Why We Should Follow Jesus' Example To Pray

Job. 7:1-4,6-7; 1 Cor. 9:16-19, 22-23 & Mk.1:29-39

How much time do we spend alone with God in prayer? This question is prompted by today's Gospel which gives us a sample of how He spent a Sabbath day. He attended the synagogue to worship God and then, at Peter and Andrew’s suggestion, visited their family home. They found their mother-in-law in the grip of a fever and Jesus willingly cured her.

Word soon spread of His whereabouts and people in surrounding districts who were ill or possessed by demons came to Him for help. Everyone went away satisfied, cured of illness or freed from being possessed.

That session must have exhausted Jesus for we know from His cure of the woman who was haemorrhaging that Jesus could feel Himself being drained. He deserved a good rest but we are told, “In the morning, long before dawn, He got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.” In doing this is not Jesus saying to you and me, “Follow My example and spend quality time with God”?

Why did Jesus spend time with His Father? An obvious reason is that His Father was His first love. Do we not want to spend time with the one we love most? Another reason was that Jesus wanted to know what His Father had planned for Him. What was the best way for Him to devote His time?

So, if God is our first love, which He should be, we will want to spend time with Him every day. Time spent with God is never wasted. Being in God’s presence is sure to have an ennobling effect on our lives.

We realise in God there are three Persons and we can think of each One of them in turn. If we contemplate the Father's love, beauty, goodness, truth, magnificence, majesty or justice it is sure to bring out the best in us. We also find ourselves contemplating the lavishness of His creation, admiring and praising the grandeur and variety of His works. We pray along with the psalmist, “How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the Earth.“ We are amazed at the ability of God and spontaneously we say, “I love You, Father. I adore You. I thank You.”

When we start contemplating His Son Jesus and what He did for us, we are stunned by His love and generosity to us. Who would die on a cross to say He loved me, and would even do it again if necessary? His truths have stood the test of time and will never lead us astray if we follow them. We thank Him for His thoughtfulness in never wanting to leave us by being in the Holy Eucharist. We will show our thanks and appreciation by receiving Him in Holy Communion, not only on Sunday, but on weekdays as often as we can.

After thinking of the Father and the Son we can then turn our attention to the Holy Spirit who lives in us and who motivates us to pray to the Father through the Son. He is our constant Companion and we find ourselves apologising to Him for not thinking about Him more.

As Jesus spent time in prayer to find out what was His Father’s will for Him so, too, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us during the day in doing what He wants us to do. We can say a prayer like this, “Give me the strength Holy Spirit to do the work of this day, and grant that at its close, I may be found worthy of Your trust in me.” Or in seeking God’s will we could say, “Speak Lord your servant is listening.”

Just being quiet in the presence of God has a calming effect on us. If our love for God is very strong we should find that we have to tear ourselves away. Then we can start doing what God wants of us and being assured that He will supply all the strength needed to accomplish it. This was the effect that quiet prayer had on Jesus for we are told He said to His apostles, “Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too.“

Lord Jesus, give us such a great love for You that we will always want to spend time each day with You, particularly in the morning, expressing our love for You so that we will know and do what You want of us during that day.