Whew! What a busy day Jesus experienced, surrounded by needy folks from morning until night. In the gospel from last Sunday, he started that Sabbath morning teaching in the local synagogue where he was disrupted by “a man with an unclean spirit.” People there were impressed with his healing of that man and what they perceived as “a new teaching—with authority.” Leaving there in today’s lesson, he went home with Simon Peter and Andrew and found another healing was called for, Simon’s mother-in-law who was in bed with a fever. Then as soon as the Sabbath was over at sundown and people could travel, he discovered his day was far from over as all the sick folks in the area were brought to the door for his attention. Can you imagine what that must have felt like, what questions must have come up about his “vocation”? It is no wonder that “in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”

Bear in mind, this is the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Mark’s gospel. He has just come from his baptism and his long retreat in the wilderness. I suspect he thought he knew what he was being called to do, and then that day unfolded before him. What did it mean? Was he on the right track? If he hadn’t known it before, that day showed him how time consuming people with all their various needs could be. His recognition of his own needs in such a situation provides a model for us. When we need discernment, when we need spiritual nourishment, when we need clarification and encouragement from the Beloved, we too need to “go out to a deserted place and pray.” Our deserted place need not be outside, though it may be; it could be our prayer chair where we have our daily devotions. It just needs to be quiet, free from distractions, easily available so we don’t use its difficulty in getting there as an excuse.

Do you have “a deserted place” for your prayer time? What makes it easy for you to pray there? If you don’t have one, look around your situation and see where you might circumscribe “a deserted place” for being alone with God.