spiritual disciplines

i have been reading a book by dallas willard called "the spirit of the disciplines." it is a great book that basically states that if you want to be the clutch player like Jesus was when he performed all his miracles, you have to do what Jesus did when he wasn't in the lime light. so often the scriptures say that he stole away when he could to spend time in prayer. he had a hard time getting away from people, so he would spend the night in prayer only to be interrupted by needy followers. he even spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting before he started his ministry. that makes me wonder if i should spend 40 days in prayer and fasting before i start any ministry i do. the cool thing is that this was not a time that made him weak. ok, ok, physically probably, but not spiritually! the Spirit lead him into the wilderness, and when he was at a peak of strength spiritually, that is when the devil showed up to tempt him. sometimes, maybe satan shows up when we are at our strongest because he sees that we are giving ourselves more and more to God and he realizes that if he can make us fall then, we will think we haven't gone anywhere at all. yeah, he'll tempt you when you are weak, but really, when are you most dangerous? just a thought.