Bible passage: Mark 1:35 (ESV)
“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.”

God knows all my secrets, as he knows yours.

Only two living beings – other than God – know the secrets of my heart.

When I do my devotional walks to reflect on God and life, I pray aloud about my greatest joys, deepest hurts and highest hopes.

And only my wife and/or my dog – who accompany me on these walks – hear the secrets of my intimate communion with God.

On my night walks, you could say I share my dark secrets with our completely black dog, Hiro, which makes them even darker!

1. Jesus’ Royal Secret

Mark 1:35 is one of my favourite passages as it reveals Jesus’ royal secret of his personal walk with God.

The eyewitness details are inspiring: Jesus woke very early, when it was still dark, and went out to a desolate place to pray.

Jesus’ reputation as a divine healer and exorcist had gone viral in Galilee as “the whole city was gathered together at the door”.

Have you ever started or ended the day with such popularity that the “whole city gathered” at your door?

‭‭Jesus’ popularity was neither delusional of his mission nor deceitful for his gain.

2. Communion with God cures our clutter

The Lord Jesus must have been utterly exhausted from the desperate needs of the crowds which were pressing in on his flesh.

The crushing human need was completely expected as Jesus’ God-given mission was global in reach yet personal in depth.

He has come to usher in the rightful rule of the kingdom of God, which would mean the end of Satan’s wrongful rule.

So, Mark 1:16-34 records Jesus erasing the horrible fingerprints of Satan’s illegitimate rule expressed in unseen demonic activity, unending sickness, and unmet human needs.

His was the tireless mission of pushing back on Satan’s devious work day after day, person by person, moment by moment.

It is therefore stunning that Jesus would have the discipline to wake so early to find a place of solitude to simply, “commune with God”!

Lessons? It was Jesus’ communion with his Heavenly Father which cleared up the clutter of our strife-filled life.

It was Jesus’ prayer life that sorted out his highest priority of proclaiming the good news of salvation vis-a-vis the healing of sickness and exorcising of spirits.

It was Jesus’ intimacy – experienced in the solitude of prayer – which silenced the cacophony of human voices to hear God’s voice.

3. A Royal Secret for an Uncommon life

We seldom acknowledge spiritual realities.

Jesus’ whole life is, however, spent drawing back the curtain on the unseen world of spiritual realities.

We witness that from the start of his ministry when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness to the end of his life where he wrestled in prayer with God to face the Cross.

Our common experience of living in a fallen world is that it bears all the imprints of Satan’s work to distort God’s image, derail God’s purpose and dishearten God’s people.

Jesus, in all his fullness of humanity, took his Father’s will seriously and hence never took Satan lightly.

This was experienced most poignantly in his royal secret to keep his communion with God as his highest duty enroute to fulfil God’s work.

Is this where you are in the secret places of your inner being – overthinking in your mind, overwhelmed in your heart, overburdened in your responsibilities?

That’s our common fallen life without God.

Why not trust in Jesus and try his pathway to the uncommon redeemed life of seeking God first – in communion, prayer and solitude?

Prayer & Action:

O God, lead me to believe in Jesus. By your Spirit, empower me to emulate Jesus’ royal secret of communion with you to clear up my cluttered life, prayer to reset my priorities and solitude to silence the voices of this world.