But He Would Withdraw...
Luke 5:16 – Teach Us to Pray, Part 11
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 11th, 2026 (am)
When I first imagined this message, it was titled, Lessons in Prayer from the Life of Jesus, drawn from selected texts. But as I was studying this passage, Luke 5:12-16, vv.15-16, particularly v.16, caught my attention. We’ll read it in a moment, and I’ll make some comments before we move into our outlined section and draw some lessons from it. But once I chose this as our anchor text, or really our springboard text, I changed our title to, But He Would Withdraw…. I usually like to use a phrase or clause directly from the text to give a sense of the heart of the message. This action from Jesus, he would withdraw, is a really sweet entry point into His prayer life.
This is Part 11 of our series, Teach Us to Pray. We plan to finish next Sunday, Part 12, Luke 18:1-8, Will He Find Faith on Earth?, a closing word of encouragement from Jesus. But today we look at His prayer life to see what we can learn from Him.
12 While he was in one of the cities, clearly the precise location is of no consequence to Luke in this event, there came a man full of leprosy, an awful and isolating disease, as we know. Lev.13:45 The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. Back to Luke: And when [this leper] saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, let me draw out the present-tense verbs (cf,, nasv, niv), “Lord, if you [are willing], you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, think about that. When might the last time have been when this man felt a human touch? Jesus didn’t have to touch him, but He did, saying, “I [am willing]; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And [Jesus] charged him to tell no one—it’s like Jesus is saying: You’re not yet ready to set your healing into the context of My Kingdom, clearly present now but not yet present in all its fullness. So, don’t say anything! but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” Go confirm your healing according to the Law but, otherwise, keep it to yourself. 15 But this didn’t happen; now even more the report about [Jesus] went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. The lost whom [He] came to seek and to save (19:10) were flocking to Him! God’s perfect plan is playing out, right? 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
The way Luke puts it here, it’s clear that he’s finished telling the story of the cleansed leper (12-14) and has moved on to related but more general narrative comments about Jesus’ ministry and practices (15-16). Among other observations, we can see that Luke is telling us it wasn’t uncommon for Jesus to pull back from the crowds, go to out-of-the-way places, and pray. That’s what gives us the sense that prayer, communion with the Father, was more foundational in Jesus’ life and ministry than seeking and saving the lost (19:10). But what else do we learn?
Outline Sentence: Let’s drill into three lessons, beginning here.
Personal prayer, alone with the Father, was Jesus’ priority.
The tense of [both verbs here (16)] indicates continuous action (Morris 136), [emphasizing] that this was a regular practice of Jesus (Stein 173). Connecting with the Father was foundational even to His mission to seek and save the lost (19:10). So, extended times in prayer, in a place where He could be uninterrupted and undistracted, was a regular practice for Jesus. And if that was true for Him, surely it must also be true for us.
As we’ve suggested before, think of it as talking with a dear, old friend, or a treasured mentor. You’ll talk as long as they’re willing to continue. Midnight can pass. You have work in the morning. But you’re receiving too much from this joyful fellowship to end it. This is the sort of prayer we want, fellowship with the Father. And surely it’s best when we can be alone with Him, in a desolate place, allowing time to melt. But even if our stage of life or our work or our many responsibilities don’t allow for such times very often, we can do this whenever we’re able and still engage with God in unceasing prayer while we’re going about our daily work. He’s a Friend Who can always go with us everywhere. And you’d be surprised how much like a desolate place your kitchen or nursery or office or train car or exercise device can be when you’re fellowshipping with God like this.
It becomes a priority because you love it, and need it. Let it start there. Just begin by getting alone with God whenever you’re able, fully realizing your relationship with Him won’t grow without it. Talk to Him, remembering Who He is, and who you are. Listen to Him in His Word. Just dialogue back and forth in His Word. Let Him talk first as you pray! Then respond. A former pastoral staff member here wrote a book: Prayer as Answering Speech. God initiates and we respond. I really don’t know that any other sort of prayer could better enable time to melt with the Father like it did for Jesus. Just try it; taste and see! (Psa.34:8)
The Father’s will, discerned in prayer, was Jesus’ guide in life and ministry.
Jesus really did labor to submit His will to the Father’s will. And there were at least some things known only to the Father, like when Jesus would return (Mar.13:32). Remembering also that He purposed not to use His equality with God [to His own advantage] when He [took on] human form (Phi.2:6-8), what if, when He prayed here, He was asking God: How long will His image-bearing creatures have to endure the likes of leprosy—in their bodies, and in their souls? After all, we know that He wept over the fallen state of Jerusalem (19:41) and at the faithlessness displayed at Lazarus’ tomb (Joh.11:35). The write of Hebrews wrote that Heb.5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death…. So, it seems like He really did rely on fellowship with His Father to fulfill His ministry in this world, face to face with all the heartbreaking realities of sin and suffering while knowing full well what all this was supposed to be like. So, He relied on fellowship with His Father, Personally. So must we. He leaned into this fellowship to discern His Father’s will. So must we. And surely, we need it immeasurably more.
