…and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” Mark 1:37
Rest-giving Jesus,
Today we return to our theme
of finding rest in an anxious world.
As we witness what you did,
empower us to do the same:
You rose very early in the morning,
and you went “out to a desolate place,”
and you prayed (Mark 1:35).
Lord, one thing is clear —
we need to find quiet.
In order to find rest,
we must be intentional
about getting away from the noisy demands
of our cell phones
and our self-talk,
of our crying babies
and our screaming inboxes.
Why must we get quiet?
Because if we do not,
we cannot hear you singing
your delight over us (Zephaniah 3:14-17).
If we do not get quiet,
we cannot “stay on purpose,”
as Vanessa pointed out in her talk*.
If we don’t get quiet,
when people come to us with their demands,
“Everyone is looking for you”
(bosses, employees,
friends, spouses,
children, grandchildren….),
we will puff up with pride and think,
“Oh, how important I am!”
But you did not puff up with pride
when your disciples told you that.
No, you “stayed on purpose,”
and you refused to yield
to someone else’s purpose for you
that was not your God-given purpose.
You said, “Let us go on to the next towns,
that I may preach there also,
for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38).
Precious Jesus,
forgive us for getting distracted,
for not listening to
your voice,
to the Father’s voice,
to the Spirit’s voice.
Forgive us for hearing the demands and applause of “everyone”
and thinking we must do as they say.
Help us in our desperate weakness
to follow you,
to do our Father’s will.
In your praying name. Amen.
Read Mark 1:35-39.
This prayer, like yesterday’s, was inspired by a talk given at the PCA women’s ministers leadership training by Vanessa Hawkins.
