Early in the morning

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 1:39

Do you ever feel pressed for time? Sometimes I do. Sometimes it seems there are meals to plan, packages to wrap, floors to clean and bills to pay -- and that everything needs to be done now.

Jesus preached to crowds, healed the sick, and ministered to people who were possessed by demons. Rest is important. The Bible says that the LORD gives sleep to his beloved. But Jesus' remedy was more than rest. When the demands of the world were great, Jesus arose the next morning long before daylight. He went to a quiet place and prayed there. I don't think Jesus had an alarm clock.

I like this note in my study bible:

The tense of the verb prayed indicates a continued action, not just a brief moment. Jesus'prayer life was successful because it was planned, private, and prolonged. He got up early enough, got far enough away, and stayed at it long enough.

1 Nelson's NKJV Study Bible, publlished by Nelson Bibles, a division of Nelson Publishers, 1997, p. 1641