I want to fit it in. I want to make sure that prayer is vital in my life. But when? What about all those times I had good intentions and dropped the ball? What about those days where I was well into the day before I remembered that there were people I needed to pray for, items I needed to take to God for help? When will prayer finally start to look like the lifeblood of my relationship with God that I believe it is instead of the second thought that often gets left out?
This morning, I want to turn to the prayer life of Jesus for answers. I want to look at His life and see how to fit it in. The gospels give us glimpses of His prayer life that we can learn from, and I want you to look at 2 of those especially with me.
To fully appreciate these, you have to understand first that they’re both in the book of Mark. Mark is written especially for Roman readers. Life is rigorous and quick for them. So Mark is the gospel on caffeine! It’s like a drive-by teaching. It’s the shortest gospel. There is no birth narrative. It just starts out: here’s Jesus! Mark’s favorite word is “immediately” – 44x he uses it. In fact, it occurs a few times in the 2 texts we’re looking at here.
You also have to see these verses in the context of the ministry of Jesus to best appreciate what’s going on. The first is in chapter 1.
Jesus and His followers are in Capernaum. Jesus teaches in the synagogue and amazes everyone, but they’re especially amazed when he casts a demon out of a man. Right away, we see Jesus, James and John going to the house Peter and Andrew. Peter’s mother-in-law is sick, so Jesus heals her. She gets up and starts waiting on them. It might have been easier to just order out or something. But, you have to consider it has been a pretty full day for Jesus and the 4 disciples by this time.
When you come home from work, or school, or from volunteering, and you’re whipped, what do you like to do? It’s going to be different for all of us, but I’ll bet that words like television, iced tea, newspaper, video games, play with the dog, eat, and feet up resonate with most of us. Coming home to more work is hard! So what does Jesus do that evening?
Mark 1:32-34
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
OK, we’ve had evenings that turned out to be not very relaxing, right? Maybe most of yours sound like that. At least, once in a while, when things pile up like that, we can sleep-in a little bit, right? What does Jesus do?
(v35) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
You might want to ask yourself, “When was the last time I was called down for sneaking off by myself to pray?” - when someone said to you, “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you?!” and you said, “Oh, sorry, I was off by myself praying.”?
Now, from this time on, as Mark follows Jesus through His ministry, it’s crazy busy. He’ll end up teaching by the lake again, from a boat away from the shore, because the crowds were pressing in too much. After teaching, He’ll cross over the lake and fall asleep in the boat. A huge storm comes up. The waves are breaking over the edge of the boat, so it’s starting to fill up with water. The disciples are saying, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna drown right here!” Jesus is so tired as He sleeps there, that He’s sleeping through the whole thing until the disciples wake Him up.
I just want you to note what Mark is showing us: Jesus is busy…beyond busy. He’s constantly chased by the crowds. And He’s tired – tired enough to sleep through the storm that would sink the boat He’s in. And Jesus prays.
There’s another snapshot in chapter 6. But first let me throw in
Mark 3:20
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.
Have you ever had times like that – where there are just so many people, so many demands, that you really can’t even stop to eat?
Jesus sends out His disciples by 2’s to preach. They return from their short-term mission trips and begin giving Jesus reports. We join Mark’s account in
Mark 6:31-32 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
Now, I want you to see what Jesus says to His overstressed disciples: “Come with me, by yourselves to a quiet place. Get some rest.” Jesus helps us understand the importance of time away. It was God who initiated the idea of Sabbath rest. Jesus sanctioned it here. Either you “come apart with Him” or you’ll come apart from life’s overdose of stress.
So Jesus and His followers sneak away by boat, right? Sorta. The crowds go on foot and beat Him to the other side, so that, when they arrive on the shore, there’s this huge group of people – over 5,000 men alone, waiting for Him! But Jesus doesn’t just groan and say that He’s had enough. He sees the people, sees their need, and teaches them. Then, it gets late, and He cares even more about them. So, rather than send them away to find food nearby, He feeds them with a miracle. 5 loaves and 2 fish are divided so that there’s enough for everyone and 12 baskets full left over. I wonder if Jesus and the disciples finally got something to eat this time!
It’s darkening, and Jesus sends the disciples away to Bethesda by boat. He dismisses the crowd, and
Mark 6:46
After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
This time, instead of getting up early, He’s staying up late to pray.
Now, I want you to take those glances at the life of Jesus and focus on how Jesus fit prayer in. If you and I are going to fit it in, what do we need to do?
Fitting it in…
I. Starts With An Honest Look at How We Use Time
Time is the precious commodity of our era. In the office here, we use an accounting software called “Quicken”! We live in a society that would rather give up money and save time whenever it’s possible – so, even though it costs more, we microwave, have someone else cook, have someone else do repairs, and we even have someone else live adventurous lives for us so that we can just watch it on some lame TV show instead of experience it ourselves! Why do we do those things? Because time is the precious commodity of our era.
