Did Jesus Teach More Than The Lord's Prayer? Mark 1:35

Let's think about how the Lord prayed.

Most of us are familiar with the Lord's Prayer and consider it the definitive word on prayer, but that is not all that we can learn from the Lord about prayer.

"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."  Mark 1:35.

IN THE MORNING

At the start of his day, not in the middle of a busy day or the tired used up the end of a day but at the beginning- as if it was too important to wait. Prayer was one of the driving engines of his activities.

We must be willing to make prayer a priority.

HAVING RISEN

These are words of affirmation and are expressive of action. This is what he did; he must have been resolved and committed since he was willing to pay the price. His getting up early was deliberate; this was not Jesus saying to himself, "Well, I'm up early. I might as well pray."  It was intentional.

We must be resolved in our plans to pray.

WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK

This was a long time before daybreak. Not just a few minutes early, but he got up a long time before daybreak so he could spend a long time in prayer. He allowed himself time, and if there was no other time, he took it from sleep.

We must be willing to give time to pray.

DEPARTED

He separated himself from distractions, even leaving the house and the people behind. He got away from the crowd. He eliminated the surprise interruption.

We must be willing to leave comfort to pray.

SOLITARY PLACE
He found a place where he could be alone with God, a place where he could focus on God, listen, and talk to his father in prayer.

We must be willing to be alone to pray.

HE PRAYED
These words are like the grand finale. This is like the end of it all, even though it is the beginning of his day. Prayer is what he did.

JESUS A LIVING PARABLE
A parable is a teaching story; it has a moral or a point. We should look at Jesus' example of dedication and sacrifice in prayer and read it like a parable.  We should be inspired by his life and seek to copy it in any way we could. His prayer life is a discipline we all must aim for. If he prayed like this, what about us?

Prayer has little or no meaning if you do not know Jesus as your Savior.  To learn more, see my blog on the Gospel, click here.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and encouraging.  For more like this, see the most popular post in the left sidebar.

© Adron 7/3/15

Here is a link to an inspirational art by Castarillo. It shows Jesus up close in the passion of prayer.  CLICK HERE to see this dramatic art. 

What To Do When Your Faith Is Weak

There are times when we all doubt and our faith wavers. Sometimes we wonder if our faith is strong enough.

The Bible tells of a father's struggle with faith when he brought his son to the disciples so they can cast out a demon; the disciples were not able to drive it out, so they brought the boy to Jesus.  The father says, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."  "If you can?' said Jesus, 'Everything is possible for him who believes.'  Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'" Mark 9:23, 24. NIV. The passage ends by describing the healing, where the demon is cast out.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

The guy deserves credit because he has seen his son suffer since his youth, and when he brings him to the disciples, they are not able to help, he had despaired hope, yet he did not give up.

JESUS

Jesus addresses the real issue first.  Jesus could have condemned the man's lack of faith in harsh words but the question, "If you can?" is a gentler rebuke.  I am sure He could lecture us all on our weak faith, but he speaks kindly.

FAITH IN WHOM

The father asked if Jesus could do anything.  Of course, he can heal, heal, restore, and put to right all wrongs we have experienced.  "Everything is possible for him who believes."  As long as we have faith in the right person, the one who is the all-powerful God.  There is no limit to the possibilities of God.  There is no mountain that He can't move.  There is no darkness He can't shine in.  There is no grief He can't comfort. There is no hurt He can't bring blessing to.

WE TOO

The man sought the Lord's help with his unbelief. We all have times of unbelief when doubt is mixed with faith, and he had reason to doubt. His request was an example of desperate prayer; "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief."  He asked The Lord to help with his unbelief.  It is a simple thing to do; just pray.

Do not overlook the necessity of prayer in the actualization of our faith.
     * We must pray that the Lord will give us a correct understanding of who He is.
     * We must pray that our hearts may be ready to obey the call to act on our faith.
     * We must pray to the Lord to prop up our faltering faith.
     * We must pray to know the Lord that our faith is in.

Faith must be in the correct thing.  We must have faith in Jesus. Faith in anything else has no real power.

Everything is possible for him who believes art.

Blessings

(c)Adron 7/16/13

Where Can I Find Peace From Suffering?

