And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Mark 1:35
I can relate to this text, as far as the time of day is concerned; for many years, my work required me to be up and out of the house in time to be on the job by 4 a.m. Also, during a period when I was working for myself as a technical reviewer, I was able to do most of the work during the wee hours of the morning, leaving the rest of the day free for family and other responsibilities. While I always enjoyed working in the early morning, there was a solitary aspect about it that might not appeal to everybody. Even the drive to work was solitary, with no other traffic to contend with. The office would be silent, with no chatter or movement from other workers. The newswire services were relatively quiet, as was the police scanner in the newsroom, and there were moments when all would be ghostly quiet. It was at times like that when I could concentrate on material that needed to be written and organized. To this day, I still use the wee hours for web development, for sending out devotional messages, and for prayer. I can understand why Jesus would pray in the early morning.
If we examine the surrounding verses, we find Jesus was very busy, teaching in the synagogue, healing sick people, and calling and training His disciples. The day was busy, with crowds of people about. If He wanted any privacy, the only time to get it was in the early morning. Despite the many activities in which He was involved, the Lord Jesus knew what activity was the most important, and He made sure that prayer did not get neglected or interrupted. If our prayer life was like His, we would have a bigger impact on those around us.
In the early days of the Oxford Assembly, Hiel Patterson used to coach and encourage a group of us who were young Christians there. One of his frequent pieces of advice was regarding our morning devotions. He would tell us that, if we had to choose between breakfast and Bible reading in the morning, we should skip breakfast, because that, he said, wouldn’t become a habit. I am all for having breakfast in the morning, but I can’t understand people who say there is no time for both breakfast and Bible reading and prayer. Jesus showed us how to make the time: get up early. Simply get up early enough to provide enough time for your time with the Lord. I know it’s tough to get up early, if you stayed up too late the night before. What were you using the time for during the evening? Most likely for your own entertainment or pleasure. Is that as important as your time with the Lord?
If we get our priorities right as far as our use of time is concerned, there will be time for prayer, enough time for enough prayer to make a difference. -Jim MacIntosh