THE WORLD SHUT OUT


A. "AND WHEN HE HAD SENT THE MULTITUDE AWAY, HE WENT UP INTO A MOUNTAIN APART TO PRAY; AND WHEN THE EVENING WAS COME, HE WAS THERE ALONE" - MATTHEW 14:23
  1. The words of our text are most revealing about the prayer habit of our Lord - Examples: After feeding the multitude, he went into the mountain to be alone - John 6:15; before he ordained the twelve - he spent time alone in prayer - Luke 6:12
  2. To Him this prayer habit was the ideal environment:
    1. To shut the world out, and be alone with God
    2. He loved to get away from the traffic of humanity for meditation and communion with His heavenly Father
    3. He emphasized this type of prayer life to His disciples - Matt. 6:6
    4. This was in sharp contrast to the prayer habit of the Pharisees who loved to parade their manner of prayer before the people - Matt. 6:8
B. THE WORLD SHUT OUT
  1. It is the whole tendency of our times to depersonalize man:
    1. The typical life of our modern world is the life of the crowded city or town
    2. In this environment we lose the capacity of solitude. We are companions to the crowd and strangers to ourselves
  2. A prayerful study of the word of God shows very impressively that:
    1. Men had their great visions and deep experience in solitude - when they were alone - Examples: Jacob had his vision of God when he was alone - Gen. 28:11-16; he had his name changed when he was left alone - Gen. 32:24-28; Moses was alone with God forty days and nights when he received laws and ordinances for Israel - Deut. 5:10; Ex. 34:28
    2. There is a hallowed atmosphere when we are in solitude that seems to bring us closer to God. We are able to concentrate more fully upon the spiritual life
C. LET US TAKE A DEEPER AND PRAYERFUL LOOK AT THE OPENING WORDS OF OUR TEXT
  1. Why we must shut the world out when we pray?
    1. The world and its cares interfere with single-hearted communion with God. The cares of life are very harmful to the spiritual growth and development - Matt. 13:22
    2. We must cultivate the quiet, receptive heart if we would know God; Examples: Elijah learned this truth - I Kings 19:11-14; words in Isaiah 30:15; Psalms 46:10
  2. Prayer does not mean a clamorous petition for benefits
  3. It does not mean the recitation of a formula as the heathens do - Matt. 6:7
  4. The meaningful prayer is the atonement of ourselves with the great self of God, that our desires may be refined; that our sense of littleness may be lifted up into God's largeness, and that all our scattered purposes may be brought into focus with the perfect will of God:
    1. That was the prayer of the Son of man - Matt. 26:42
    2. That is the key to acceptable service - Matt. 7:21
  5. Solitude - in which the world is shut out of our lives has a number of special rewards for those who put forth the effort:
    1. In Solitude we may feel perfectly free to open our hearts to God - making known to him the secrets of our lives - Matt. 6:6
    2. In solitude we can listen to our heavenly Father and be guided according to His holy will - "speak for thy servant heareth" - I Sam. 3:9
    3. There can be no great of deep spiritual life unless we shut out the world to be shut in with God - Matt. 6:24
    4. Dear reader, have you experienced the blessings of being alone with God as the Master did?


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