Mark 1:35-38-- Jesus' Prayer Life

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for you." He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for."

Jesus struggled with time to pray alone. He prayed with his disciples, and he showed his devotion to Yahweh by reciting the “Shema” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) daily. But to be able to listen to the Father and gain strength by praying alone was hard to get. To do this, sometimes he would get up before anyone else, sometimes he would tell everyone to go away, sometimes he would stay up after everyone was asleep. But as often as he could, he sought time with the Father.

After his disciples found him, he told them that staying in Capernum to have a healing ministry was not his purpose. Rather, he needed to travel around to many towns and to teach them about the kingdom of God. There was a sense of urgency about his message that meant that everyone needed to hear this message as quickly as possible.

It is important to have two kinds of prayer-- regular, rote prayer that we might have with others, such as in a worship service, or reciting the Lord's prayer daily. Also we need personal, interactive prayer with the Father, mixed with silence, listening, crying out and adoration.

If we are to be like Jesus, we want to keep ourselves busy enough with serving others that we struggle with finding time for prayer. But we need to keep up the struggle, despite our busyness.