Our Lord’s ministry began with a bang in Capernaum, preaching in the synagogue and casting out a demon from a member of the congregation. All in a day’s work! But when the sun went down, the townsfolk came out in droves for the sick and infirm to be healed late into the night. Jesus was a busy man!
After a busy day, I know sleep is such a precious commodity to enjoy! Yet St Mark adds this very intriguing little detail: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed,” (Mark 1:35 ESV). Instead of resting as long as our Lord Jesus could, he did get some rest, but he still got up before everyone else and went off to pray!
Origen, a Church Father from the early third century, gives us something important to think about on this little detail from St Mark’s Gospel: “Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer [even] when he might have done so without prayer. If [this is] so, who among us would neglect to pray?” (From, “On Prayer” 13.1).
Think about it. Jesus was and is the Son of God. He had the power of the Most High to do what he wanted or needed to do without asking for it because he was truly God! He didn’t need to pray and yet he prayed because it was important. Jesus values prayer! This little text shows us Jesus desired to keep in constant communication with his heavenly Father, and Origen rightly reminds us, so should we!
Throughout the Gospels we hear of Jesus heading off to a desolate place to pray, sometimes taking his disciples, sometimes going alone. On one occasion the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and instead of just giving them some pointers, Jesus invited them to pray in his name! That’s the big point behind the opening line: ‘Our Father.’ Jesus invites us to pray to his Father as our own Father! And that is an incredibly powerful blessing we have been given!
Prayer connects us to the Creator and Sustainer of all things! We are talking to the One who holds all things together in this universe, and Jesus invites us to call him, Father! A Father who truly cares for us and everything we are going through, and will help us in our hour of need. So, when we pray to him for help and strength, our Father in heaven will not disappoint! He will give us exactly what we need!
And this is important for when things go rough in our lives. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night when he was betrayed, we might be tempted to see the Father as not answering Jesus’ prayer. Jesus asked for that cup of suffering to be taken away from him if it were possible. But we need to note our Saviour’s confident trust: “Yet not what I will, but what you will,” (Mark 14:36 ESV).
We can relate to Jesus’ prayer at that hour. Suffering hurts; even suffering for noble causes. We pray often for the end of our suffering, and we can feel sometimes that we are not heard. We hear Jesus’ prayer and we understand. Our Lord Jesus was heard by his Father. Its just that his prayer was answered with a ‘No.’ The good and gracious will of God was for Jesus’ suffering upon the cross to be for our eternal good!
Jesus’ death paid our debt of sin; his rest in the tomb sanctified our graves for our rest until Jesus calls us all forward on the Last Day to live with him forever! Jesus’ suffering and death was necessary because by what our Lord endured on our behalf, we have eternal life!
Our suffering isn’t as grand as our Lord’s, yet because of Christ our suffering has purpose. It points us back to the only One who can and has helped us. In our suffering as Christians, we know we can turn to our heavenly Father in prayer and he will hear us. Because of Jesus’ forgiveness, we know our suffering will one day end... and ours will be the eternal kingdom of our God!
Prayer is all about us constantly turning to our God and relying upon him in every circumstance! Prayer is us laying before our Father’s feet all our worries, fears, frustrations, cares, and sorrows, trusting he will supply for our eternal need!
That’s the gift Jesus has shown to us by his prayer life, and with his invitation to pray with him the prayer he gave us, why would we not pray? We have a good heavenly Father, and he will hear us! Always!
In Christ’s service,
Rev Joel V Kuhl, Pastor
After a busy day, I know sleep is such a precious commodity to enjoy! Yet St Mark adds this very intriguing little detail: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed,” (Mark 1:35 ESV). Instead of resting as long as our Lord Jesus could, he did get some rest, but he still got up before everyone else and went off to pray!
Origen, a Church Father from the early third century, gives us something important to think about on this little detail from St Mark’s Gospel: “Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer [even] when he might have done so without prayer. If [this is] so, who among us would neglect to pray?” (From, “On Prayer” 13.1).
Think about it. Jesus was and is the Son of God. He had the power of the Most High to do what he wanted or needed to do without asking for it because he was truly God! He didn’t need to pray and yet he prayed because it was important. Jesus values prayer! This little text shows us Jesus desired to keep in constant communication with his heavenly Father, and Origen rightly reminds us, so should we!
Throughout the Gospels we hear of Jesus heading off to a desolate place to pray, sometimes taking his disciples, sometimes going alone. On one occasion the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and instead of just giving them some pointers, Jesus invited them to pray in his name! That’s the big point behind the opening line: ‘Our Father.’ Jesus invites us to pray to his Father as our own Father! And that is an incredibly powerful blessing we have been given!
Prayer connects us to the Creator and Sustainer of all things! We are talking to the One who holds all things together in this universe, and Jesus invites us to call him, Father! A Father who truly cares for us and everything we are going through, and will help us in our hour of need. So, when we pray to him for help and strength, our Father in heaven will not disappoint! He will give us exactly what we need!
And this is important for when things go rough in our lives. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night when he was betrayed, we might be tempted to see the Father as not answering Jesus’ prayer. Jesus asked for that cup of suffering to be taken away from him if it were possible. But we need to note our Saviour’s confident trust: “Yet not what I will, but what you will,” (Mark 14:36 ESV).
We can relate to Jesus’ prayer at that hour. Suffering hurts; even suffering for noble causes. We pray often for the end of our suffering, and we can feel sometimes that we are not heard. We hear Jesus’ prayer and we understand. Our Lord Jesus was heard by his Father. Its just that his prayer was answered with a ‘No.’ The good and gracious will of God was for Jesus’ suffering upon the cross to be for our eternal good!
Jesus’ death paid our debt of sin; his rest in the tomb sanctified our graves for our rest until Jesus calls us all forward on the Last Day to live with him forever! Jesus’ suffering and death was necessary because by what our Lord endured on our behalf, we have eternal life!
Our suffering isn’t as grand as our Lord’s, yet because of Christ our suffering has purpose. It points us back to the only One who can and has helped us. In our suffering as Christians, we know we can turn to our heavenly Father in prayer and he will hear us. Because of Jesus’ forgiveness, we know our suffering will one day end... and ours will be the eternal kingdom of our God!
Prayer is all about us constantly turning to our God and relying upon him in every circumstance! Prayer is us laying before our Father’s feet all our worries, fears, frustrations, cares, and sorrows, trusting he will supply for our eternal need!
That’s the gift Jesus has shown to us by his prayer life, and with his invitation to pray with him the prayer he gave us, why would we not pray? We have a good heavenly Father, and he will hear us! Always!
In Christ’s service,
Rev Joel V Kuhl, Pastor
Redeemer Lutheran church
Established 1935