by David Scott Robertson
"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).
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As is my custom, I begin each day with prayer. The time may vary but the habit has been firmly established - the "first fruits" of each day belong to God.
On this particular morning, I was "lying prostrate before the Lord." No, I wasn't engaged in heartfelt prayer in the posture of being on my face (some call it "sucking carpet.") No, I was lying "prostrate before the Lord." That's code for "I was praying and fell asleep!"
Jesus had the right idea in that He "got up" and "left the house" and "went off" somewhere to pray. He knew the human limitations of a tired body and He also knew the incredible power of daily fellowship with His Father. So wisely, His custom was to get up, get out, and get going in communication with God first thing.
Have you ever prayed a sleepy prayer? I believe that sleepy prayers are better than no prayers at all, most especially if you pray in the Spirit! I can identify with the disciples who kept falling asleep while trying to pray and Jesus caught them cat-napping and said:
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Mat 26:41).
Whenever I find myself "lying prostrate before the Lord," I resist the temptation to feel guilty and self-condemning. I no longer feel like I've failed God. I used to think that way but I got over it.
Prayer is not a "pass/fail" proposition. Its quality cannot be measured in terms of quantity. What it all boils down to is that God knows our hearts. He knows our bodies too. He designed them (on purpose) with limited time, strength, and energy. Most important of all, He knows our spiritual hunger for more of Him.
He understands, more than anybody, that when we seek Him with our whole hearts that we will find Him. So even if I run the risk of "lying prostrate before the Lord" as I endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who apparently was an early riser, I am committed to rely on God's mercy rather than on my own expectations and performance.
I would think that God's "grading policy," if we can call it that at all, accentuates our effort, desire, and motives even more so than results.
Having said that, tomorrow morning, when my two alarms go off (one next to my bed and one way across the room), I'll drag my weary body out of bed and give it another shot. It may be tough but it's definitely worth it once I "break through" into the presence of God!
So my prayer to the Lord to end this thought is a slightly modified version of King David's found in Psalm 19 verse 14:
"May the words [or snores] of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
DSR
12/12/04