Retreat to a Place of Solitude

Jesus, the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, modelled this urgency of solitude. In Mark 6:46 we read, "After leaving them, he (Jesus) went up on a mountainside to pray." (NIV)

Lately my soul hungers for a place of solitude. I feel called to retreat to a quiet place of prayer and to wait and listen for God's direction.
 
I guess the older I get the more I realize just how predisposed I am to self. But prayer is the place where God reveals His presence and purifies faulty motives. Prayer is the place I hear His whispers of direction for my life. Prayer is the place where He speaks and reveals the condition of my soul.
 
I don't know about you...but I need that intimate time of fellowship with Him otherwise I cave to the pressures of the immediate and become enslaved to pressure of what seems urgent.
 
Wayne Cordeiro wrote "It's a gift to be able to launch an inspiring vision. But unless you manage it along the way, it can turn on you, and soon the voracious appetite of the vision consumes you." (From Lance Witt's book Replenish, page 64)
 
Friend, what consumes you? Is it fear of the unknown? Your job? Your marriage? The uncertainty of the future? Your dreams? Your children?
 
IF you feel a wavering in your spirit, if the day to day routine seems too heavy, if your situation seems impossible...follow Jesus example...and retreat to a quiet place to pray. The pressures of life will consume us and influence knee-jerk decisions unless we retreat to a place of solitude with God. In that place of solitude, God picks up our heavy weights and restores our faith. He fills us with His truth. He instills His wisdom. He infuses our soul with peace.
 
A.C. Dixon quote constantly reminds me of the importance of prayer: “When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so on. Nor am I disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place, but when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.”
 
Today, I can't help but think: What can prayer do for our relationships? What can prayer do for our businesses/ministries? What can prayer do for the spiritual well-being of our souls?