Monday - The Gospel According To Mark

Welcome to daily prayer.

This is week 5 of our journey together through Mark’s account of the gospel of Jesus. We will be looking at and praying through the 4th chapter of Mark this week.

As we begin, let’s quiet our hearts before the Lord and try to remove all the distractions in our mind by praying: Lord Jesus, I give everyone and everything to you. Who or what do you need to release and give to Jesus? Take a few moments to do that. You can pause the app if you need to take some extra time to release what is occupying your mind.  

Now we ask: Holy Spirit, please teach and counsel me as we spend this time together.

Today, we are reading Mark 4:1-20.

4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,

  and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Let’s continue our prayer together by offering a prayer of adoration and thanksgiving.

Father, I praise you today because You are the Sower. The scriptures tell us in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, that You want all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, You are constantly sowing seed. And we are grateful! Thank You for all the ways You have sown into my life. I am changed and impacted because You are faithful to continue to sow seed. Thank You!

Now, let’s offer a prayer of confession together.

Father, I confess that too often the soil of my life is thorny ground! I do allow the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things to enter and choke the word that You are faithful to sow. Oh Father, please forgive me! Father, I confess that these things prevent me from producing fruit through my life for Your Kingdom. Father, you are faithful to sow, and yet I allow thorns in my life that make me unfruitful. I want to repent. I want to change my mind. I repent for getting caught up in the cares of this world. I repent for being deceived and believing that money and possessions will fulfill me. I repent for desiring and prioritizing other things above my relationship with You. Holy Spirit, help me to pull up the thorns. Show me how to make the soil of my life into good soil!

A prayer of declaration and trust!

Father, I want my life to produce eternal fruit for Your kingdom! I am bold today to ask that my crop will be a hundredfold! I trust You to continue to sow seeds in my life that will help me keep the soil of my life good.  

Now, let’s pray together for others.

Is there a person in your life, a relative, friend, or acquaintance that has soil similar to that along the path, where the sown word is quickly devoured? Or a person who has rocky soil? They have in the past, received the word, yet because of tribulation or persecution, they have fallen away from pursuing their relationship with Jesus.

Speak that name or those names before the Father right now!

Oh Father, we know that You desire these people, whose names we are lifting up, come to the knowledge of the truth! We are praying in accordance with your desire! Hear our prayers!

Listen again to the explanation of the parable. Is there a word or phrase that stands out to you? Holy Spirit speak to us as we listen again. 

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

This is our weekly verse to memorize and consider from the passage we just read:

Mark 4:20 & 23

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold… If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Let’s pray the Lord’s Prayer together as we close:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.