Friends in Christ Weekly Message
October 5, 2000

Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray.
Mark 1:35 (CEV*)

But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.
Luke 5:16 (CEV*)

Jesus found it critically important in his ministry to take time to be alone with God and pray. It was not something he could put aside in order to spend more time doing things we remember Jesus for, like healing and teaching. It was something he needed to do to be prepared to do the works of ministry.

If this was vitally important for Jesus, how much more important is it for us who don't have the special, unique connection with God that he did? It is important not only for the special ministries to which we may be called, but simply to live out our daily lives faithfully.

We live in a society where most people are caught up in a hectic existence, rushing from place to place, from activity to activity. Too often, we are ensnared by this hectic pace, and let it squeeze out the spiritual work we need to do if our activity is to have true meaning - and to discern which activities we ought to be engaged in at all.

And there's good reason to set aside the time first thing in the morning for prayer, as Jesus did. It demonstrates a priority - we pray first, than we do the other things in our lives. We get our day off to the right start, letting God recharge our spiritual batteries for the day's challenges. We do it before other activities have opportunity to expand and push aside things we had planned to do during the day.

Are you taking the time you need at the beginning of your day to be alone with God in prayer?

Bill Samuel

* Contemporary English Version ©1995 American Bible Society.

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