Here is the prime reason for spiritual weakness, powerlessness, and inefficiency everywhere prevalent. Here is the cause for so little manifest pungent conviction for sin, for so little of the supernatural power of the Lord present to heal and for so few bright conversions. Here is the “why” of personal failure in life, in fact, of all failure, and even of unctionless, powerless sermons.

Have you with Christ-like insistence drawn yourself apart, torn yourself away to some desert place to pray? Jesus, though surrounded by the multitudes clamoring for His attention and pressing to be near Him, many of whom He had just personally touched and healed and who consequently felt a claim on His time; and also, no doubt, by His mother, brothers, sisters, and disciples, still insisted on one thing of paramount importance to the Son of God. This one dominant thing He would allow no time, nor place, nor circumstance or consideration, or demands of the people.  His loved ones, or disciples, to dissuade Him from. He literally tore Himself away from the crowd pressing Him for help and healing a

Through His example He said to all, “Excuse me, I have an important date to commune with and intercede unto the Father. I must keep this appointment.”

‘AND HE WITHDREW HIMSELF INTO THE WILDERNESS AND PRAYED ” (Lk 5:16) He drew, or literally dragged, Himself away. If He found it necessary to thus insist on prayer time, how much more shall we in this busy age of multiplied duties, activities, and demands on our time, many of them important and necessary, have to insist on drawing ourselves away from legitimate cares, social duties, loved ones, and walk as He walked in His prayer life. Let none say, “I cannot find time,” in face of this example of Christ’s drawing away from a multitude of folks and duties. Shall we tell you how? “Excuse me, wife, children, social duties, etc., I must go now and be with God.” Unless we resolve, with strong resolution, and insist on prayer time, it will not be ours.

Isaiah 64:7 speaks of a lack of people that stir self up to pray, “…there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee…” It is fallacious to wait for a spirit of prayer to come on us. We may now follow Jesus in His insistence on prayer time, stir ourselves up to pray, go at it until we have a spirit of prayer, and then pray because we have it. It is amazing to us, how, in the face of this example of the insistence of the Son of God to keep the prayer appointment, professors of perfect love can claim to be beyond the necessity of special seasons of prayer. They claim to pray on the run, but our observation is they run out of tenderness, sweetness, Christlikeness, and heavenly unction. We fear that, unless they awake to this deception, they will run out of God, salvation, and heaven, running into hell. God help us draw ourselves often away!