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 ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’; ‘Thou shalt early hear my voice.’ Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer the soul is often out of tune, I feel it is far better to begin with God — to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.”
Robert Murray McCheyne as recounted Power Through Prayer: A Healthy Prayer Life by Edward M. Bounds and Edward D. Andrews (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2018) 37.
The generous life, if it is to have power, must choose to start each day like David began his days and like Christ modeled for us. We must open them in prayer with the Father. This requires discipline on our part.
When I travel internationally, it is so hard to maintain this discipline, but I try to do it because without prayer, as McCheyne says, my soul goes unfed and I can be no good to others.
What about you? What is your discipline to be filled first before engaging with others? If you do it for a season, the process transforms you, and you tap the source of power. Need inspiration? McCheyne adds this.
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Remember, He is “with you!” The question is: Are you with Him?