Keeping Focus as a Leader

Mother Teresa was asked about prayer and her prayer life. She responded by saying, “The beginning of prayer is silence. If we really want to pray, we must first learn to listen, for in the silence of the heart God speaks. And to be able to see that silence, to be able to hear God we need a clean heart; for a clean heart can see God, can hear God, can listen to God, and then only from the fullness of our heart can we speak to God. But we cannot speak unless we have listened, unless we have made that connection with God in the silence of our heart.”

Connecting with God in Prayer

How do you make that connection with God? How do you keep your focus as a follower of Jesus and Christ-centered leader? Do you have a designated time to pray and reflect? Do you read or search the scripture? Do you meet with a trusted friend or with friends to reflect and discuss your faith? How do you experience the silence that leads to listening and receiving God’s direction? As a follower of Jesus, how do you focus upon God?

Although there are multiple ways of keeping focus, Luke tells us that Jesus had a pattern of behavior in keeping his focus. In Luke’s story we find that Jesus would be engaged in ministry and then retreat to a desert place to pray. Then we would engage in ministry again. He would engage in ministries of feeding, teaching, and healing, then go off to a lonely place to pray.   

Jesus Retreats to Pray

Although we don’t know the content of his prayers, we do have a snapshot of one occasion when he retreated to pray. Luke says he returned from his baptism full of the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit led him into the wilderness.

Jesus had been anointed by the Spirit. He had heard the voice of God say, “You are my son, the beloved. With you I am pleased.” Could it be that Jesus is led by the Spirit into a time of silence, reflection, and prayer so he could receive a clear focus of his ministry?

Let’s see if Luke’s story of the “Temptation of Jesus” gives a clue to keeping focus as a follower of Jesus and as a Christ-centered leader. We will use a pattern of Read, Reflect, Respond, and Return to reflect upon the story.

Read Luke 4:1-13, 5:25-16

Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and afterward Jesus was starving. The devil said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.”

Next the devil led him to a high place and showed him in a single instant all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said, “I will give you this whole domain and the glory of all these kingdoms. It’s been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. Therefore, if you will worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It’s written, you will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

The devil brought him into Jerusalem and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here; for it’s written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”

Jesus answered, “It’s been said, don’t test the Lord your God.” After finishing every temptation, the devil departed from him until the next opportunity.

News of him spread even more and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses. But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.

Reflect on Luke 4

In the story of Luke’s good news, we see Jesus praying at particular points in his life and ministry. It was his pattern to engage in ministry and then retreat in prayer. He would feed the hungry, heal the sick, and teach the love and acceptance of God. After such events, he would withdraw to a lonely place to pray and reflect. He had experienced the needs and desires of the people, and he wanted to meet their needs and care for them. His greatest desire was to be who God created and gifted him to be. So, he retreated to keep his focus upon who he was and upon who God had gifted him to love and serve.

This story gives us a snapshot of one particular time of his prayer and reflection. It is immediately following his baptism that he withdraws to pray.

Jesus Withdraws to Pray

Jesus has encountered people who are hungry, and he is deciding whether his ministry is to provide food for them. So, he goes to the wilderness, a desert place, a lonely place to pray. He is tempted to turn stones into bread, not only to care for himself but to care for the social problems of the day.

He is tempted to provide food for people who are hungry. Providing food for the hungry is a good thing, a very good thing. But is feeding people and addressing the social problems of the day the focus of his ministry? It is through prayer that he keeps focus upon the purpose of God’s call upon his life. He responds, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.”

Jesus encounters the Roman government which is oppressive to the poor. Jesus is deciding whether his ministry is to gain political power to care for the oppressed. God is the ultimate ruler, but evil powers dominate the present age. So, he goes to the wilderness, a desert place, a lonely place to pray.

Temptated by Power

He is tempted to switch his allegiance from God to the realities of the power of the government. He is tempted with the thought of what good he could do for the people if he had the political authority to do so.

Having such political power to work for the common good is a good thing, but is having such authority and power the focus of his ministry? It is through prayer that Jesus keeps focus upon the purpose of God’s call upon his life. He responds, “It’s written, “You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

He encounters the people who challenge his identity. “Since you are God’s Son…” or “assuming you are God’s Son…”, Jesus is tempted to show how he understands himself in relationship to God. So, he goes to the wilderness, a desert place, a lonely place to pray.

He is tempted to provide a public demonstration that he is God’s Son instead of trusting God’s affirmation and confirmation, received at his baptism, of who he is and what he is called to do. He is tempted to make it about himself. It is through prayer that Jesus keeps focus upon the purpose of God’s call upon his life. He responds, “It’s been said, ‘Don’t test the Lord your God.’”

Pattern of Prayer

So, this is his pattern of prayer. He comes to the desert to pray. He prays to keep his focus on what God has called him to do. In chapter 5 we read, “News of him spread even more and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses.  But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.” Why?

He retreats to the desert during a time of popularity. Is it to renew his own energy and power? Is he seeking and searching for purpose? He has started his ministry. He goes back to the desert repeatedly. Jesus is still wrestling with something. He is doing what any minister or person should do when he or she experiences immense popularity.

Popularity is often a way to avoid reality. So, Jesus might be struggling with “ego.” When everyone wants to see him, where is he? He is in the desert praying. He seeking to keep his focus upon what has called him to do. His temptation? To stay with the crowds. So, he goes out to the desert again and again. He goes when everyone wants him and is looking for him. Why? His temptation, “do I go with the crowds, or do I go to the cross?” It is through prayer that he keeps focus upon the purpose of God’s call upon his life.

Respond to Luke 4

How have you used prayer to keep your focus upon God’s plan and purpose for your life and ministry? It can be easy to give into doing good things, even if it is for all the right reasons. It is not difficult to lose focus on why you are a Christ-centered leader.

Maybe you’ve experienced how easy it is to convince yourself that you are serving God’s purposes as you seek to compromise and to please.

It is easy to lose your identity even in the midst of spiritual activities and social action. It is easy to give into the “this must be right” feeling when the crowd agrees, and difficult to speak up and act when it is against the crowd. The power to focus upon and live out God’s plan and purpose comes through prayer.

There is a difference between a prayer life and a life of prayer. It will be the life of prayer that will keep you focused on God’s desire for you and all of creation.

So, what will you do to keep your focus upon being who God created and gifted you to be? Ask trusted friends and/or colleagues to pray with you and for you? Spend time alone reflecting upon your life and ministry? Who will you ask to walk with you in prayer and reflection? How will you use silence as an experience of God’s presence and leadership? If you are alone, how will you listen to God and will you develop a system of accountability for your health and focus?

Return

Give God thanks for the people you met today. How did you keep your focus upon God’s love? How did you express God’s love? In what ways did you help someone know he or she was a “beloved child of God”? How did prayer shape your thoughts and actions? What will you do differently tomorrow? Give God thanks for the opportunities you had to love others as you have been loved.