How do you spend it? You know, if you could get a hold of someone’s checkbook registry and see where all their money went, it would tell you a lot about that person. You’d know what’s really important to him. “A budget is a theological document. It indicates who or what we worship.”
If your time for a week were a checkbook registry, how would it look? What would people be able to tell about you by the way you decided to use your time?
Make a note of it:
1. We all have it
Unlike money, time is something all of us have. In fact, we all have the same amount of it each day. Jesus, Who was so swamped with busyness, had 24 hours every day just like you and I have – some of it for sleeping, some of it for working, some of it for devoting to prayer. When we look at this honestly, we have to agree: we all start with the same amount of time per day. We all have it.
2. We spend it
More evidence that time is a commodity is the way we speak about it. We “spend time,” we try to “make time,” and we also talk about “buying time.” All the terminology we use points to the fact that we’re busy. If I were to ask for a show of hands this morning about why some of you don’t spend as much time with your kids as you should, how many of you would say it’s because you’re busy? If I were to ask for a show of hands this morning about why some of you don’t have a regular program of physical exercise, how many of you would say it’s because you’re busy? If I were to ask for a show of hands this morning about why some of you don’t read more, how many of you would say it’s because you’re too busy? And If I were to ask for a show of hands this morning about why some of you don’t spend as much time in prayer as you should, how many of you would say it’s because you’re busy?
We spend our time. Some, like a rich person, flaunt how they spend it and brag about how busy they are. Others, like someone badly in debt, complain that they can’t do anything they want to do because they’re so busy and don’t have more time.
Jesus spent His time. He had only so much of it each day, and He had to choose how it would be spent – just like you and I have to choose. He was very deliberate about how He spent His time.
3. We waste it
Have you ever bought something that just turned out to be a total waste of money? Of course – that’s what infomercials are for! It never ceases to amaze me how we can put so much effort into attaining money and then be so quick to waste it. The same happens with time. We treat it like it’s precious if we’re waiting at a red light or a line in the grocery store, but then we turn around and devote hours every week to TV. Yes, I’d contend that most of those hours are wasted time.
Here’s what I’m getting at: part of the reason we don’t fit prayer into our lives is simply because of what we choose to do with our time instead. We have only so much of it to work with, and once it’s all spent or wasted, there’s no more to devote to prayer. If you’re waiting for the day when there will be 25 hours in a day so you can fit prayer in, you’ll never fit it in. There has to be some other way.
II. Means Attention to Priorities
Unless you’re Bill Gates, you have only so much money to use. And chances are, you have to make some decisions about what you’re going to buy and what you’re not going to buy. You have to give attention to your priorities. Someone said a budget is a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions. Whatever is most important to you is what you’ll give your money to – whether that’s the Lord’s work, debt payments, investment, entertainment, whatever.
Joke - A husband and wife sat down to compose a budget. The husband said, "Let's start with the basic necessities--food, clothing, and shelter. We have a choice of any two."
Just like a home has to sit down with a budget and determine what’s going to get financed, we have to sit down with our life plans and make some choices about what’s going to be fit in and what’s not going to fit in. That means we…
1. Determine what’s necessary
Ill - Remember Mary and Martha? Martha thought that fixing dinner to serve everyone was pretty important. Mary thought that sitting and listening at the feet of Jesus was pretty important. Jesus looked at both of these sisters and said, “Only one thing is needed. Just one thing is really necessary. Mary has chosen what is better, and it won’t be taken away from her."
Not only have we claimed ownership of time. We’ve also pluralized life.
The word “priority” came into English in the 1400’s. By definition, it was a simple word. It meant “the very first thing.” By definition, there could be only one priority. You can’t have more than one first thing. Somewhere between the 15th Century and now, the word took on a plural form. People began to speak about their life’s “priorities,” rather than the one thing in life that is first. Jesus said that really just one thing is really necessary.
I don’t know how Jesus chose when it was time to stop healing and time to start slipping away to be alone. I see lots of times when He heals and teaches, (Mk 1:32) and I see other times like we looked at
(Mk 1:35, 6:32) where Jesus is sneaking away to pray or to preach somewhere else. Behind it all was Jesus’ determination about what was necessary for Him to do. There were times, frequently, when He determined that it was necessary for Him to slip away and pray.
Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Even though He found it necessary to heal people, to teach huge crowds – even to provide supper for them, He also found it necessary to get up early, to stay up all night, to slip away by Himself and pray.
