Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

RETREAT, RECHARGE AND RE LAUNCH

In the military, soldiers are not permitted to stay too long at war to avoid fatigue and trauma. That doesn’t mean they won’t go to war again.

The standard is that troops sent to war, after a while, would be withdrawn to rest, re trained and redeployed.

The time of retraining is to equip them with new strategies and intelligence on warfare.

The military hierarchical order acknowledges that staying in war front for too long may lead to fatigue and boredom.

Somehow, there’s a tendency to exhaust strength and tactics. Intelligence may also become lacking because there’s no time for thinking.

The Christian race can be likened to soldiers fighting battle on the field. The tendency to be weak and tired is very high.

The devil is waiting for that weak moment to wreck havoc and launch fiery attacks. So what should you do as a believer?

Retreat is the key. As a believer, you must consciously plan personal retreats to refuel, refire and re-launch.

Most times, we exhaust our strength on activities and we become weak and dry. That’s what some preachers call ‘burn-out’.

It is possible to preach oneself dry. Preaching every now and then and being on posters and billboards of programs isn’t a sign of spiritual strength. It could be a sign of growth not necessarily a sign of spiritual strength.

It is possible to have a weak devotional life and still get invitations to preach and sing. That’s dangerous.

As a minister, place a great value on your private devotional life than your desire to perform on the stage.

Activities takes alot from us just as soldiers expend so much strength and intelligence at war. Stop trying to be everywhere.


Not all invitations are for you. Stop calculating how much you’ll get from honorarium by preaching here and there. You might be getting that invitation now because of the little fire left, if you burn-out, they’ll look elsewhere.

We must learn how to behave like Jesus. He withdrew himself from the crowd into a solitary place to receive strength.

Sometimes, If my prayer fire is burning low, I retreat to the prayer mountain in a place far from home. I suspend all to be alone with God.

Seeing and hearing people pray does alot for me. The Spirit of prayer baptizes me afresh in such atmosphere.

Do not confuse activity with productivity. A believer can be so active with church activities yet he is weak and dry. Your inner strength for the race is more important to God than any activity be it preaching or singing.

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).

There is a place of waiting on the Lord for renewal of strength because strength can be exhausted.

Those who don’t wait on God will waste away.

ACTION POINT: Develop a culture of waiting on God from time to time by withdrawing from all activities. By doing so, you’re imitating Jesus.