First Hours!

So, week number four out of our first things, first series, we're going to look at Mark chapter one.

Mark chapter one, verse twenty one is where we're going to begin reading.

Then Jesus and his companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.

The people were astonished at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as the scribes.

Suddenly a man with a unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue, What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked the spirit, be silent, he said.

Come out of him.

At this the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek.

All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, What is this?

A new teaching with authority?

He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

And the news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the whole region of Galilee.

As soon as Jesus and his companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.

Simon's mother-in-law was sick in the bed with a fever, and they promptly told Jesus about her.

So he went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up.

The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening after sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick and demon possessed, and the whole town gathered at the door, and he healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons.

But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.

Can you say Amen?

Praise the Lord.

What's the first thing you think about when you get up in the morning?

Amen.

Is it possibly I don't want to get up some days?

If we're honest, everybody's probably had those days.

We will also do not need to do like Sister Julie said, and thank the Lord for that day.

Amen.

But what is it that we think about the first time that we get up every morning?

Maybe you've got to go to work and you're like, I don't want to go to work today.

Maybe you wake up and you think about the things you got to do, the things you've got to get going.

And, you know, the very first thing that pops in our mind, uh, it could vary, but we all need to be thankful to her point that we are up, that we are able to get up, that we are awake.

Amen.

Have you ever thought about some of the first the first things that you think about is usually the things that shapes your day?

To that illustration, thank God for letting me have another day, that can shape your day in a good way, can't it?

Because you start out with gratitude and thanksgiving.

Right?

But what if we wake up and we have a bad attitude?

Has anybody ever woke up with a bad attitude?

If we're honest, I have.

We've probably all been there at some point in time.

Uh could have been today, could have been yesterday, I don't know.

Uh, but we wake up and our attitude ain't always the greatest.

And so that can also color our day with a negative outlook, can't it?

And so what we start our thoughts with in the morning matters because they affect our actions.

Say it with me.

What I think about is what I usually will do.

Say that again.

What I think about is what I usually will do.

Say that to yourself.

When I say usually, because it's not always, right?

But a lot of times, most of the time, if I'm thinking about it, it's going to frame my day and it's going to bring about action in my life that I'm going to actually do.

So what we think about first is very, very important.

And when we read this in Mark 1, amen, in verse, when we started in verse 21, Jesus, uh, and we I read it, we read it through 25, Jesus had the busiest ministry day recorded.

He taught, he was, there was deliverance that he brought to people.

He healed Peter's mother-in-law and all the city that was at the door, you know, following after him.

And then in verse 35, he says, early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.

His busiest day was followed by his earliest prayer.

Because he knew he needed it.

And this was Jesus, the Son of the living God.

And if he needed to get up and recharge and get draw close again, how much more do we need to do that?

You know, it is easy to think, well, I don't have time.

Well, I hear old saints in the past tell me we don't have, we we have to make time because I don't have time to do anything but put God first.

Amen.

There is nothing more important but to put God first.

And if we don't put him first in our thought life when we first wake up in those first hours of the morning, amen, then most times he's not going to be the first part of our day in our and of our life that day.

And so a lot of times what happens with our busiest days is what?

The next day, a later alarm, isn't it?

We get up later.

And I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong at all, because sometimes we have different obligations and things that we wound up having to do that late at night, but we wind up getting up later.

Amen.

But Jesus gives us the illustration.

Well, he had a long day, he did a lot of things, and his first inclination was not to get up later, but to get up earlier because he recognized the need.

And so it's so important that we understand that.

Look at Psalms 63 and 1.

The psalmist David says, Oh God, you are my God.

Earnestly I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you, my body yearns for you in a dry and weary land without water.

Amen.

David, he was in a literal wilderness here.

Amen.

He was literally in the wilderness.

And he, what did he say?

He said, I earnestly seek you, my soul thirsts for you.

Amen.

Desperation is not a weakness in prayer, it is the engine of our prayers.

When we are desperate, amen, we will pray harder.

We will pray longer.

And you say, Well, Pastor, does that mean that God is wanting my effort or he can't accomplish anything?

Understand the huge difference between can and need.

Amen.

God does not need anything, but he uses our prayers.

That's why he said in James that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The effectual, amen, fervent, hot, intense prayer.

Amen.

It's not that God's like, well, I couldn't do it because it didn't get intense enough.

No, it's because he wants us to be transformed.

Amen.

As we spend time with him, go throughout all scripture.

And when you spend time with God, when you spend time with Jesus, you are changed.

Moses taught him in Exodus chapter 3 at the burning bush.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

He saw the burning bush and he turned aside, and God spoke to him out of the burning bush, and he said, What?

Take your shoes off, your sandals off, for the place for which you are standing has what?

Is holy ground.

Amen.

The ground was there all the while.

So what changed?

The presence of God.

And so when we think about the first hours of the day, when we spend it with him, it's not so that we can, you know, help God.

No, it's that God helps us.

