Mark 1:32-37: a reflection

32At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by demons. 33All the city was gathered together at the door. 34He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. He didn’t allow the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there. 36Simon and those who were with him searched for him. 37They found him and told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

After a day of extraordinary demands, healing the sick and casting out demons until the whole town was gathered at his door, Jesus does something striking. Very early the next morning, while it was still dark, he rose and went out to a solitary place, and there he prayed. When the disciples find him, they say, Everyone is looking for you, as if to pull him back into the press of activity. But Jesus had first sought the quiet place, and the Father, before the demands of the day resumed.

Notice the priority Jesus gave to solitary prayer. He was in enormous demand; the crowds wanted him, the needs were endless, and there was every reason to plunge straight back into the work. Yet Jesus rose before dawn and withdrew to be alone with the Father in prayer. He would not let even the pressing needs of a needy world crowd out his communion with God. Prayer came first, before the demands, drawn from the quiet of the early morning.

That is a searching example for our busy, demanding lives. When the needs and demands press hardest, prayer and time with God are the first things we are tempted to sacrifice, plunging instead straight into the work. Jesus did the opposite: the busier and more in demand he was, the more he withdrew to pray. If the Son of God needed to rise early and seek the Father in solitude, how much more do we. Do not let the press of activity and demand crowd out your communion with God. Like Jesus, withdraw to the quiet place, seek the Father first, and draw from that solitude the strength to meet the demands of your day.

Lord Jesus, after a day of overwhelming demands, you rose before dawn and withdrew to a solitary place to pray, seeking the Father before the needs of the day pressed in again. Teach me that priority. When the demands of my life press hardest, keep me from sacrificing prayer and time with you as the first thing, plunging straight into the work. Help me do as you did: to withdraw to the quiet place, to seek you first, and to draw from that time with you the strength to meet the day. If you, the Son of God, needed to rise early and seek the Father, how much more do I. Do not let the press of activity crowd out my communion with you; draw me to the quiet place with you.