While It Was Still Dark

Look at the day Jesus just had. It started in the synagogue at Capernaum, where He taught and cast out an unclean spirit. Then He went to Peter’s house and healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Then the sun went down and the whole town showed up. Mark says, “the whole town gathered at the door.” Sick people. Tormented people. Jesus healed many and drove out many demons. That is a long, full, draining day.

Now look at the next morning. “Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.” After the busiest day of His ministry so far, Jesus did not sleep in. He did not check the crowd numbers. He got up in the dark and went to be with His Father.

If the Son of God needed that, what makes us think we can skip it? We say we are too busy to pray. Jesus was busy too. He prayed because He was busy. Luke tells us this was His habit: “Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.” It was not a one time thing. It was a pattern.

I want you to notice something about where He went. A solitary place. Mark uses a word that can mean wilderness or deserted place. Not the synagogue. Not the crowded house. Somewhere empty. For you, that might be the front seat of your truck before you walk into the job site. It might be the back porch before the kids wake up. It might be a kitchen table with a Bible and a cup of coffee. The point is not the location. The point is getting away from the noise long enough to hear your Father.

Then the interruption comes. Simon and the others hunt Him down. “Everyone is looking for You!” You can hear the excitement. Peter thinks this is great news. The crowd is back. Momentum is building. Let’s go back and do it again.

But Jesus says no. “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.” That is what prayer did for Him. It kept Him clear on His mission. The crowd wanted a healer to stay in Capernaum. The Father had sent Him to preach the good news to all of Galilee and, in the end, to go to a cross for sinners like us.

Here is something for you this morning. A lot of us let the crowd set our agenda. The inbox. The group text. The loudest person in the office. Everyone is looking for you, and it feels important. Time alone with God is what helps you tell the difference between what is urgent and what you were actually sent to do.

Now hear the gospel in this. Jesus did not pray in the dark so He could earn His Father’s love. He was already the beloved Son. And you do not pray to earn God’s love either. If you belong to Christ, you are already loved, already forgiven, already welcome. Prayer is not a ladder you climb. It is a door He opened. Jesus kept His mission all the way to the cross, so that you could come to the Father through Him.

So tomorrow, try getting up a little earlier. Find your solitary place. Sit with your Father before the crowd finds you. Ask Him what today is for. Then go where He sends you.