Life today seems to become more and more busy. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day to get accomplished what we need or want to get done. In order to get done what we want, we end up having to cut some things out of our schedule. What should we cut? Eating? Sleeping? Watching TV or videos? Sports or exercise? Unfortunately with a lot of Christians one of the first things to get cut, whether deliberately or inadvertently, is our time in prayer and communion with the Lord. In our Scripture reading today from the Gospel of Mark, we’ll see what the Lord Jesus, a very busy Person, thought was important and should never be cut from the schedule.
As we read through the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus constantly on the move, doing a lot, accomplishing much. His public ministry was only about 3 ½ or so years. That’s not a long time, and He had a lot that needed to be done and taught to the disciples before He went to the cross. Jesus didn’t have more hours in a day then we do. Yes, He was divine, but He was also fully human, too, so He needed to eat and to sleep like we do. Jesus needed to relax, and we see that He did take time to be with friends, like Mary, Martha and Lazarus. However, one thing that He never cut from His busy, often non-stop day was His time in prayer with the Heavenly Father.
As we see in Mark’s account, Jesus had left the synagogue after having taught the people in attendance there. He went to Peter’s home, perhaps to rest a bit, maybe get a bite to eat, but they find Peter’s mother-in-law is not well (vs. 29-31). Jesus brings her healing from the fever that had her sick in bed. Word quickly got around that Jesus heals the sick and casts out demons (which He had done in the synagogue earlier in the day), so by the evening, crowds of people had gathered. They brought their sick loved ones and friends (vs. 32-34). Jesus didn’t send them away, telling them He wanted time to rest. This was part of His ministry.
Prayer is a vital link between us and God. Like Jesus, we need to deliberately take the time to pray (vs. 35). No matter how busy we are each day, and Jesus was busy, we always need to make time for prayer. Jesus did just that, often waking up before sunrise for a quiet time of prayer. Jesus made it a priority. Many great men and women of God throughout history have done that. Martin Luther, the German reformer of the 16th century, once said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
The disciples were not at that point in their spiritual lives, and didn’t know where Jesus had gone so early in the morning (vs. 36-37). When they finally found Jesus, they told Him that everyone was looking for Him. Most of these people were not seeking Him to hear the Gospel, but for healing or to see miracles. Jesus said that He and the disciples needed to go into other villages in order to preach there also. The emphasis of His ministry was to preach salvation, and others needed to hear that message.
Reading over this passage, we see that Jesus cast demons out of people, in addition to healing the sick (vs. 34, 39). We see, though, that when He cast the demons out, He told them not to speak, because they knew who He was. Why was that? Didn’t Jesus want people to know that He was the Messiah, the Son of God? The demons know who Jesus is. They know the truth (James 2:19). However, they reject the truth and God who is the source of Truth. Jesus also did not want testimony from demons. If the demons give public testimony, the enemies of Jesus could accuse Him of being in league with Satan. Jesus wanted the people to believe He was the Messiah because of what He said and did, not because of the demon’s words. Satan wanted people to follow Jesus for what they could get out of Him, not because He was the Son of God. By commanding the demons to remain silent, Jesus proved His authority and power over them.
Have you accepted the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and have you asked Him to be your Savior? If you have, do you make a point of regularly coming to Him in prayer? We all need a personal relationship with Jesus, and then to keep that relationship well-oiled in prayer.
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