Mark 1:35-39 -- Prayer Fueled Purpose
From Intentional Prayer comes Intentional Purpose
Prayer was not a spiritual discipline of Jesus life, but a distinguishing feature of his life; as common and necessary as sleep or eating a meal. Just as sleep provides rest and a meal brings physical strength, prayer fueled the priorities of Jesus life. His abiding relationship with the Father grew from the foundation of his intentional prayer life of hearing and communing with his Father.
"Very early in the morning..." This was the first thing Jesus did, hearing from his Father was a priority to Jesus and it was more important to him than was his sleep. Mark tells us he "left the house and went off to a solitary place"; Jesus separated himself for a time from the demands and responsibilities of his life, and the people around him - all the other voices who would like to tell him what he should be doing. What was important yesterday was left behind.
Jesus seemed to reserve very little - if any - time just for himself, even in his prayer time, he was not alone with his own thoughts. For Jesus, everything was done in relationship, even the early morning hours were reserved for an intentional time with his Father.
Simon Peter, woke up, found him missing and went looking for him. At this time, Peter was not particularly a help to Jesus, but a demand upon him, like a young child to his parent. Others priorities will always come looking for you, but Jesus was not swayed. His time with his Father renewed his own sense of priority and purpose. Many will loose their sense of priority and purpose in their life and get caught-up in the swell of others demands upon them. No one has the strength, on their own, to set and maintain their own priorities for a sustained length of time, even though we might think we can. How many christians have struggled to maintain a consistent prayer life, even though they know it is important. We try to "balance" it with all the other things in our lives and negotiate our priorities. In Jesus' life, there was no negotiating of priorities, instead they were fueled by his prayer time with his Father and his response was obedience.
"let us go somewhere else..." "This is why I have come" These were very clear directions and priorities.
Jesus spent time with the Father, regularly, in prayer. He made that the highest priority, not one good thing among multiple good things, but THE BEST thing he did all day. As a result he received the strength to do what he needed to that day.
Would the purposes of your day be fueled by your prayer life? How are the directions for your day determined?
Prayer was not a spiritual discipline of Jesus life, but a distinguishing feature of his life; as common and necessary as sleep or eating a meal. Just as sleep provides rest and a meal brings physical strength, prayer fueled the priorities of Jesus life. His abiding relationship with the Father grew from the foundation of his intentional prayer life of hearing and communing with his Father.
"Very early in the morning..." This was the first thing Jesus did, hearing from his Father was a priority to Jesus and it was more important to him than was his sleep. Mark tells us he "left the house and went off to a solitary place"; Jesus separated himself for a time from the demands and responsibilities of his life, and the people around him - all the other voices who would like to tell him what he should be doing. What was important yesterday was left behind.
Jesus seemed to reserve very little - if any - time just for himself, even in his prayer time, he was not alone with his own thoughts. For Jesus, everything was done in relationship, even the early morning hours were reserved for an intentional time with his Father.
Simon Peter, woke up, found him missing and went looking for him. At this time, Peter was not particularly a help to Jesus, but a demand upon him, like a young child to his parent. Others priorities will always come looking for you, but Jesus was not swayed. His time with his Father renewed his own sense of priority and purpose. Many will loose their sense of priority and purpose in their life and get caught-up in the swell of others demands upon them. No one has the strength, on their own, to set and maintain their own priorities for a sustained length of time, even though we might think we can. How many christians have struggled to maintain a consistent prayer life, even though they know it is important. We try to "balance" it with all the other things in our lives and negotiate our priorities. In Jesus' life, there was no negotiating of priorities, instead they were fueled by his prayer time with his Father and his response was obedience.
"let us go somewhere else..." "This is why I have come" These were very clear directions and priorities.
Jesus spent time with the Father, regularly, in prayer. He made that the highest priority, not one good thing among multiple good things, but THE BEST thing he did all day. As a result he received the strength to do what he needed to that day.
Would the purposes of your day be fueled by your prayer life? How are the directions for your day determined?
Comments