Mark 1:35–39 (ESV)
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
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. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38
And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Jesus has been teaching and healing and attracting growing crowds. We see in today’s reading that Jesus does something that so many Christians take for granted. Jesus prayed. Wow, Jesus stops and takes time to pray. Now
if Jesus is God, why would he pray? Well, there are several reasons. First of all, Jesus wants to communicate to the Father. We too should want to take our joys and concerns to the Lord. Second of all, Jesus is teaching us that prayer
is God pleasing. Jesus is showing us the necessity and importance of praying. We all need to take time by ourselves and pray to the Lord. There are other reasons, but I want to focus on the need to communicate with God and that Jesus is teaching
us to pray.
We also see that Jesus didn’t want to stick around and let the people come to him. Instead, he wanted to take his message to the people, so he moved on to the next town, so that he could
“preach there also”. This is the reason that Christ came to Earth, to preach the Good News to you.
I pray: O Lord, help me to focus on the need to preach the Good News to others.
Help me to reach out beyond our church walls and out into the community. Also teach me and help me in my prayer life, to seek time with you alone and to pray. Amen.