So, how do we assess what Jesus was doing here as He withdrew from the crowds, for whom He came, to commune with the Father? In His ministry, healing wasn’t His central purpose. Healing was just an introduction to life in the Kingdom of God, the inbreaking of life in the new creation which would be the inheritance of all who receive this King and His Kingdom by faith. But for all who are Kingdom-bound but who won’t be healed in this world as a tangible promise of what life in the next will be like, He gives promises that whatever suffering they endure while waiting for their inheritance will seem like light momentary affliction (2Co.4:17) by comparison when it comes. But also, it will build spiritual muscle in them here and now, endurance and maturity (Jam.1:2-4), and it will deepen their fellowship with Jesus as they grow.
Part and parcel with this will also be growth in wisdom, and discernment that God’s will really is best. We discern that best as we pray. Consider a loved one with a serious disease. Do we pray for healing, deliverance from suffering, or for strength, endurance through suffering? Which?
We pray for both. We tell God honestly what we’d like to see Him do: heal them. But as we grow in our trust and faith in Him, our enjoyment of Him, we begin to learn that His will really is better than ours. We really want His will, just like Jesus did, even when the alternative was the cross. Please heal my loved one, Father, but, honestly, not my will, but yours, be done (22:42). What does this mean? Let’s think about it. Every one of us will pass away in this life. We’ll die to this world; that’s the only way we can live in the next—flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co.15:50); we need a new body to go there (1Co.15:53). This body must die. So, what if this disease is the means by which God has purposed for that to happen in our loved one’s life? Suppose this is the means by which He’s intended for them to cross the finish line here and be welcomed into His presence where they’ll finally be free of all such suffering forever? Would we really prefer they not experience that joy? Oh, yes, we’ll grieve their absence. But we’ll not grieve as others do who have no hope (1Th.4:13). We’ll grieve deeply, but with an even deeper sense of abiding joy and perhaps a newly enhanced longing finally to be done with this world ourselves! Perhaps we’ll even battle just a little bit less with our fear of death (cf. Heb.2:15), helped along by embracing the will of God for our loved one.
Bottom line, God’s will is our guide. And engaging with Him in prayer, like Jesus did, is where we best discern it.
Following Jesus’ pattern in prayer is surely the best tutoring we can receive.
Those who study Luke deeply all come away with similar ideas on this subject: Jesus serves here as a model for Christians in their prayer lives (Stein 139). In addition to each of the other instructions and examples we’ve seen in this series that shape and direct our praying, Jesus sets the pattern for us. And the pattern we see in Him is one that willingly steps away from the rush and turmoil of this life to engage with the Father in prayer. He’d find places that were well-suited to freedom from distraction and interruption, and He’d pray. Did He hear the Father’s voice in His head? Did the Father speak to Him audibly? We don’t know these things. But honestly, knowing that Heb.4:15 … we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are…, I suspect Jesus had to interact with the Father in much the same way we do.
So, I think the best thing we can do is just to follow Him into this practice. Don’t make it harder than it is. Don’t immediately assume that you need to set aside your most important meeting, or leave your children unattended, or extend your prayer time deep into the night, or get out of bed at some absurdly early hour. At some point you may do any one of those things—assuming you find someone reliable to attend to your children!
But you don’t have to start there. Start by finding a relatively free window of time, and choose a place that’s relatively free of distractions, then just tell the Lord in prayer that you’re there to fellowship with Him, just like Jesus did. Confess that you’re not very good at this, and that you don’t know exactly what to do. But you know that He speaks to us in His Word, so you’re going to open your Bible to Psalm 1—the Bible’s book of hymns and songs and prayers—you’re going to receive the words on the page as though He’s speaking them directly to you, and you’re going to respond to Him with whatever His words bring to your mind, just like you’d do in conversation with any dear friend.
I can’t tell you with certainty where it will go from there, we’re all different in the ways we relate to people, the ways we talk. You who are already beyond what I’m describing here in your prayer life, don’t feel any need to return to this practice unless it seems helpful or refreshing as you hear it. Just press on in what you’re doing; and keep reminding yourself that prayer at its best is relational conversation more than spiritual discipline. Would any of our loved ones be pleased to discover that we engage with them more out of a sense of principled discipline than of love?
Conclusion
That’s probably enough for this morning. Father, just help us to pray like Jesus.
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Resources
Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Luke, by David W. Pao & Eckhard J. Schnabel, 251-414. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.
Calvin, John. 1610. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, trans. by, William Pringle, 1845. Logos.
Carson, D. A., R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Hebrews, by I. Howard Marshall, 978-1020. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
Dockery, David S, ed. 1992. New American Commentary. Vol. 24, Luke, by Robert H. Stein. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Hughes, R. Kent. 1998. Preaching the Word. Luke: That You May Know the Truth. Wheaton: Crossway.
Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2007. Revised Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 10, Luke-Acts. Luke, by Walter L. Leifeld & David W. Pao, 19-355. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 1988. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Vol. 13, Luke, by Leon Morris. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.
Muck, Terry, ed. 1996. The NIV Application Commentary. Luke, by Darrell Bock. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
NEXT SUNDAY: Teach Us to Pray, Part 12, Will He Find Faith on Earth?, Luke 18:1–8