September 9, 2024 - Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭35

“Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Mark 1:35 NLT

Jesus, you set such a great example for us. You who had a direct connection with God made it a priority to start your day in prayer. Even you needed to hear from the Father and get filled up for the day. You gave of yourself to others all day, yet you did it in a way that’s healthy and balanced. Here we see the key to that. Help us to learn from you. Help us to put a real priority on spending time in your presence before the day gets busy and everything starts pulling on our time. Increase our desire and longing to be in your presence. If we need to go to bed earlier so that we can get up before daybreak to find more time to sit with you, help us do it. If we need to remove other things from our schedule to make it happen, show us what to remove and give us the strength to actually do it.

Lord, you are so faithful to us. We know that if we give you our first and our best that you will make what is left more than enough. We might think that we will not have the energy to get up early and create a quiet place to meet with you, but if we do, you will fill us with your energy and strength for the rest of the day. You will also give us strategies to make the rest of the day go better than it would have without that time. It is so worth it to find an isolated, quiet place with you each day. Help us make this a reality in our lives.

In Jesus name, amen.