Mark 1:35
Prayer
In Mark 1:35 we read that early in the morning Jesus went to a lonely place to pray.
How is your prayer life? How often do you pray? Do you have a quiet place where you can pray and listen to God? If Jesus needed to get away and pray it seems to me that we have that need as well.
Jesus had a busy day. He had cast an unclean spirit out of a man in the synagogue and word spread quickly. As a result we read that the whole city came to Him that night with those who were demon possessed and He healed those who had various diseases. Instead of sleeping in, He rose up while it was still dark and found a quiet place to pray. When the disciples found Him they told Him that the people were looking for Him but instead of ministering to them He went to another town to preach, saying that was what He was sent to do.
In Matthew 6:9&10 Jesus taught, “Pray then, in this way: Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
The first thing Jesus taught here is that we are to recognize that God is Holy and put ourselves in submission to Him and His will.
We all face demands on our time and it is easy to get overwhelmed for it seems the demands for our time are endless. But what has God called us and equipped us to do? We need to be careful that we don’t let the demands of the world around us cloud the mission God has called us to. I believe our prayer time needs to include time when we listen to God as well as speak to Him. One of the best ways to listen is to include reading and meditating on the Word of God. Years ago at a Pastor’s Conference a pastor taught that he had a quiet place where he would pray and listen to the Lord. As he prayed he sensed the Lord directing him to do one or two specific things that day. As he started his day there would be many things that came up that demanded his time and attention for he was a popular pastor and people would approach him with their needs or agenda. He said he would try to meet as many of those needs as he could but he always made it a priority to get done the things God had put on his heart in his prayer time even if that meant not meeting all the demands on his time including his own.
To hallow God’s Name is to set God apart as your number one priority in your life. Yes, there are demands for our time. Yes, we all have needs, but putting God first is an expression of our faith in Him to meet those needs as promised in Matthew 6:33.
Take time to pray and hallow God.
Pastor Dave