Rest and War: A Field Guide for the Spiritual LifeSample

We have to war for a rhythm of rest, and here again, Jesus helps us because Jesus developed that kind of rhythm in his earthly ministry. Jesus had three years to change the world, and yet in that, he never neglected a rhythm of moving into the city for intensity of ministry and then out into the wilderness to cultivate intimacy with his Father. And if he wasn’t too busy for that rhythm, you aren’t either. You see it in places like Mark—the gospel of Mark—where he has a long day of ministry, where he’s casting out an unclean spirit in the synagogue, where he is healing Peter’s sick mother-in-law, and the whole city comes to him and asks for healing (see Mark 1:21–34).

He heals late into the night, and yet as dawn breaks the next day, Mark says in Mark 1:35, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (ESV). And as his ministry went on, Luke tells us in Luke 5, it says, “But now, even more, the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed from their infirmities. But he would withdraw to the desolate places and pray” (verses 15–16 ESV).

That Jesus developed that rhythm—into the city of intensity and ministry and out into the wilderness to cultivate intimacy—we are meant to do the same thing. And I want to encourage you to develop that rhythm in your life. The best fight against deception and temptation is to cultivate devotion.

Now, to do that, I would encourage you to think in two categories: consistency and creativity. Consistency and creativity. You need a consistent rhythm of cultivating intimacy with the Lord. I would encourage you to have a daily rhythm of loading your mind with thoughts of God because thoughts are the fuel of the furnace of our affections. And as I load my mind with thoughts of God, it builds up a fire of my affections for God, and that drives the engines of my actions to pursue the glory of God in the world.

So, we cultivate intimacy with God with consistency, but we also do it with creativity. Find different ways to enjoy God through enjoying all that he’s made. And that’s where this can get really fun.

1. How would you say you are doing when it comes to consistently meeting with God?
2. In what creative ways can you interact with God?
3. Why is it necessary to spend consistent, quality time cultivating devotion with God?