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By now, you know I talk a lot about community and connection. The value of being together and getting together with each other as Jesus followers cannot be overstated.
But we should all agree that the most important connection we make in this life is with God Himself. After all, your church family is not your ever-present help in time of need. God might use them sometimes to see you through a difficult season, but we recognize that He provides for our needs in many ways and is the ultimate source for what we lack.
We also know that connecting with our Lord is not the same thing as connecting with a neighbour or a coworker or even a family member. Our God is transcendent, meaning He is beyond our material existence, and He lives, moves, and has His being quite differently from ours. So, how does a material being make connection with a spiritual being like that?
As is usually the case, we should start by observing the example of Jesus during His earthly ministry. He chose a human existence, one which separated Him from the Father with whom He had perfect unity and closeness. One of the reasons He did that was so that you and I could see how a human being living on earth could connect with the Father living in heaven.
And one of His behaviours stands out above all the others.
He withdrew. He retreated. He went “up on the mountain.”
The idea behind this was to remove Himself from all the distractions this world has to offer. Food. Work. Busyness. Other people. Anything earthly that might distract Him from seeking One beyond this world.
Here are some verses that describe how Jesus sought connection with His heavenly Father:
Matthew 14:13 – After hearing about the death of John the Baptist, “Jesus withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.”
Matthew 14:23 / Mark 6:46 – After feeding the 5,000, “He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray.”
Mark 1:35 – “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”
Mark 6:31–32 – After teaching and healing many, Jesus said, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” They went away by boat to a solitary place.
Luke 4:42 – After ministering to many, “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him.”
Luke 5:15–16 – Despite crowds seeking Him, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 6:12 – Before choosing the twelve apostles, “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
John 6:15 – When the crowds wanted to make Him king by force, “Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.”
Matthew 15:29 – After healing many, Jesus “went up on a mountainside and sat down there.”
Luke 9:28 / Matthew 17:1 – Before the Transfiguration, “Jesus took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountain to pray.”
Gethsemane – Mark 14:32 / Matthew 26:36 / Luke 22:39–41 – On the night of His arrest, “He went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane” to pray alone.
Many themes repeat themselves. He withdrew. He went up. He sought a solitary place. He traveled to the mountainside. In every case, He was removing Himself from all the earthly activity and noise to a place where He could allow Himself to talk to and dwell on His Father who was beyond the mortal world.
Some people struggle with this. Seeking someone who does not exist within our material realm seems unlikely. “All we can know is what we can grasp with our senses,” some tell themselves.
But consider the impact Jesus has had on the world in which we live. No other person has captured the imagination, intellect, and emotions quite like Him. And frequent withdrawal from earthly focus was how He rolled.
So, we should consider rolling the same way.
Once a month, our church observes a day of fasting and prayer. The great challenge for each of us is to find some time where we can leave behind the distractions of our earthly lives for a short period of time and seek connection with the Father above. Some spend the whole day abstaining from solid food, spending a lot of that time reading the Bible and praying for all manner of requests. We come together in the evening as a community and agree together for various needs we identify in our lives and in the lives of others. But we also spend a great deal of that time acknowledging the greatness of our God and the splendour of His creation around us (Romans 1:19-21).
I invite you today to set aside time in your day of bustle and busyness to withdraw from it all and seek the One who put you here in the first place.
Go climb a mountain. He’s waiting in the quiet place for you.