Long before dawn

Scripture: In the morning, long before dawn, (Jesus) got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Mark 1:35

Prayer: Why is it that the darkness seems to linger on a gray drizzly morning? Help me in this space to hear the Lord with the clarity the morning absent the sun does not offer.

Response: No distractions this morning, hardly a sound aside from a sole bird tweeting nearby. You are called inward—no props upon which to lean—to listen. No media illustrations and graphs to entertain, no strident voices to stir political outrage, no turmoil in the world to be reported—just called, pulled may be to a place of silence, No agenda carried with you, no note paper to record insights, no time piece to allocate minutes—just called to what could be described as your lonely place.

On these special mornings, or evenings, or moments, you are absolutely assured that peace will descend upon you, life's natural tangles will be resolved or at least you will experience relief—if you listen, that those for whom you pray will be comforted on a level that you can hardly understand, that those lost are found, that you discover in this time who you are—and clearly you understand that who you are is not related to what you wear, earn, the degrees held, but it has everything to do with whom you love, serve, and forgive, and the passion that stirs in your soul and recognize, that incidentally mirrors who you are.

If you haven't done so already, find your lonely place to pray and listen. Don't be too rigid—the place may be alone or in a crowd, in the morning, afternoon, evening or when you wake up abruptly in the night. The secret of prayer is don't do all the talking.