Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a solitary place to pray.Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed.
5 sermons cite this verse
… you will see that his prayer in the solitary place is a demonstration of his dependence upon his Father. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. And one of the commentators refers to this as the preacher's Monday morning. They say, What would he do on the Monday morning? Well, of course, this would be on a Sunday morning, because the Sabbath was Saturday in those days. And what does Jesus do? Well, he gets up very early in the morning, and he talks with his Father. It's quite remarkable, isn't it? I think many of us have a picture of Jesus that this is just sort of play-acting. You know, he does this because he wants other people to pray, therefore, you know, he goes and does a little praying so that other people will pray. But it's not really anything of significance at all. Well, surely it is. There's only three occasions when Jesus is mentioned praying in Mark's Gospel. …
… He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak, because they knew who he was. 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. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, Everyone is looking for you. Jesus replied, Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come. So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. Father, we ask now that you will help us in studying the Bible for clarity of thought, for brevity of expression. for a sense that we are under the tutelage of you, the living God, that you are the one who teaches through your Word by the Holy Spirit, so that we might be prepared to sit up, to pay attention, and to say, Speak, Lord, speak to me. And we ask it humbly in Christ's name. Amen. …
… Jesus had rhythms of closing the door. Think about Mark 1 35. You'll see these on the screen. We'll go through a lot of them. Mark 1 35, very early in the morning, while it was still dark. Some of y'all hate that verse. He got up, went out and made his way to a deserted place. And there he was praying. praying. Simon and his companions searched for him, and when they found him, they said, everyone is looking for you. Everyone was looking for Jesus, and yet Jesus somehow said, it's more important for me to go to a deserted place away from you people who need something from me because I want something from God. Luke 5, 15 through 16, but the news about Jesus spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed. Few things are as important as healing the sick. And yet with work, as important as miraculously healing the sick when he was one of the only ones who could do it. …
We are still in Mark chapter 1. We have not made it out of the first chapter yet. Turn in your Bibles to Mark 1, verses 35 to 39 this morning. You know, a lot of churches try to cover a whole book in like eight weeks or something, but here at Calvary, our vision is to help you learn your Bible, love your neighbor, and live in freedoms. That's why we crawl through it. We want to get everything we can out of the text and what God is speaking to us. So maybe next week we'll be done with chapter one, but who knows? We're not quite sure. I want to really quickly, too, before we dive in, just encourage you to come this Wednesday. You heard us talk about it in announcements, but Frank Turek is going to be with us in the house. He's an incredible apologist, and he's going to be delivering a great message on that topic. So this is your opportunity to invite skeptics, doubters, who have questions about Christianity and the Bible, because Frank's going to be tackling those. …
… It's just a short passage, beginning at verse 35. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, Everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also. So for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. I think you know that I like to read books, like to read mostly theology and history, but believe it or not, one of my little sub-genres that I have read a lot of books over the years is I have read a lot of business time management sort of books. Now, it's not where I go to get my theological bread and butter. They're sort of like, I think of them sort of like Skittles. …