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7/19 Reading Portions: Judges 2; Acts 6; Jeremiah 15; Mark 1
Mark 1:35
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed.
COMMUNION
Jesus often took time alone, apart from His disciples, in order to pray. His prayers were so personal and private, His disciples had to go out looking for Him (Mark 1:36-37). If God has revealed to us the nature and character of Jesus Christ from the Scriptures, our verse today should amaze us. He who knew unity with the heavenly Father and a closeness of intimacy with God, the heights and depths of which no other human has ever known (including Adam before the fall), that perfect, sinless, holy Jesus would escape all earthly distractions in order to commune with the heavenly Father should indicate the superlative importance of prayer. God commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17), therefore, it is something we should not take lightly.
There are many misconceptions about prayer, but at its core, prayer is a grace from God, a heavenly phenomenon which harnesses the access we have with God through Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, and allows us the blessing of communion with our heavenly Father, submitting ourselves to His will, His plans, and His purposes. Certainly, prayer can include praise, petitions, repentance, intercessions, etc.; nevertheless, their priority is subordinate to the special spiritual union and communion God grants those redeemed by the supreme sacrifice of His one and only Son. The glorious gist of this heavenly union and communion with God is two-fold. First, prayer bends our wills to desire His will. Second, this is done in order to beget within us devotion to God alone in Christ. Since prayer is submission to God’s will, prayer apart from God’s Word is fanciful sentimentality (1 Cor 14:15); and as prayer means devotion to God through a real relationship with God, studying God’s Word apart from prayer is the faith of devils (Jas 2:19).
True prayer is a grace of God:
Communion with our Lord—
Submission to God’s will must not
Forsake God’s holy Word.
