the strength that is Himself (Ps. 28:7; Hab. 3:19; Eph. 6:10; 1 Pet. 4:11). This strength to serve is further built in the gym that is our devotional time with God.
The Devotional Life of Christ
For an even more helpful understanding of the importance of fellowship with God, we must reflect on the example of the Lord.
Of all the men who have traversed this planet, surely there was never one who needed a routine devotional time less than the God-Man, Christ Jesus. Being Himself God in the flesh, Christ could have had anything He wanted, as He wanted it, within a moment’s notice (all things were created through Him, after all). Being united with the Father and in constant, full submission to His commands (John 12:49) He already possessed all the holiness and spiritual insight He needed to act wisely. However, as we see in the Scriptures, it is also safe to say that no man wanted a routine devotional time more than the God-Man, Christ Jesus. This reality is quite humbling as we look at the account in Mark 1:32-39.
Prior to this point in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’s fame had been growing rapidly throughout the region of Galilee. He had commenced His public ministry, called His first few disciples, rebuked a demonic spirit, and healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. “What is this? A new teaching with authority!” the people exclaimed (Mk. 1:27). Excitement was buzzing over this new Preacher from Nazareth.
Well, as Jesus gave an inch, the people presumed to take a mile. Realizing His power, the account records that, at sundown, all who dealt with infirmities or unclean spirits came flocking to Him, so much so that Mark says, “the whole city was gathered together at the door” (v. 33). (Really makes you second-guess complaining about all the people who want to see you after church!) Without hesitation, and filled with compassion, Jesus was pleased to meet all of their needs.
The most fascinating aspect of this account, for me at least, comes after the healings. Verse 35 records that early the next morning, “while it was still dark,” Jesus rose, went to a desolate place, and prayed to His Father. When we recall that Jesus did not even begin His time of healing until sundown the previous night, we would not be wrong to assume that He got little to no sleep. Nonetheless, like Spurgeon alluded to earlier, Jesus’s fellowship with His Father strengthened Him. It was a top priority, superseding any benefits that REM sleep might provide. Jesus’s reverence for His Father is what led Him to bring His prayers always before Him, and He was heard because of it (Heb. 5:7). Christ had come to earth to preach the Gospel (v. 38), yet at the same time He would not allow such holy communion to be sacrificed on the altar of ministry.
This is simply remarkable, and it highlights the sinful liberties that we as pastors take when we think we have been so busy or “effective” in our own ministries. Pride says, I have worked so hard! It wouldn’t hurt to miss just one morning devotion. But wisdom says thoughts like that lead to destruction (Prov. 16:18). In season and out of season, it is imperative for our souls that we prioritize time with God in the way of the Savior, for He stands ready to give us all that we need.
What this Means for You, Pastor
And of course, this event was not an isolated one in Christ’s earthly ministry, and this brief example is insufficient to exhaustively describe the vast expanse that is the devotional life of Christ. We would be remiss to not at least make mention of Jesus’s beautiful high priestly prayer in John 17, His submissive “Your will be done” prayers in Matthew 26 on the eve of His crucifixion, or even the devotion which the Gospel of Luke describes as characterizing his entire ministry (i.e., Luke 5:16 and Luke 11:1). The world truly does not contain enough books to do it justice. Nonetheless, this brief account serves as an example that Christ’s pastors should be moved to emulate.
Pastor, you are a man of God called to walk in the same way in which Christ walked (1 John 2:6). We as pastors have similar work to do, do we not? Woe to us if we do not preach the Gospel! This is what we have been called to do! Yet, as the work abounds, we must remember the example of Christ, that He is the One Who keeps us from stumbling (Jude 24). He is the well to which we must constantly return. He is the One Who restores our souls (Ps. 23:3). And the strength that He gives is not something secondary or superficial. Far from it! Rather, in the solitude of our desolate place, as we fellowship with God through Christ, it is He Who strengthens us with Himself to do the work, for, as the prophet says, “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (Hab. 3:19).
Finally, lest we think our time spent with God only benefits our souls, let us remember it will also inevitably impact the souls of our people. Pastor, you are the aroma of Christ to a lost and dying world. Your people need to see a man whose face is shining as a result of having talked with God alone, for only then will you be empowered to preach the word with boldness (Ex. 34:29). You encourage the saints to imitate Christ as you yourself imitate Him first (1 Cor. 11:1). In the end, your people will be grateful for it, for, in the words of John Piper, “Are not our people really yearning to be around a man who has been around God?”2
The answer is yes. Without question.
Pastor, make it a priority to spend time with the Lord. He is our strength and our shield (Ps. 28:7).