We suffer in many ways, some of us suffer deeply, even after years of trying to get relief.  Some of us even carry painful scars through our lives.  The Bible gives a story of a woman who had suffered deeply for years and what she did to find great peace.

"At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my clothes?'"  Mark 5:30

"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."Mark 5:34*.

This is from the story of the woman who had an incurable flow of blood. For twelve years, she spent her money on doctors who failed to heal her. Finding Jesus in the crowd she touches his cloak thinking just touching Jesus' garment will transfer healing to her.

Having a flow of blood made her culturally unclean, an outcast, and if she was open about her condition she might have been stoned by the crowd. Her touch according to their views transferred uncleanness to whatever she touched, and touching a teacher would be a very bad thing.

In response to her touch, she is immediately healed. Jesus perceives the healing and asked the crowd who it was that touched him. She comes forward and tells all about the miracle. Then Jesus said those wonderful words. "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

There are so many encouragements in this passage. Read the passage in your Bible, (see link below) and look for these encouragements:

1. Jesus is accessible. When she pressed through the crowd she was able to touch him. So don't give up, keep trying to come. He is there waiting for you.
2. Jesus knows. He knew the woman had been to him, he knew she touched him, he knew she was healed, and he knows your hurt.
3. Miracles are rarely secret and when they are it is only for a time. We are given blessings to qualify us to testify to the glory of God. He looked for her so she could testify.
4. Faith in Jesus brought her healing, and faith in him can bring healing to us.
5. Jesus wants to bring us peace. He blessed this woman with "Go in peace." He wants to say the same to us.
6. He wanted her to be free on all levels, He said, "be freed from your suffering." It is freedom not only of the physical illness, but the emotional pain, and psychological, and even socially, since a flow of blood made one "unclean." socially. 
7. Jesus' power is awesome. He could bring complete healing to one who had an illness for so long a time. No matter how long we have suffered he can bring peace and freedom.
8. Her faith had action. She had to take the risk of being discovered as an unclean woman in a crowd, and of touching a teacher. Though she was trying to "get away with it" when the call came she came before him and fell down and told all that happened. My faith has to have action.

We hear it all the time, and it is still true even if old; come to Jesus, bring him your hurt, pain, and suffering. He is waiting to say, "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

*To read the entire passage click here, Mark 5:27-34.

(c) Adron 6/3/13

Longing For Fruit In My Christian Life. Mark 4:13-20

We wonder why we are not growing as Christians. We have God, church, the Bible, and fellowship, but we are the same old people we have always been. Jesus said something about this and similar conditions.

"Jesus said to them, "don't you understand this parable? 13. ...The farmer sows the word, 14. ... some people are like the seed along the path, 15. ... Others like the seed in rocky places.16... Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19. but worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word making it unfruitful." Mark 4:18-19.

When we read this and think it is about others who have yet to give their lives to God, they should do so before they become the seed that is lost, or have no root, or choked by the thorns. But Jesus told it not to explain others to us but to point out truths about ourselves.

CHOKE

"Choke" is a frightening word; when something is being choked, it does not get what it needs to survive, like air or nutrients. It can happen slowly and may not be noticed until too late. In the parable, it is the slow kind of choke.

WORRIES

It is easy to see why after the years, we are still unfruitful. We have worries over marriage, children, and careers. We struggle in our efforts to provide for our family, retirement, and kid's college. We have fallen to the seduction of "Other things" that we see on TV and other advertisements.

FRUIT NEEDS DEEP ROOTS

How can we prevent God's Word from being "choked" out of our hearts? We must:

• Be open to God's Word.
• Allow God's Word to establish deep roots.
• Ask God to protect my understanding of the Word from Satin's lies.
• Resolve to adhere to God's Word even in trials and persecution.
• Pray and repent of those things that choke God's Word.
• Beware the seduction of things and money.
• Pray for God to reveal His Word.

TIME IS A FACTOR

On the other hand, sometimes seeds just take a long time to grow, and sometimes fruit takes a long time to mature. Even though you may not have much to show for it now, you may still hope to be as: "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." 20.

If you have not the fruit you long for, do not give up, and you will harvest a crop of blessing for yourself and many others.

© Adron 9/5/09