Wednesday - The Gospel According To Mark

Mar 18, 2026

Welcome to Daily Prayer. Today Jesus teaches that the Messiah must suffer and die and warns of the danger of having in mind human concerns of power and self-preservation. Jesus calls the crowd to him along with his disciples and teaches them what it really means to follow him.

As we begin our time together, let’s quiet our hearts and minds before the LORD.

Because of all that you have done for me, I present my body to you as living sacrifice.

I want to be transformed by the renewing of my mind affirming that your will for me is good, acceptable, perfect.

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

A Scripture Reading from Mark 8:31-9:1

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Right after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus teaches that he must suffer and go to the cross. The battle is won and the kingdom comes, not through self-seeking but through his sacrificial, self-giving love. Jesus teaches his disciples that not only is it necessary for him to die but it is necessary for his disciples to follow him on this path of self-denial and sacrificial love. The path of discipleship is not self-preservation but surrender. Jesus gives four reasons: trying to save your life will result in losing it, losing your life for Him saves it, nothing is more valuable than your soul, and one day he will return in glory. The way of the cross may seem costly now, but it is the only path that leads to life.

A Prayer of Adoration

Father, we thank you for loving us and sending your Son for us and for our salvation. Jesus, you were willing to give yourself for us. You denied yourself, took up the cross, and followed the Father’s will so we could live.

We praise you and honor you because your way is the way of true life. You are the Way. You worthy of our trust and our complete surrender.

A Prayer of Confession

Lord, we repent of listening to the voice of the enemy and having in mind merely human concerns. Instead of receiving your teaching with faith, we have embraced the teachings and perspective of this world.

Lord, forgive us for rebuking your way of the cross the moment it threatens our plans or agenda. We’ve resisted your ways and allowed the worries of this life and the desire for other things to choke out the Word. Forgive us.

A Prayer and Declaration of Trust

Father, we trust your love for us. We trust your promises. We depend on you.

Lord, clarify our vision. Strengthen our faith to believe that losing our lives for the sake of Christ and the gospel is not loss, but gain.

Lord, we believe that you are more valuable than anything this world could give us. We hear your call to rest in peace and so we offer you our lives.

We join with Paul and declare, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Intercession

Lord, form in us, as a people and as individuals, a deeper love for you than for the approval or riches of this world.

Do this work in me, Lord.

Teach me to treasure you above my own comfort and security.

Give us courage to follow you when it is costly.

Guard us from every voice that says that preservation is wiser than the cross.

Give us eyes to see with eternal perspective. Help us see things like you do.

Lord, we pray for believers believers around the world who face rejection or persecution for your name. Strengthen and uphold them Lord.

Raise up among us and around the world disciples who treasure you more than life itself.

A moment of reflection:

Lord, have I really surrendered my life to you? Would you show me if there is any way that I am seeking to save my life instead of trusting you with my life?

As we listen to the passage again,

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

And now Our Weekly Passage to Memorize together:

Mark 8:34

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

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

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread and

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever