In The Prayer Closet With Jesus
Text: Mark 1:35-39
Introduction: Is it just me, or is life getting busier? You know they said with the advent of the computer that people would have less and less to do, and that we would have much more free time than previous generations. Clearly that isn’t true. Our technological day has not freed up the hours for recreation, but has simply enabled us to cram more into a day than previous generations could ever have thought possible. Life in 21st century Britain is fast paced and hectic. It can be stressful and demanding, and with the responsibilities of work, family, community and church bearing down upon us it may be that we have little time for a meaningful and useful spiritual life.
People in every era have had their own responsibilities. In one sense life, without the technologies we enjoy, may have been a bit slower, but as we read through Mark’s gospel we get the impression that the Lord Jesus was always on the go. Those recurrent terms Mark uses such as “straightway”, “forthwith” and “immediately” all intimate a busy life. Anyone who is truly serving God will find that life is busy. But in our opening text Jesus shows us, by example, how to handle a busy day.
We left Him in verse 34, tending to the sick and the suffering. That Sabbath day had been a particularly eventful day. It began with the Lord preaching in the synagogue, confronting a demoniac, then retiring to Peter’s house where he healed his mother-in-law, before receiving multitudes of the needy in the evening, probably late into the night. But a late night did not stand in the way of an early morning, for Jesus knew that the secret to a successful day is time spent alone with God. By His example we see the necessity of having and guarding a quiet time.
I read this week of Andrew Bonar, the great Scottish preacher of the 19th century, who had his own pressures to bear. But Bonar, renowned as a man of prayer, had three rules by which he governed his life:
Not to speak to any man before speaking to Jesus.
Not to do anything with his hands until he had been on his knees.
Not to read the papers until he had read his Bible.
Those are three great principles to start the day by. And it would seem that Bonar developed these rules by observing the behaviour of the Lord Jesus. Before He spoke with anyone, He first spoke with His Father. And before He touched anyone with His hands, He had first spent time on His knees, and though there were no papers as such to be read, we can be sure as a preacher of the gospel the Lord Jesus spent time meditating upon the Word of God. Come with me now into the prayer closet with Jesus, and see how the Lord began His day.
I. His Priority
A. We are living in the age of celebrity.
1. It seems that many are in a rush for fame, and certainly we celebrate the famous, often for nothing more than being famous, but I have to say that sometimes I think about those who are in the limelight of society and I do not envy them one bit.
a. The royals, the politicians, the TV and movie stars, the sportsmen and women, and the Z list celebs can have it as far as I’m concerned.
2. Yes they have material wealth and enjoy aspects of life that is far beyond the reach of the average person, but at what price?
3. Who wants to be on the end of camera lenses each day, who wants to live behind locked gates, and drawn curtain, to have photographers, journalists and autograph hunters stalking their every move? Not me. I am glad that I have a private life, and no one is snapping photos of me from afar.
4. Now, we left Jesus in verse 34 of our text and we see that in ancient times He had achieved a certain degree of celebrity.
a. The first year of His ministry was the year of obscurity, but the second is the year of popularity.
b. People wanted to be around Jesus. They were pressing for His time and attention, and with such a successful Sabbath day behind him, the Lord knew that Sunday was likely to bring more of the same.
c. Now, you and I in that scenario might say to ourselves; “I have busy day ahead tomorrow, I need to get a good night’s sleep.”
d. But notice that, “in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out…” (vs 35a)
e. For Jesus that quiet time, somewhere around 4-6am in the morning was a priority.
(i) He got up before Peter’s mother-in-law began clattering dishes in the kitchen.
(ii) He got up before the fishermen awoke to go check on the night’s catch.
(iii) He got up before the market traders where passing by his door on the way to work.
(iv) He arose, and slipped away into the early dawn’s light to get alone with His Father.
B. Have you ever had the opportunity to spend time alone with God at that kind of hour of the day?
1. Strange as it may seem, some of the greatest times I have spent with the Lord have been in those earliest hours of the day.
2. Now, I don’t want to mislead you into believing that I am some kind of super saint who awakes at 4am to pray, most times that has happened it was because I couldn’t sleep, or I was unwell or something, but when I have experienced a quiet time at that hour, when all is quiet, when there are no cars on the road, little noise and a stillness all around it seems that I have really connected in prayer and been more aware of the truth of God from Scripture.
C. How we need to lay hold on this idea of a quiet time, of beginning the day with God, of spending a little lone time with Jesus.
1. We are, no doubt, tempted to say, “Well, I’m just too busy.”
2. But if we are too busy to pray, then in truth we really are too busy.
3. Jesus made His prayer life a priority and so must we.
II. His Place
A. Notice again verse 35, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place…”
1. That is what every Christian needs, some place we can get alone with God, somewhere we can leave behind the TV and the Telephone, the demands of the day, and other distractions and just spend some time with Jesus.
2. Jesus found a solitary place.
a. A solitary place is just that – it is was some where away from Peter’s crowded home, it was beyond the city streets of Capernaum, it was a place of solitude.
b. This is what Jesus calls the prayer closet – Matthew 6:6.
B. Now there is a vitally important lesson here for all of us, and it is simply this, that the secret to spiritual victory does not come because of what happens in outward life, but because of what goes on with the inward man.
1. By making the time and getting alone with His Father, Jesus was signaling to us that He was not some kind of religious showman, not one who merely worked miracles, but He was One who baptised His ministry in the spirit of prayer, and who knew what it was to walk in fellowship with God.
