Thoughts about Early Morning Prayer

8 min read

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
—Mark 1:35

You can't make this up. How often does the Bible talk about anyone waking up at the crack of dawn to pray? And how often does Canvas participate in early morning prayer (emp) with the KM?

The second day of emp was another blessing. Pastor Jason Pogue from Saddleback talked about trading in whatever we have for the one thing that is best--our relationship with Christ.

Without Christ, our life has no purpose, no meaning ... no life. But Jesus came so that we might be able to have the fullness of life, which can only be had when we follow Him as Savior and Lord.

Anyway, many Koreans will turn to this passage as the reason why we should have emp services. Of course, we know, and they know, that this is not the point of this passage.

Part of the point of this passage is that communion with the Father through prayer is not just important but necessary. The only reason Jesus did this early in the morning was because that was the only time He could find to devote to focused prayer without being interrupted--until he was interrupted.

It's interesting that Jesus did not chastise the disciples for interrupting Him, but He revealed to them His purpose for coming. Everyone was looking for Him for good, but wrong, reasons. He came to seek and to save the lost. And He understood what He needed to do because of His communion with the Father.

The fact that emp is a prominent artifact of Korean church culture must not detract from the fact that communion with the Father in prayer is necessary in order to discern His will for our lives.

And yet, many in the EM culture reject emp simply because it is something that KM congregations do. Such logic reveals what is in our own hearts--church culture.

We want our own church culture that has nothing to do with THEIR church culture because EM church culture doesn't include getting up before dawn to attend a prayer service.

And because THEIR (the KM’s) interpretation of this passage is wrong by making it about early morning prayer, we misinterpret the passage by making it NOT about early morning prayer.

In other words, the point is still about early morning prayer--just in the negative. But then we don't go any further to understand this passage, and the actual point of Jesus praying early in the morning gets lost.

As an EM pastor, when I reflect on the EM attitude toward emp, I totally understand and relate to our resistance to it. I like my sleep just as much as anyone!

As a pastor, though, I worry that we are not simply resisting EARLY MORNING prayer, but corporate prayer, and maybe even the discipline of prayer, in general.

How did EM churches get to this unhealthy place?

In evangelical churches in first world nations, the attitude that has weakened the church more than anything over the years, leading up to today, is something called "moral therapeutic deism" (MTD).

MTD is this idea that God is some generic higher power, and the whole point of faith and church is to make us behave well (or God will punish us) and to provide resources to help us feel better when we are down. In other words, MTD tells us that God is the model of an ideal Parent, and ultimately, that Parent exists for me, myself, and I--the unholy trinity.

On the other hand, the whole point of corporate prayer is to bring the community together to understand and to do the will of God, not so much for our own sake but for the sake of God's kingdom and His glory--pretty much the exact opposite of moral therapeutic deism.

If we have no desire to build up God's kingdom for His glory, we will have no motivation for corporate prayer.

If we do not understand that prayer is necessary for us to understand and do the will of God, we will have no motivation for corporate prayer.

But the great irony of it is that we can never achieve the fullness of the goodness of life that we so desperately want until we surrender our lives to do God's will for His kingdom and HIs glory.

Life in the kingdom--church life--is quite counter-intuitive.

As we continue to seek Him in the Spirit and through His word, however, God is faithful in growing us in maturity and understanding.

And this is what has been happening here in Canvas and in GCC, and this is where we are going in 2024 and beyond.

Father, You alone are good. And even though we are sinners through and through, all things are possible with You. Thank You for Your faithfulness in teaching us Your ways, because it doesn't come naturally to our sinful hearts. And as we prayed this morning, help us to lay everything at Your feet, so that we might be able to experience the power and goodness of YOU in our lives. In Jesus's name. Amen.