One fun aspect of the Gospel of Mark is his use of the word “immediately.” Did you see them in the last two posts?

• The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. (Mark 1.13, ESV)
• And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1.17, 18, ESV)
• And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them… (Mark 1.19, 20, ESV)

The theme continues:

• And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. (Mark 1.21, ESV)
• And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. (Mark 1.29, ESV)

There are 35 “immediately” in 16 chapters of Mark compared with 14 in 28 chapters of Matthew. Mark is clearly an action-oriented story, confirming what people who know about this sort of thing believe, that Mark got his material from Peter, an action-oriented guy.

And there’s nothing wrong with action! Life is filled with situations where immediate, decisive action is required. Firefighting comes to mind.

There are, however, other times when immediate action is inadvisable. The story of the Gibeonite deception is an example (see Joshua 9):

So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. (Joshua 9.14, ESV)

And right here in the middle of all this “immediate” action in Mark, we have this:

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. (Mark 1.35, ESV)

Unlike Joshua, Jesus did “ask counsel from the LORD.”

May we do the same: appropriate, immediate action AND taking time to pray.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6.10…18, ESV)