March 21, 2024

March 21st, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Mark 1:35-39 (Jesus Preaching in Galilee)
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. – Mark 1:35 (NLT)
“Praying Like Jesus”

One of the great models that Jesus gives to us is the need to pray. Our passage today is one of many that you find in the gospels where Jesus got away from the crowds, away from those who wanted His help, and even away from His disciples. He wanted time with just Him and His Father. Why did Jesus need such a time? Why do we?
Prayer is a time to replenish our souls. Jesus had just spent an exorbitant amount of time and energy ministering to people. Wave after wave of people kept coming to Him wanting to be healed or set free. Though ministering to people and caring for people is incredibly rewarding, it is also EXHAUSTING. Our energy tanks can get empty, and our spiritual tanks can get dry. Prayer allows our Father to fill us again and quench the thirsting of our own souls. Trying to care for others when you’re not being cared for yourself will leave you lifeless in no time at all. Burnout is not about how much you’re doing for others. It’s about how LITTLE you’re doing for yourself!
Prayer is also a time of preparation. Jesus was just about to begin traveling and preaching. He knew that “no one would be drawn to Him unless the Father called them,” (John 6:44). So, He prayed. My guess is that He cried out on behalf of those who would hear His words, that God would touch their hearts before He ever arrived. We need that, too! We need God to prepare US for whatever we’re facing on a given day. We need Him to fill our minds with wisdom, our hearts with compassion, and our souls with courage. We also need Him to go before us into our meetings, our conversations, and whatever we may be doing on His behalf. We need the presence and power of His Spirit.
Prayer is also about re-connecting. My wife and I have times where we just sit with each other, shut the rest of the world out, and catch up with each other. The busyness of life is a slow erosion—even when that busyness is doing “God stuff.” We need those times of shutting the world out just so we can connect heart-to-heart with our Heavenly Father.
Jesus took time to pray. He took time to replenish. He took time to prepare. He took time to re-connect. Will YOU? That’s God’s Word for you today.