Scripture

And in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed.

~Mark 1:35

 Quote

You might say that Jesus entire life was a kind of prayer, a constant communing with the Father.

~Henry Scougal

Some folks are critical of the CHOSEN, but I am not one of them. I don’t know who did the casting or who is doing the directing, but I am convinced that whoever it is, he or she has done some study. If you have watched the CHOSEN, you know that Jesus often disappears, and no one knows where He is. This is due to the fact that He loved solitude and spending uninterrupted time with His Father. What might seem hard or impossible for us was easy for Jesus. It would be difficult for any of us to spend the entire night in prayer, but it was a delight for Jesus. We get excited about sporting events, vacations, new clothes or dining out but Jesus got excited about being alone with His Father.

Have you ever wondered what they talked about? Much of the time I spend in prayer is confession. My sins are weighing so heavy on me that many times, I have to confess before I can do anything else. Besides confession, there is my supplication, my asking for things. Jesus didn’t spend time confessing, He had nothing to confess. He didn’t spend time asking for secular things or things He could consume with His own lust: He had no lust. Although I have no way of proving it, I would wager that they talked about their redemptive plan a lot. The point is: Jesus loved His time alone with the Father. Jesus didn’t do it as a spiritual discipline, He did it because it was His passion.

Probably more than forty years ago, a big shot evangelist called a pastor in Mobile, Alabama. This pastor had developed the spiritual discipline of staying in seclusion until noon. He locked himself in and no one could disturb except his wife. The evangelist called while the pastor was still locked in, and the wife politely told the very high-strung evangelist: “I am sorry, but Jerry is in a meeting.” The evangelist said, “Does he know who I am?” She said, “Yes, he knows who you are, but do you know who he is meeting with?”

If you think you are busy, that you have a full schedule, that you have people waiting to see you–try being Jesus. Everyone was tugging at his shirt tail and that’s why He had to hide to be alone with His Father.

Extra

I didn’t preach at all yesterday, but I needed the rest. I imagine Grace Point needs a rest every now and then. We had our annual fish fry last night and all went well. I want to thank Keith Jenkins for helping me with the fish. Of course, I must thank and praise my fine cooking team. It is work but our folks enjoyed it. After battering fish and frying fish, I didn’t want any fish. I will wait on Swamp Johns.