“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.” – Mark 1:35-37

Another subtle way the devil uses to drain us both spiritually and in our overall physical state is to keep us endlessly busy here and there attending to different needs or solving different problems while forgetting ourselves or having little time for self recovery. We might even think we are achieving a lot due to these many responsibilities or perhaps due to the many thousands of people that look up to us one way or the other, never knowing that we are fast going down the drain. We must understand the nature of the present world we live in, that it is demanding, fast paced and competitive, and reality remains that when we can’t create a time to first find our rest in God before starting out the day, it becomes difficult to do so the rest of the day.

Christ’s Model

During Christ’s earthly ministry, He became the most sought for. All men every where sought to hear the words that came out from his mouth. Some desired their loved ones to be healed. Some, that their possessed child be delivered, and others just always wanted to be around him because of the great virtue, wisdom and grace that exudes from him. He also was willing to touch as many as he could, but he never forgot himself. Despite his supernatural power that was present to heal and deliver and make the captives to become free, Christ knew that his strength must be renewed.

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”

The importance of solitude

Self recovery must be attained with some considerable amount of solitude, and this we get by coming out from even close acquaintances to be alone. This we saw from Christ’s example. Having retired at Simon Peter’s house the previous day, he departed from thence while it was yet night into a quiet place to be alone with God. Mark took note of the season in which Jesus went out to pray to his Father. We can commune with God better when alone and quiet than when in the company of others. So also, our strength is renewed when we come out from activities and rather be alone.

The most important thing

“…And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee…”

The disciples of Jesus saw the need of the people as Christ’s first duty, but He knew his work better than they. And Peter who naturally acted as leader guided the party which sought Jesus. Some believers today have come to see their official duties more important than a personal devotion with God before leaving their homes. They see a five minutes conversation with God a great deal and would rather think of a thousand and one ways they could put that five minutes into other ‘important’ things. From the hastiness of how the people sought after Christ, it showed he had barely finished praying before his close acquaintance came to him and gave him news that ALL MEN SOUGHT FOR HIM.” Literally, it mean, some set of people were already waiting somewhere for him to come and start attending to there various problems and need!

How we need to separate ourselves into God’s presence early enough before we open our doors to the problems and heat of the day! Trust me, once that door is opened, we can’t dodge from the rest that follows.

Prayer is the strength renewer of every believer, and doing so a great while before day will help us get the needed concentration to effectively commune with the Father and receive grace for each day. Also, when we take time to pray before starting our day, it keeps us focused and more organized, discerning and thoughtful. We must not get carried away with activities nor see them more important than having a reasonable time in God’s presence. That moment we wake up to a new day, let our first duty be to raise our voice in prayers to God to receive grace. The Psalmist said,

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” – Psalm 5:3

We must first look up to God for help before facing the evils of the day because sufficient unto the day are the evil thereof. That is, the challenges for each day is just enough for that day.

Do not All Men Seek Thee? — your spouse, your crying baby, your children, your boss, your projects, your sick mum, your landlord… ???

“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