Today’s Key Scripture (all references NKJV unless otherwise noted:

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

—Mark 1:35

The Bible tells us that after His baptism and great victory, the Lord Jesus continued to pray and spend time with God. The passage in Mark 1:12-13 speaks of His temptation: “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

It was intimacy with God and prayer in the life of Jesus that prepared Him for the battle with the enemy. It was fellowship and prayer that defeated the purpose of the evil one when Christ was tempted.

Moreover, after the Lord overcame the enemy because of prayer and fellowship, He knew that only prayer would enable Him to preach the Gospel: “He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth’” (Mark 1:38).

And after His baptism, it was the abiding relationship and heartfelt prayer that caused the Son of the living God to return in the power of the Holy Spirit into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom (Luke 4).

It was prayer that sustained Him and caused Him to minister with power, and it is prayer and spending time in His presence  that will sustain you and enable you to serve the Lord with all your strength and might.

A Prayer for Today:

Good Morning, Holy Spirit! Draw me closer to You today. Help me to want what You desire in my life. Help me think and act in alignment with Your Word. Help me to dwell in Your presence, to deal wisely in life, and live honorably in everything I do today. Reveal any areas in me that need correction and change. I want more of You and less of me. I pray all this in the Name above all names, Amen!