Mark 1:35 – And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

THEME OF THE DAY: WHEN YOU JUST HAVE TO PRAY. First of all, the theme of the day is not about being in crisis and calling upon the Lord. Hopefully, we always resort to Him as our refuge and help in times of trouble. However, we are not looking at the urgency or even the desperation in situations prompting us to pray. This is about desire. This is about a loving constraint upon the heart moving us to prayer. This is about the type of prayer that simply wants alone time with God. Before we look at this, let me probe a little into our lives. Has this experience occurred with us recently? The experience of having our hearts yearning for God; a yearning that drove us to get off the fast track of a busy life to spend unhindered time of fellowship with Him? Are we regularly carving out time in our full lives to get alone with God, not to petition Him, but to enjoy Him? Friends, this is a must discipline if we are to be changed into the image of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). What is the primary way this beholding of the Lord occurs? Private prayer. Where is the primary place this occurs? In our private prayer closets. Here is serious warning we must heed; neglect prayer, the type of prayer that wants to know God, that meditates upon His Person, and waits in worship before Him, and we have chosen to have a barren spiritual life. Without this relational understanding and practice of prayer, we may have all the outside look of being a Christian, but we will lack the inward reality of being a Christian. A prayer-less Christian is a joyless, powerless, and defeated Christian. But today’s nugget isn’t negative. It is to help us seek this desire for prayer out of desire to be with and know the Lord.

In today’s scripture, we find the Lord Jesus rising early in the morning to be in prayer. Now I realize any attempt to talk about the Lord’s prayer life is sacred ground and unfathomable when it comes to our depth of understanding it. Yet, the Holy Spirit recorded numerous accounts of our Lord Jesus praying in His scriptures. We are called to observe and learn from the Lord’s example of praying. We will take two truths from Him, one stated and one implied, then add one more application to help us build a prayer life of desire.

First, Jesus prioritized prayer. He got up early in the morning before the demands of the day were upon Him. Unless we give prayer time our best time, we won’t get close to the Lord. It must be the priority in life. The other lesson from Jesus is implied. Why did He pray? He was God. Why pray? This shows us something we need to always remember. Don’t let prayer be reduced down to simply asking God for things. That is mechanical, lifeless, and will produce no relational desire for Him. And it will not last. Jesus prayed to be in fellowship with His Father. He prayed because He knew prayer was the chief means of being in the company of His Father. For us? The same applies. We must see prayer as the most important element in our spiritual lives of getting close to God. Prayer must first and foremost be seen as the means of drawing near to God to know, love, and enjoy Him. If we do, we won’t neglect it.

So, what will help us get to this place in our prayer lives? The place where we just have to pray because we want to be with God? We must love, hear, and be in the Word of God as much as possible, particularly, the Gospels. Make it habit, even daily, to read in the Gospels and encounter Jesus; His actions toward people, His character, His wisdom, and His love. Start observing Him in the Scriptures and we will want to know this Jesus for ourselves and that will always drive us, and keep us, in prayer. And it will be prayer out of desire, not duty.

PRAYER: “Father, make me see that prayer is more about getting close to You than getting things from You.”

QUOTE: “Prayer should be viewed as a privilege we get to do and not something we have to do or labor to do.”