It's not that God don't hear you any and every time you pray.

Amen.

I believe he always does.

If you're a child of God, he hears our prayers.

Amen.

But he also tells us when he gives us the example where they couldn't cast out the devils or the demons and the disciples couldn't.

He said, These come out by what?

Only much prayer and fasting.

Amen.

Why?

Because the prayer transforms us and makes us more like God.

Not the prayer itself, but the pray, the one we pray into is the one that transforms us.

And the fasting puts aside the desires of the body and says, I'm more inclined, I'm more focused on the God that I'm praying about than the food I'm wanting to consume.

So, God, I put you first.

And as we decrease, even as John says it, it allows God to do what?

To increase.

Amen.

But I've got to step back for him to step up.

Amen.

Because what?

He shares the stage with nobody.

He shares his glory with nobody.

Amen.

Look at your neighbor and say, you ain't as important as God.

I ain't mean that mean.

I'm just saying, you ain't as important as God.

Why?

Because he's the most important for all of us.

And if he is, amen, those first hours, those first moments of the day, you say, well, Pastor, I ain't got hours to pray every morning.

I'd have to get up at 2 a.m.

and all that.

And look, I'm not saying not to do that.

If God leads you to do that, you should do that.

But typically, I don't think he's going to call everybody to get up at 2 o'clock in the morning to, you know, to pray five hours or whatever before the day starts.

But you can get up earlier.

You can get up early enough that you can spend some time with him and let the Holy Spirit guide you on how much longer or how long or short or whatever.

He'll you'll know if you've prayed enough.

You'll know if you've spent time in the way that he wants you to.

Amen.

And God's not up there trying to knock you over the head and saying, bad, you're bad, you didn't spend, you're supposed to have spent five more minutes with me and you was let short five minutes.

No, but he will draw us to him.

Amen.

Something that's been on my heart, amen, recently, and it fits right into this.

Is God tells us plainly that if we'll draw near to him, what?

He'll draw near to us.

Amen.

That's a promise.

Have you ever thought about that promise?

And if we're not spending time with him when we first get up and we wait till the day unfolds and then all the problem happens, yeah, God will help us, but we shouldn't look at him as a life preserver.

Amen.

We should look at him as what he is, the firm foundation that we stand on.

Amen.

He's not who I call to when I'm when the waters are just coming over me.

He is, but not shouldn't be the first time I call on him.

He should be the one that I'm walking on the water with.

Amen.

If you walk with him, you walk on the water.

If you wait on and don't seek him, then you will sink under the water.

And we'll become more like Peter having to say, Lord, save me.

Now thank God he will.

Thank God he will save us.

But we see two contrasts to Peter.

At one moment he's walking on the water.

Another moment he's sinking in the water.

Why?

Because he got his eyes off of him, off of Jesus.

When we put our face on him, when I put our eyes on Jesus and we focus on him, amen.

Then even the storms that come are literally under our feet.

Why?

Because we're walking with him.

It's so important that we're willing to spend those moments in the morning with him.

You know, I don't mean this the way it may sound, but I would encourage you, if you only have a few moments, go to our website.

There's a daily devotional there.

It takes literally like four or five minutes, so there's a prayer with it.

And there's other things.

You don't have to use it exclusively.

But if you say, well, I just don't know what to do, well, there's a place to start.

Amen.

And it changes every day.

And there's a and right now we're talking about the theme is fruit of the spirit this month.

So, you know, just saturate yourself in the word.

There's also the yearly uh Bible plan that's right up under that that you can read the whole Bible in the year that's continuously updating.

So spend time with God.

Amen.

That's what we need.

Spend time with the Lord.

Let's look at Mark 1, verses 38 and 38 as well.

Mark 1:38

It says, But Jesus answered, Let us go to the neighboring town so I can preach there as well, for that is why I've come.

So he went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Amen.

You say, Well, all right.

He did a lot of stuff, right?

He did.

And he did, but what did he do?

Amen.

Before he went out to accomplish God's work, he spent time with the Father.

Verse 35, remember early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.

Amen.

Before he went out on mission, he spent time with the Father.

It's important that we don't get it mixed up.

Sometimes we can be so busy, Amen, but we're not effective because we've not put first things first.

And those first hours, those first moments, God wants us to spend with Him.

Amen.

Look at Isaiah 40, verse 31.

Isaiah 40:31

But those, we know this verse, we probably all can quote it, but those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Amen.

When we think about waiting on God, most of the time we're just saying, okay, God, here I am, do what I want you to do.

That's not what we're talking about here.

When we're talking about waiting on God, and it says they will renew their strength, that renew literally means changed.

It will, their strength will change, and that change is from their strength, it'll change from their strength to God's strength.

When when we wait on him, when we meditate on him, when we spend time with him, it's not that God's catching up with us, we're catching up with God.

Usually, if you think about waiting, you know, like let's say the the kids are way ahead and and and they you say, wait, you holler at them when they get a little older, wait, you know, because as you get older, you don't want to chase after them.