2. What a lesson for us!!
C. Old Dr. Scroggie used to say, “It is easier to organize than to agonise,” and how true that is!
1. It is far easier to preach than to pray, but without real prayer, what is preaching? It is a lot of hot air!!
2. It is far easier to organize a mission or a meeting than to agonise over that mission or meeting before God’s Throne of Grace!
3. How we need to get on our knees and implore God for men!
4. Tell me friend, when the morning wheels around, will you be found in your place? Will you be in the place of prayer?
a. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1).
III. His Prayer
A. We carry on at vs. 35, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
1. There can be no question that our Lord Jesus set the example for us as a man of prayer.
2. As He went through His baptism, Luke tells us, He was praying, “it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened.” (Luke 3:21)
3. We know in the choosing of His disciples the decision was bathed in prayer – “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)
4. On the Mount of Transfiguration, He was praying, “And as he prayed,” Luke tells us, “the fashion of his countenance was altered…” (Luke 9:29).
5. When the people would press in upon Him, we find, “He went up into a mountain apart to pray.” (Matthew 14:23)
6. And of course, as He entered into Gethsemane, and that dark night of the soul, we read, “he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed.”
7. Prayer was not some kind of religious duty for Jesus, it was the pattern of a life well spent. It played a central role in his life and ministry.
8. Make no mistake about it, Jesus was a praying man.
B. We don’t know how He prayed that morning, or what He prayed for, but we can look at the other prayers Jesus prayed and perhaps we get some sense of the kind of praying Jesus did.
1. Of course we have the so-called, “Lord’s Prayer”, a model prayer Jesus gave to His disciples to teach us to pray.
a. It is unlikely that He prayed this prayer in its entirety seeing it calls upon God for the forgiveness of personal sin.
2. And we know that He didn’t enter into vain repetition in prayer, that He didn’t just recite prayers to God in monotony.
3. We know that sometimes He prayed prayers of thanksgiving, such as the prayer of Luke 10:21, where He says, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
4. We know that he often prayed before ministry.
5. As He anticipated the cross He prayed, “Father, glorify thy name.”
6. And of course, we know that entering Gethsemane He prayed that cup of God’s wrath might pass over Him.
7. But perhaps the greatest, and certainly the longest of Jesus’ prayers was the so-called “High Priestly Prayer” of John 17.
a. There He prayed for Himself, that He might be both faithful and fruitful – see vss 1-5
b. He prayed for His disciples, giving a report on His ministry among them and making a request for their future ministry – see vss 6-19
c. And finally He prays for us!! See vss 20-21.
8. We cannot say for sure what Jesus prayed that Sunday morning, but it seems likely He gave thanks for all that had been accomplished so far, and prayed for the will of His Father to be done that day. Surely He prayed for the ministry that lay ahead, and probably for Peter and Andrew, James and John. And who knows? Maybe He even prayed for us.
IV. His Purpose – vss 36-39
A. As the day broke, once again the crowds were gathering at Simon Peter’s door.
1. It says something for Jesus’ pattern of life, that Simon and the others knew just where to find Him.
2. They wanted Him to come, they wanted Him to deal with the gathered crowd, the sick, and the suffering, the diseased and the demonic.
a. “All men seek for thee.”
b. No doubt among them, those who heard him at the synagogue the day previous, those who were sick of dried, dusty sermons, of the theories men and the sectarianism of religion – they wanted truth, and sought it in Jesus.
c. There would have been those who were ill, those who were lame, and those who were in need of a miraculous touch.
d. And there would be those who were helpless, caught up in the grip of sin, oppressed and maybe even possessed by Satan.
e. To whom else could they go? “All men seek for thee.”
B. Now what happens next may take us, and probably took them, by surprise.
1. Far from courting popularity, Jesus turns away from it.
2. He says, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”
3. If He had been one of those modern day faith healing showmen He would have went right back to Capernaum for a healing crusade, filled with signs and wonders.
4. But remember what we said a week or two ago, Jesus was firstly and fore mostly a preacher.
5. He was a preacher, not a performer.
6. His purpose was to preach the kingdom of God, not to present a religious circus.
C. So, when Peter came with this golden opportunity to repeat the proceedings from the day before, when he offered Him an open door to do it all again, Jesus said “No.”
1. Sometimes saying, “No” to others is saying, “Yes” to the will of God.
2. Remember He knew what he was doing; He had spent a morning in prayer before that request came in.
3. Jesus knew what His life’s purpose was. He knew how to keep the main thing as the main thing.
4. The Bible says, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph 5:17).
5. Remember that true prayer is not about getting my will done in heaven, but seeking after God’s will one earth.
6. Do you know what the will of God is? Do you what His will is for us as a church? For yourself, as an individual believer? You need to know. You ought to know.
7. “How can I know, where can I find it?” You will find it on your knees, in the solitary place of prayer, and in the quiet time with an open Bible and willing heart.
Conclusion: What a privilege is ours to go into the prayer closet with Jesus. Here we see the imperative of prayer. If praying was so important to Jesus, who was perfectly holy, how much more important should it be to us? Here we see the value of a quiet time, of the solitary place, of a time spent alone with the Lord. Here we see how to use those first few minutes of the day, of taking advantage of the still of the morning, and here we see how prayer sets us up to know and do the Father’s will.
It was Corrie Ten Boom who asked, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?” I am afraid for too many of us it is the spare tyre, the source we look to only when our journey has ground to a halt, but really, it ought to be our steering wheel, and Jesus teaches us that. I wonder as tomorrow dawns will we take time with the Lord? Will we enter our prayer closet? Will we get alone with Jesus? Will we start the day with God?
