on the walk

We are working through Mark, watching Jesus pray. We already saw how morning solitude and prayer is part of the opening whirlwind chapter which establishes the character of Jesus and his ministry. And in Mark prayer is not mentioned again until the sixth chapter.

Let’s get a little context. The twelve have been sent on their first missionary journey and returned. (In the middle we get a flashback about the death of John.) When they return, Jesus suggest that they all could use a break. Their break is interrupted by crowds hungry to be taught and eventually just plain hungry. After some confusion Jesus feeds the 12-16,000. The extra is collected. And as soon as that is done, Jesus sends the disciples across the sea, and he stays behind to dismiss the crowd. Having done that, he goes up the mountain to pray. You can read all this for yourself in Mark 6:30-52.

So far I am just trying to watch. Here is what I see.

1. Jesus goes to pray in solitude again.
2. Jesus prays in the evening at the end of a big day of ministry. (we have already seen him begin a day in prayer)
3. His earlier plans for a day of rest got interrupted but he still catches what solitude he can.
4. In order to secure time in solitude and prayer he dismisses the disciples and the crowds.
5. Most surprisingly to me, I find that in both cases so far Jesus prayer is interrupted by the press of ministry and in both cases he jumps to it. (It makes me wonder did he always just keep praying till something else came up that needed done. I doubt it I guess but it is a curious observation.)

Personally, I have found that ending my day in prayer is easier than beginning it. In part this is because it is always easier for me to stay up a little later than it is is to get up a little earlier. On the other hand my evening prayer can easily turn into, “God I thank you this great day and for my pillow and for fluffy clouds and for …marshmallows ….. and …. {snore}.”

Another thing I think about is how I respond to the conclusion of big ministry event. Do I dismiss my disciples and the crowds so that I can pray? Should I?

And then my thoughts come back to solitude.  In an earlier conversation, Alex Lozada remarked that when Christians today talk about prayer and prayer ministry, we often mean group prayer.  But as I think about scripture, it seems to me that the strong emphasis is on solitary pray.  {Likewise I think that we often focus on prayer as request and this seems out of balance with the scriptural focus as well, but I will withhold that judgment until we see if it is borne out by the text.}

I did not spend this morning in solitude and prayer.  But I will sometime today, find some solitude and talk to God.

on the walk

-Ethan

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