Stop where you are.

We'll be there in a second, right?

But when they're little, you can run ahead and they'll tell you what, mom and daddy, wait, because they can't catch up.

That ain't what the waiting here.

God is always with us, amen.

But when we wait on God, it is saying, God, I need you.

I need you in my heart, I need you in my life, I want your purpose to be accomplished.

And so what you want first is what I want first.

And so I'm willing to spend that time this morning to spend with you.

God, what does the day hold?

What is it that you would have me to accomplish?

Acts 4.31 says, and they pray, and after they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Now, if you've been coming on Wednesday nights, we've been, you know, uh teaching out of Acts, uh, being sent out in the power of His Spirit, amen, into the harvest field, amen.

And but they prayed, and it was only after they prayed, amen, that we see the move of God and the empowerment of God to give them the ability to speak boldly.

We need to spend time with him if we're gonna be effective in reaching people.

Because if you just present yourself to someone, they're not gonna be impressed.

No disrespect to you or me, but they're not gonna be impressed.

But even if they were, it's not gonna change their eternal destiny.

But if we present Jesus, if we share Jesus, if we present Christ in his goodness, then God can do marvelous things through his spirit by his power.

Amen.

If we'll just present Christ.

Amen.

Out of that morning prayer, though, Jesus emerged with clarity.

That's when we read that, amen.

What?

He says, Let us go to the neighboring towns, verse 38, so that I can preach there also, for that is why I came.

It is from that present, the time when prayer, that time with cla with God the Father, and that clarity that brought, hey, this is what I'm here, this is what I was sent for.

I've got to send, spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I've got to share the gospel that there is hope.

Amen.

And he did.

And then he went out.

And he worked according to what the Father had sent him to do.

You see, I want to encourage you this morning because we can just say, okay, I need to put God first.

I read uh into this, and that's great.

But it's not merely an activity, it's a posture.

God wants you to put him first, but not just say, okay, I read a verse, I did good.

And praise God if you read a verse.

But it's not just the activity, it's the posture.

It's like, God, this is your day.

There's an old song, Amen.

This is the day the Lord has made, right?

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day.

And then it goes on if you remember, go way back, though it goes, this is the week, this is the week of the devil's defeat, right?

This is the month, this is the month of the Lord's triumph.

Remember that?

This is the year, this is the year that the Lord may appear.

You remember that?

It goes from day, week, month, year, right?

And we don't know about tomorrow, we don't know about next month, but we can declare today this is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Amen.

But I'm not gonna have that kind of attitude, most likely, if I'm not spending time with him first.

You see, the first hours of the day, the first moments that we can pray are important.

A lot of times, I'm not gonna say this every time, but a lot of times when I wake up, I'll think, good morning, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Right?

Because we want to spend time with him.

You say, well, it's hard.

It is.

And you say, well, what if I what if I work nights or whatever?

Look, just put the priority on putting him first.

I don't think he's gonna look at the clock.

I know he's not gonna look at the clock and say, Well, this ain't the right time.

Right?

Just put him first, whatever that is in your schedule, spend time with him, and God will transform you.

God will transform you.

So, how do we how do we make this a habit?

How do we make this something that we do regularly?

It is an intentional act out of a heart desire that is determined not to quit, but to grow closer to God.

It is not an exercise to feel good about myself, it is a devotion to know the God I'm serving.

Okay?

Don't make it an exercise to just feel good that you did it.

Okay?

There'll be times you'll have to do it, even when you don't want to do it and you don't feel like doing it.

But do it because you love him and you want to know him more.

You know, our mission statement is very, very simple.

Know Jesus, make him known.

Amen.

Know Jesus, make him known.

And if we've not done that, amen, then what are we doing here?

And I'm not just talking about here, I'm talking about in the world.

What is our purpose?

If we're supposed to be a child of God, if you're supposed to be a Christian and only God knows your heart, what are we doing here if we're not seeking to know him more and sharing him with other people?

And that's not me trying to plug the mission.

That ain't my mission, it's his mission.

He tells us, amen, that we're supposed to know him, to draw near to him, to draw closer to him, to get to know him.

Paul said this way that I might know him.

Amen.

In the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings.

He just wanted to know him.

And then he tells us to go out on the highways and the byways and compel them to come in.

We're called to tell people about Jesus.

So if we're not seeking to know him, well, I got saved a long time ago.

I know Jesus.

Well, you may know him as your Savior, but you don't know him fully.

And so in the mornings, in the first hours of the day, amen, spend time with him.

Amen.

Seek his face.

Amen.

God will meet you there.

God will speak to you there.

God will transform you there.

God will do awesome and mighty things for you there.

How do you know?

Because anytime we get with God, he does things.

Some things you may not know until later on, some things you may not even understand.

But God is working.

So make the first hours of your day God's hours.

Make the first moments of your day God's moments.

And spend it with Him.

I promise you, if you do it and you mean it, you won't regret it.

Amen.