There were other times when the situation He was facing seems to have needed extra prayer:
Luke 6:12-13
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
If we were to be honest, and to follow Jesus’ example by determining what’s really necessary in life, would we have as much trouble fitting prayer in? Probably not. Then we also need to…
2. Accept our position: stewards
What we do with our time says a lot about Who we think owns it in the first place. Once again, it’s just like money.
Ill – Talk about an eye-opener – a Marjory Gammet came back to Joplin and rejoined the church there after being away for several years. She had no family around, no one to see to her affairs. So, she asked me if I would become her power of attorney and executor of her estate. I’d never done that before, but she needed a hand, and I was glad that she trusted me, so I agreed. 6 weeks after we both signed the papers, Marjory had a stroke, and a couple days later, she died. That left me to go through all her possessions and settle her affairs. It also left me in charge of 3 bank accounts that belonged to that estate. What I did with them was in my hands. But there was a day coming when I would not only have to give an account of that money, but also turn it all over to where it was supposed to go. That really wasn’t too hard to do, because it was never mine in the first place.
How we regard all of our money should start with this perspective – we’re stewards; caretakers; custodians. We may handle it, we may treat it like our own, but the bottom line is that it’s never really ours and one day we’ll give it all up.
Is our time any different? We don’t earn it or add it to our lives. Every moment we have is a gift from God – a stewardship, to see what we’ll make of it. Somewhere in the midst of deciding how I’ll use time, I have to remember that none of it is really my own to start with. It’s not all about ME.
Psalm 31:15 – “My times are in Your hand…”
So, when I think about what I’m going to do with time – and when I think about if I’m going to fit prayer into it – I have to consider what the real Owner of that time would want done with it. What are His priorities? What does He want me to fit in? What does He consider necessary?
Jesus considered prayer necessary – more necessary than sleep sometimes; more necessary than hanging out with His friends sometimes; more necessary than being comfortable. He gave attention to what deserved priority in life. That’s how He fit it in.
Fitting prayer in also…
III. Takes Deliberate Measures, Not Just Cosmic Coincidences
In other words, we have to schedule our life so that our life isn’t ruled by our schedule.
I’m afraid we too often expect the experiences that bring us close to God to always be caused by God. True, I was caught in an electrical storm hiking to the summit of Huron Peak in the Rockies. That greatly increased my prayer life for that moment! But thankfully that’s not always how it works!
When I look at when Jesus prayed I see “early in the morning,” “late at night,” and “often.” Those words are about purposeful, deliberate actions – not about some coincidence that by chance happened to permit Him to pray. Big decisions were coming up. Time of temptation was upon Him. Those were the times that He especially set aside to pray.
What about us? How do we fit it in? Stay up all night? Get up early? Sneak out away from everyone? Climb a mountain? If it’s the only way or if the situation in life is important enough to do that, then Yes! If that’s what it takes to get it to happen, yes! Turn off the TV, set aside the music, say no thanks to the party, skip a meal, excuse yourself from the crowd.
Someone might well say, “Well, I always have kind of leaned on Psalm 103:14 “the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Yes, that’s true. And I kind of lean on Hebrews 4:15 that tells me Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.
Do you think that Jesus was ever tempted to sleep in? to go to bed rather than stay up all night? to just skip it? to do the comfortable or easy thing? Sure!
Someone else might say, “But I’m under a lot of pressure right now. I don’t have time.” or “I’ve had some bad things happen in my life right now. I don’t feel like praying.” or “Right now, I’ve got too many important things to make decisions about.” Isn’t it crazy – the excuses we accept for ourselves not to pray? The very reasons we often give for not praying are the occasions we find Jesus praying the most! When you’re under pressure, when you’re facing hard times, when you have a lot to think about – those are the times you need prayer the most – not the times to forget about it!
Martin Luther is credited with once saying, “In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer."
If you’re waiting for God to force meaningful time in prayer on you by coincidence, remember that there’s also an enemy who’s working to keep you from it.
Jesus knew that He needed to be in prayer to face the cross. Is it any surprise that we find Him there in Gethsemane? What’s more, He knew that the disciples needed to be in prayer themselves during that time, so He encouraged them to pray too. It wasn’t a coincidence. It was a time of real need.
Conclusion:
Get out the time registry. Where did you spend your hours? At the end of my life, I want to be able to review those hours and feel confident that I fit in the things that mattered most.
Saul of Tarsus received a special invitation from God to turn away from his destructive life and follow Jesus instead. God also sent someone to help him – a man named Ananias. When God sent him, He said, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.” Ananias arrived there to find a man who was broken – who was ready to change – who wanted his life to be cleaned up by Jesus, a man who was praying. Ananias said to him, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
This morning, that could be you. God has certainly invited you to Himself. So to use the words of Ananias, “What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
