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Resolution: Make Time to Pray Every Day

By: Steve Negley

Posted: January 12, 2021

Category: Daily Devotional

35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

Mark 1:35

I use my busy schedule as an excuse for not pausing to talk to God regularly. (And I am busy. I have to squeeze a lot into each day — work, sleep, my share of the household chores, TV, community service, leisure). I use my busy schedule as an excuse for not pausing to talk to God regularly, until I read about the life of Jesus in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel.

In the first half of Mark chapter 1, Jesus calls 4 disciples, teaches in the synagogue, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, cured all the sick and demon-possessed people who crowded into the house where he was staying…. (Jesus was busy.) And then, we find that, “in the morning, while it was still very dark he got up and went to a deserted place, where he prayed.”

After that prayer, Jesus felt empowered to go and preach in the neighboring towns and to save someone from their suffering with leprosy. End of chapter one.

Jesus was busy all day and into the evening, so he got up early, while it was still dark, to talk to God in prayer.

Maybe I can find the strength and comfort and encouragement that Jesus got from his conversations with his heavenly Father, if I can make the time to pray.

Can I get up 10 minutes earlier for this chat? Can I find a lonely place for 10 minutes around lunch time to catch up with God? Can I close my eyes for prayer for 10 minutes before I close my eyes to sleep?

I can try.

Prayer

God, You seem to ready to listen when I am ready to speak. Give me the strength to adapt my schedule so that I can talk with You each day, just like my Lord and Savior Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.