Planning For Success
{ Mark 1:35-37 }
“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, everyone is looking for you.”
What is the key to your success? Are you having any success in life? If Jesus is not at the center of our success, it will not endure the test of time. (The reason for short success, is because only those who accept Jesus last eternity). Doing something well is great fun, but continuing success takes discipline and the proper focus.
A Christian should be disciplined. If we expect new members to have discipline, while we lack it, they will lose respect for us and potentially our message. The gospels are very clear that Jesus had priorities. The Lord spent time with His Father, and then He was prepared to enter villages sharing His Father with people.
Jesus made wise use of His time, which was one of His keys to success. Since He was so popular, everyone wanted His attention. Therefore He needed to guard His time carefully. He awoke early in the morning, before the overwhelming daily schedule competed for His attention. Even Jesus knew that first is worst if you’re not prepared; so He disciplined himself to have quiet time with His Father in prayer.
The Savior knew these things were extremely necessary, they weren’t merely something fun to do. The Biblical authors also wanted us to know that time in prayer with God is the connection for our success. If we think this time is just optional, we will soon realize the influences of the Holy Spirit lessen, and the quality in our life decline. We can pray in many places and in many diverse ways, but there is something special to be said for a prayer time that is not competing with life’s distractions. This habit is challenging at times, but a skill worth developing.
The best thing for any believer is to focus on Jesus; if we do, He “will draw all people to Himself” (Jn 12:32-33). Instead of leading ourselves into the great unknown future, God would lead as He knows best. One way to sharpen this focus on Christ is through prayer. The Father had boundaries for Jesus; we too need God to give us boundaries. There are times when it feels like ‘everyone is looking for us’, but if we spend quality time with God in prayer, He will be putting His character and His boundaries into us so we can be successful in what He wants us to do.
If we lack the Christian discipline of prayer, often success will elude us. So if we want success in life, in work, and in victory over sin; we need to daily plan for success—it is an action called PRAYER. Also, it’s tough telling new believers how to develop a prayer life if we refuse to develop one of the most powerful Christian tools.
Pastor Marc
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