Beginning the Day with Prayer

 Based on Mark 1:29-39 

 

Have you ever felt tired? Of course, you have. All of us have. Life is hard work. There are so many demands and responsibilities to deal with on a daily basis. And some days are harder than others. Some weeks, even months are harder than others. All those CPAs and tax preparers are gearing up. Tax season is upon us. Preachers and worship leaders have been getting a little breather the past few weeks now that the Christmas season is behind us. But Lent is coming, and before you know it the whirlwind of Holy Week and the crescendo of Easter. Exciting times, but lots of extra work and preparation. Students in school are well in to their second semester, taking care of their assignments until the end of the semester when there is the big push when projects are due and final exams are given. We all go through those times in life where there is so much to tend to that it can become overwhelming. Those times of heavy stress can really wear us down. If we don’t know how to manage our stress, or don’t utilize the tools we know, then we put ourselves at risk. Too much stress for too long can lead to burn out. We are hearing of many in the health care profession who are reaching that point. They signed up to care for people but they didn’t sign up for a pandemic. Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers are taking early retirement or resigning. It’s too much. Too much stress for too long can cause us to lose our edge and diligence. We make mistakes. The prolonged stress can trigger some bad habits like stress eating or drinking too much. It should be no surprise to us that 2020 saw a record year in the sale of alcohol, by a lot. Too much stress for too long can make us sick. Life loses its joy. I imagine all of us can give testimony about periods in our lives when we felt this way. Some of us may feel like we are in it right now. That would be totally understandable after the past year we have had to endure. 

    You know, Jesus could get worn out too. It is true that Jesus is divine. He is God. But Jesus is also human. Being human, Jesus needed to eat and drink. He needed to exercise. He needed a coat when it was cold. He slept like anyone else. There were times when Jesus needed to get away from it all and simply rest. 

    When Jesus got to Capernaum, to Simon’s house, he was led immediately upstairs, where Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever. Jesus went up to her, reached out his hand and lifted her up from her sick bed. Immediately, the fever left her. And then, she went downstairs and began to serve them. Stick a pin in this. We are going to revisit this healing experience in a few minutes. 

It seems that the rest of the day, the doctor was in. The whole city came to Simon’s house. We don’t know how many lived in Capernaum or if Mark is being a little dramatic, but I think we can assume that literally thousands of people lined up in front of Simon’s house. Many of them were sick. They were physically sick but there were others who were emotionally or psychologically sick, otherwise identified as those with demons that needed casting out. We read that Jesus couldn’t heal everyone who came that day. But he healed many of them. It was a long, long day. And when evening drew near, and people returned to their homes, and Jesus turned in for the evening meal and then to retire to his guest room, surely he was exhausted. 

    Instead of sleeping in the next day, however, Jesus got up early, long before dawn. He went outside to go find a place where he could be left alone. In a place of solitude, Jesus prayed. To recuperate from the previous taxing day, Jesus spent time alone in prayer. What did he pray about? Maybe he didn’t pray about anything. Instead, perhaps Jesus simply rested in the presence of his Heavenly Father, to be reminded of his mission, to be remined of the love his Father had for him. Jesus took time to be in prayer so that he could be restored in spiritual power, and to remain grounded in his relationship with God. 

    There is power in prayer. When we talk about prayer having power, we are often thinking about how prayer can change things. But prayer also can be a way to boost our inner power. Spending quiet time early in the morning, focused on God, resting in God’s presence, has the power of strengthening and refreshing our spirits. This time can also help us re-focus on the purpose of our life, what we are about, what responsibilities lie ahead of us. I think we see evidence of this when some of his disciples found him and told him that everybody was looking for him. Jesus told his disciples it was time to move on. There were more needs to attend to in Capernaum. The people there still had demands on his time. But Jesus was reminded in his time of prayer that his responsibility was greater than caring for the people of Capernaum. He had a much larger area to cover. In his prayer, Jesus was strengthened and also refocused on his purpose. So, he told the disciples not to get comfortable. They needed to move on to the next town. 

    I hope you have developed the habit of spending time every day in prayer. Remember, prayer is a conversation that includes talking to God and listening to God. Of course, we can pray any time we choose. But it has been my experience that beginning the day with prayer is a great habit. It is in the morning that we are our freshest. The day is before us. So, we can begin the day with God, asking for God’s direction as we sift through the responsibilities that lie ahead of us. Spending time with God first thing can also be helpful because hopefully you are less distracted. You aren’t in the middle of a bunch of things when you begin your day with prayer. 

    Praying at the end of the day is a good habit as well. It can be a time to reflect with God over your day. It is an opportunity to release the day to God’s care. And if, while you are laying there in bed praying and you drift off to sleep…nothing wrong with that. 

But what Jesus did was get up early in the morning to pray. If we follow this example, then we are able to start our day connecting with God and allowing God to set the context of our day. Instead of rushing off to do all the things we think we need to do, we instead ask God, “What do you want of me? What do you want me to do today?” 

    Let’s go back again to this opening scene of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law. There are two actions here to take note. The first is that when Jesus grabs the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law, she is experiencing contact with God. And this connection with God restores her to health. It removes her fever and gets her out of bed. But there is more. She was restored to health for a purpose. She immediately got to work serving them. She was restored not to serve herself. She was restored so that she could continue to serve others. 

    This is why it is good to start our day with prayer, following the example of Jesus. We are able to experience a connection with God. This doesn’t necessarily result in physical healing, of course. But there is a refreshing of our spirit when we experience again our relationship, our connection with God. We are reminded of our relationship with God. We are reminded of God’s love for us. With that connection we are able to refocus on what God wants us to be doing in our life. Strengthened and refocused, we are able to move into our day prepared to serve others. 

    If you already are in the habit of beginning your day in prayer, I encourage you to keep at it. If this is something you don’t do, or you have fallen out of habit, I invite you to begin. There is much to be done in this world. For us to participate with God in the work of healing and restoration, let us be intentional about resting in God’s love and grace, be restored in our spirit, so that we can continue doing the work of serving God by serving others.