Mark 1:35-39 English Standard Version

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus spends quiet time alone with the Father here. To understand His purpose behind quiet time we look to verse 38.

How did Jesus know where to go and what to do? When He declares “this is why I came out”, do they understand exactly what He meant by saying He came out?

Matthew 6:6 English Standard Version (ESV) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Stop thinking of reward as getting something you desire. For Jesus this great reward in coming to the Father in secret was to know in intimate detail the Father’s will, in where and what Jesus should do that day. 

Is there any greater reward than to be shown by God the Father why we were born, and the purpose for our life? We think in terms of things, God thinks in terms of souls.

John 15:15-17 English Standard Version

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Note the change in relationship. Now we are not told what to do but rather what He is doing. What has Father God asked of us? Our Lord says love one another.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 English Standard Version

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes,  for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

We live in an ever changing world. It seems to be more and more difficult to remain consistent when everything around us is spinning out of control. Everything in the world tells us to adapt or die. So why is consistency important?

For those who love us and have strong ties, inconsistency is a sign to others that something is wrong with us. It can be physical or it could be spiritual. As these writings deal with spiritual matters more than the physical, let me explain.

Jesus went off each night to commune with the Father. His ability to stay focused on the task at hand in the midst of all the attacks against Him came from that time spent alone with the Father. He was consistent in the one thing that the world had never seen before, the love of the Father in a man.

John 5:37,6:46,14:9 (in part) And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Jesus showed the lost and dying world the Father and how Jesus was in the world is how God the Father is in the world for those who are rooted and grounded in love. Jesus never faltered in showing the love of the Father to us. He showed us how love acts. Jesus was consistent.

We can look at the fear and doubt of His disciples and relate to their lack of understanding of what was going on. Even when Jesus spoke to them plainly about what he was about to accomplish, they did not want Him to do it, they didn’t want Him to go to the cross.

Philippians 2:8 English Standard Version (ESV) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

How Jesus knew what to do came to Him in His quiet time.