Just Like Jesus I

Mark 1:³⁵ (TPT) “The next morning, Jesus got up long before daylight, left the house while it was dark, and made his way to a secluded place to give himself to prayer.”

Jesus depended on prayer. He took refuge in prayer. He drew strength and guidance from prayer. Mark 1:³⁵ “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” (emphasis added). When the Bible says before daybreak, it means early hours of the morning. Before the day breaks and this is why we do our vigils till three o’clock in the morning. There are spiritual activities that happen before the day breaks. There are special kinds of angels that are operational before daybreak. As soon as the day breaks, they escape – they pull back.

That is why when Jacob was wrestling with the Spirit being, as the day was breaking, the Spirit being said: “I need to go!” And Jacob said, “You are not going anywhere until you bless me”, I am sure you are familiar with the story in Genesis 32. A lot of people have interpreted “Before daybreak” to mean you have to pray in the morning. Not everyone can pray in the morning. Some people are night people, some are afternoon people and some people are morning people. But there is value in praying and engaging in spiritual activity before daybreak.

Mark 1:³⁵ “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” (emphasis added). Jesus got up means He left His comfort zone. He got up physically from His bed. It means that He got to a place of being alert. A lot of the time we claim to be praying while we are still lying in bed. But if you are sincere with yourself, you know that you start the prayer “in Jesus Name…” and then wake up in the morning to say, “…Amen”. What you had was more of a carnal experience, not a spiritual experience like many would like to believe, your body needed to sleep. Jesus got up, get up! You want to read the Bible – get up! You want to engage in spiritual activities – get up! Get Up!

Earlier in our marriage, when my wife and I are praying and she is lying down, I always insist that she gets up. She insists that she is praying even though she is lying down. But I say no, get up. Then she gets up and she says, “You are a bully!” Yes, call me a bully. Jesus got up! After you have prayed standing up, you can then lie down and pray yourself to sleep.

Thought: Miracles happen outside your comfort zone!

Prayer: Holy Spirit, empower me to be just like Jesus; to get up before daybreak and pray, in Jesus Name. Amen!