Spending time with the Father
Image: Martineric @ Flickr
Mark 1:35-45 Expand passage
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 travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Jesus began his day in the same way he began his ministry – with his Father. This is not the only time he set aside time for prayer, and a similar instance is recorded in Matthew 14:23. If the Son of the Living God needed to do this, how much more so do we need to?
I believe it was Jesus’ habit to spend time alone with his Father. He knew that in order to live out God’s will, he needed to be sure of what that will was. It would not surprise me if each morning, Jesus rose and sought his Father for the day ahead; seeking his will, his instructions and his strength.
In our passage from Mark, Jesus states clearly that he has come to preach. He tells his disciples that he wants to visit the nearby villages in order to share the Good News with them. This was God’s will for him, and he wanted to fulfil it.
If we want to do the same, and live out God’s will in our lives, we must make sure we are actively seeking our Father in heaven. I encourage you to set aside time every single day to be with God. That is what Jesus made possible with his death on the cross; free access to God the Father! It is a privilege and an honour, and more than that, it is a necessity. If you need to, put it in your diary, write a reminder on your fridge, do whatever you need to do to make sure of it.
We need God’s strength and guidance, not just for our ordinary everyday lives, but for our ministries as well. As a preacher and writer, I need to know what God wants me to teach on. I need to know which engagements to accept, and which to decline. I can do nothing in my own strength, and I certainly won’t be successful unless I am doing what God has set before me.
Jesus was no different. He needed his Father’s guidance and support in order to be successful in his preaching and healing work. Verse 39 tells us that Jesus went around preaching and driving out demons. The latter half of our passage (from verse 40) tells us about the healing of a man suffering with leprosy. Healing was a significant part of Jesus’ work on Earth, and it still is today.
In verse 40, the man asks Jesus to cleanse him, “if he is willing.” So often, God is willing, and yet we do not ask him. Perhaps we do not think to ask, or maybe we think it is impossible or too big for God. Whatever the reason, often we do not receive an answer because we neglect to ask.
James 4:2 says, “You want something but don’t get it… You do not have, because you do not ask God.” It is clear that in some cases, we want or even need something, and God desperately wants to give it to us, but no one has asked.
We need to cover our lives with prayer. We need to spend time with God, not only to ask for things, but to enjoy relationship with him. Having said that, I believe we should ask for everything we need. Some don’t ask because they worry it is not God’s will to give it to them. Well, I suggest asking, and if it is not God’s will for you, then don’t worry because you won’t get it!
This leprous man asked Jesus if he was willing, and Jesus replied saying that he was. This is wonderful, when it happens, and we should give thanks for those times. However, it is not always the case.
It can happen, and not infrequently, that we ask God for a breakthrough and it does not come. If the man with leprosy was not healed, what would he have asked? “Are you not willing Jesus?” “Are you not able to heal me?” These are the sorts of questions we ask when our prayers are not answered. They are natural. They are human.
I recently suffered a terrible ordeal. A situation that should have brought great joy, went very wrong and ultimately led to great sadness. In that situation, I had prayed, “God, if you are willing, you can fix this.” I prayed hard and long, and yet the answer I wanted did not arrive.
How do we deal with this as Christians? Do we ask why God is unwilling? Do we get angry with him, believing him to be withholding from us? I guess that often we do. And it must break the Father’s heart.
As much as I know God wants to help us, I also know that sometimes he knows better. In our human limitations, we see only a small part of the big picture. What may seem a blessing in the short term, works out to be a curse in the long run.
Despite the fact that my breakthrough did not come, my faith did not waiver, and nor did my belief that God loves me and wants what’s best for me. As much as it hurt, I got through because I knew there was a reason. Even now, I don’t know what the reason was, and I probably never will on this side of heaven.
God is still God. He is Sovereign, and he is in charge. While we should and need to pray over everything in our lives, we must always remember that God may know something we do not. God is willing to help us, but not at the cost of something greater.
Like the man with leprosy, the apostle Paul once knelt before God and asked him to remove a “thorn” from his flesh. God did not (see 2 Corinthians 12). To Paul, he did not say, “I am willing,” but said, “My grace is sufficient.” We would do well to remember that even when our answer does not come, God’s grace is always enough to get us through. But we must cling to him with all we can.
Matt Redman wrote a song called “Blessed be your name,” you may know it. In it, he sings of times of great joy and plenty, when it is easy to praise God. But he also sings of times of suffering and pain, where it is not so easy. But still, despite the pain, we must continue to say “Blessed be your name God.”
I want to encourage you with the words of three very brave and faithful men. These men faced death by being thrown into a furnace. I don’t know about you, but that does not sound like a pleasant experience to me! They knew their God, and they knew the power that God possessed. But most of all, they knew that God loved them and that whether they lived or died, God would still be God.
Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
3 Responses
Leave a Reply
Andy has been a Christian since his teens when he began to develop his relationship with God. He is an Elder in his local church and leads a home group. Andy has a passion for teaching and writing. He lives near Southend, Essex, with his wife. Andy is responsible for writing much of the content on Crossring.
What's On Crossring
Crossring is a community of Christians who meet together online in fellowship around the Christian faith and the Bible.
As part of our active lifestyle of prayer and Bible reading, we are currently reading a small section of the Bible together each day and sharing our responses to it with each other. We also publish a short devotional thought on a key verse or two from each day's passage to prompt prayer or reflection.
Community
Please feel free to browse the website. If you wish to participate in the Forums, however, you will need to login or register with us to help keep the spammers at bay.
On the Forums
Reply To: Communion etiquette
by Phill Sacre 19:57 18/10/11
Communion etiquette
by lordkenley 21:20 17/10/11
Driscoll: "Got Hates You"
by Phill Sacre 21:09 11/10/11
Reply To: Prayers of praise: let's praise together!
by Martin Laker 05:43 03/10/11
Reply To: Blindfolded monkeys and Christian songs
by Phill Sacre 14:33 29/09/11
Crossring on Facebook
Crossring on Twitter
Whole Site RSS
This article really challenges me. So often we forget that we can do nothing without God, and try to cut down on prayer time in order to do things on our own strength!
well – I do that anyway! I recently (re-)read a book on prayer by Philip Yancey. It was very helpful, I would recommend it. Prayer is such an important topic and I’m sure none of us do it enough!