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Meditate

"Meditate on these things, give yourself wholly to them, that your profiting may apprear to all"

The Gospel According to Mark
The Danger of Our Living Without Prayer (part 2)

Scripture:
Mark 1:35-38
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.

There is a danger to living without dependence on God. Jesus lived a life of total dependence on God. There is a danger of living in the human, the normal, the worldly, the flesh and the earthly when God calls us to live in Him. Living without dependent prayer is living without Jesus.

  • Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
  • Jeremiah 2:32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.
  • Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
  • Isaiah 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
Dependent Prayer!

Jesus was God incarnate, who emptied himself, took on the form of a servant, became a man, limited himself to earthly laws, lived a sinless life, and lived in deep harmony with the Father by the same resources available to everyone of us.

He led by his life. He set for us an example that we should follow in his steps. His source of power is the same source we have - prayer, that is, intimate fellowship with the Father. Prayer for Jesus was not primarily asking, but "leaning" on the Father. He kept himself close to the Father's heart and will through the discipline of prayer. Yes, Jesus disciplined himself. He made himself do the most important thing FIRST. In the middle of a very busy schedule, with overwhelming crowds hounding him every hour of every day, Jesus still got up while it was still dark, left the house, went off to a solitary place, and prayed to the Father in secret.

If Jesus found it necessary to practice a disciplined prayer-life how much more should we who are foolish, failing and finite? His power, authority, wisdom, holiness, leadership abilities, energy, health, stamina, persistence, and success came, not through reading a book on the "Seven Secrets of Highly Effective People," but through one secret -- cultivating daily a deep intimacy with God through prayer.

As we examine carefully the life of Jesus we will find this example in Mark 1:35 repeated over and over in his daily life and routine. Jesus was first and foremost a "God-chaser" before he was anything else. He learned the secret of "loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength" was not going to come naturally. It had to come super-naturally, through prayerful dependence on God. He lived his life that way. The disciples saw it, marveled and finally asked, "Lord, teach us to pray!" He taught them verbally to enter into their closet daily to seek the Father in secret, but he taught them by example by doing it every day.

We are embarking on a building program that will require excessive amounts of money and energy that we do not have. In March, April, and May we will be fully involved in communicating the vision in our Capital Stewardship Program titled, "Catch the Vision!" The vision is of what God wants to do, not what we want to do. The vision is His, therefore the money and supply needs to be His also. This needs to be a program and process in which we are fully dependent on God for His abundant supply of all that we need. That requires that we pray, pray, pray!

Zerrubabel was laying the foundation of the temple in Zechariah chapter four. Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah concerning the rebuilding of the temple. God wanted everyone to know that it was not Zerrubabel who was building the temple but the LORD HIMSELF, so the Lord declared to the people:

"Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord." - Zechariah 4:6

"6. So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: `Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. 7. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of `God bless it! God bless it!'" 8. Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. 10. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel."
God is the builder!
God is the supplier of the funds! God is the provider of the vision. God is the author and finisher of all that we do. Then let us follow Jesus' example and make PRAYER OUR FIRST BUSINESS, not fund raising, not building designs, and not borrowing money. God is our first business. To know His is our primary call. As we know Him we will be able to make Him known to others. Until we know Him, until we hear from Him, until we become intimate with His heart, we will not be about our Father's business.

We are declaring March a month of prayer. We are calling the church to prolonged prayer and fasting to seek the Lord. We have scheduled two overnight-prayer retreats - March 17-18, and March 24-25. We want to encourage you to develop good prayer disciplines and a deep intimacy in you relationship to the Lord.

We have provided a manual on "Intimacy With God" that is available in the church office free of charge. Whether or not you are able to join us on those retreats we urge you to pick up a copy and use it to retrain, refocus and retool your prayer life MAKING INTIMACY WITH GOD YOUR FIRST BUSINESS.

We are sure you will find this manual helpful and stimulating in renewing your disciplines of prayer. We are asking you to "Catch the Vision" or the heart of God for our church. You will not catch that vision by promotion and advertising. You will catch it from the Father's heart.