Early Prayer...

 Today's Readings: OT - 1 Samuel 19 / NT - Mark 1:21-45

"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." - Mark 1:35 

I have known a good number of people who rise early in the morning. Some get up before  dawn to get ready for work. Others get up to fish and still others get up to golf. While there are many reasons to beat the sunrise, there has never been a better reason than the one listed in the above passage.
Take a moment and consider the following list of godly men who devoted themselves to early prayer:

"The men who have most fully illustrated Christ in their character, and have most powerfully affected the world for him, have been men who spent so much time with God as to make it a notable feature of their lives. Charles Simeon devoted the hours from four till eight in the morning to God. Mr. Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer. He began at four in the morning. Of him, one who knew him well wrote: “He thought prayer to be more his business than anything else and I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of face next to shining.” John Fletcher stained the walls of his room by the breath of his prayers. Sometimes he would pray all night; always, frequently, and with great earnestness. His whole life was a life of prayer. “I would not rise from my seat,” he said, “without lifting my heart to God.” Luther said: “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” He had a motto: “He that has prayed well has studied well.” - E. M. Bounds in Power through Prayer

Work, fish or golf may be worth the effort, but only prayer can make a lasting difference in your world. Why not "beat" the sunrise tomorrow and "greet" the Son of Righteousness?

Tomorrow's Readings: OT - 1 Samuel 20:1-18  /  NT - Mark 2:1-17