MAY 3, 2017

What My 40 Days Of Sabbatical Taught Me

By Derrick D’souza

    By Derrick D’souza

This is a guest post written by Vinod Salve. Vinod is an anointed evangelist and our son in the Lord, whose passion and hunger for God’s Kingdom is contagious.

Recently God gave me an opportunity to spend a period of 40 days alone at a place that I have never been to, cut off from my family, friends and colleagues.

It was a beautiful opportunity for me to relax, unwind and most importantly seek God and His plans for my life. Through this post I want to share with you certain things that I learned during this time of my personal walk with the Lord.

Have specific goals

If you plan to take a similar break, even before you start packing your bags, I would encourage you to set your mind on a specific goal that you are seeking. You may have lot of things in your mind but still list down reasons why you are plan to cut off eg: memorising word, praying, fasting, breakthroughs, seeking God etc. If you don’t have specific goals, pray for a clear direction, else you will be only shooting arrows in the air. Be led by the spirit in whatever you do.

Spend time with God, learn from HIM

Stay in prayer

Stay in prayer. During this important time of your walk with God one of the most significant thing you can do is to ‘Pray In Tongues’ or Pray. Your prayer must include – Thanksgiving, Worship and Praising. Praying in tongues will unlock the heavenly doors and you can get clear instructions from heaven.

Plan well ahead

Ensure you plan everything well in advance regarding your accommodation and food to avoid a delay or distraction in this time.
Cut off from distractions

I would advice in these days of your walk with God stay away from all sort of distractions like Phone calls, Whatsapp, Facebook, TV etc. If you can manage to do this, you will find that you will be able to control your day and save so much time to seek the Lord. At the same time stay in touch with your pastors and parents, keep them informed about your well-being (else don’t know about God, but cops will certainly come searching for you!!)

Be Persistent, Seek Him early

The Bible tells us about how before the daybreak, Jesus would get up and go to an isolated place to pray.(Mark 1:35). It is also amazing how many times the phrase “early in the morning” appears in the Bible. There is something beautiful about seeking the Lord early in the morning. If you have not tried it yet, you can do that in your sabbatical time. Early morning is the best time you can use to fill yourself up with the Word of God and enjoy your fellowship with the Holy Spirit without much distractions . However due to certain reasons if you are not able to get up early morning to pray or you are finding it difficult, do not be disappointed as the day is not yet over. Don’t lose a grip on what God is leading you to do. Keep persisting.

Disengage and focus

Don’t engage yourself too much with the strangers around you. Remember you have gone there to draw close to God not for making friends. Be wise and focus on what you have prioritised.

Take a prayer partner along

If you ever decide to take a sabbatical I would suggest you to take someone along with you who is equally hungry or passionate for His presence and is on the same or better faith level. The Bible says: Two are better than one and there may be times where you need spiritual upliftment or someone to encourage you, and a good praying partner will help you to keep the game up. Taking strong spiritual buddy with you will give you an added advantage. However if you cannot find a partner, no worries, you can still go ahead (like I did).

Don’t run away

Don’t run away when trials and tribulations hit you! If you fail in the trials don’t give up on God. Remember He is for you not against you! Jesus says in John 14:12-14 that we will do greater things than Him. Yes that’s true, and I too believe in that, but many people negate the fact that there is a time and process you go through where God prepares you on a certain level or degree. So don’t skip the process!

Finally…

Finally, your time alone with God is so that so know Him more intimately. If you are thinking God is going to get moved by this act of yours, you are setting up for a failure. God has ALREADY moved through Jesus. This is for you to move up in your faith-stairs!!

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