"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).

There are some people who carry the sweet aroma of God about them. It is evident they have been with the Father, and when you are around them, it feels like they know things others do not know and see things others cannot see.

Why is it that these people experience greater intimacy with their Father than others? There are reasons, and we see this clearly in a simple statement about the life of the man Jesus Christ. Notice the four verbs in this verse that speak of Jesus' determination, as a man, to connect with God.

RISING

Jesus got up "very early in the morning, while it was still dark." How many men miss moments with God simply because they will not rise? When God prompts their heart to experience solitude and communion with Him, they love their flesh more than intimacy with the Father. "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man" the proverb writer expressed (Proverbs 6:10-11). Love of comfort forestalls intimacy.

DEPARTED

Jesus was willing to leave the comfort and security of the crowd. Everyone was looking for Him, His apostles later said, but Jesus considered time with His Father more important than time with men. If you are never inaccessible, you usually have nothing to say when you are accessible. Jesus knew that everything depended on His communion with the Father, and therefore He was willing to leave the familiar, the comfortable, the safe, the crowd.

WENT OUT

Jesus retired to a "desolate place." Geography is important. There is something crucial about solitude. We can hear God in the midst, of course, but there is something important about a quiet place. Jesus went to a location where there was no noise. Like the Psalmist, He composed and quieted His soul (Psalm 131:2). Getting alone should be our daily experience to still competing noises and voices so we can hear the "still, small voice" of God.

PRAYED

"And there he prayed." Jesus could have prayed-and did pray-everywhere. But it says of this spot that there He prayed. He was going somewhere, moving in a direction with a deliberate purpose. He made time for this-it was a distinct choice, and He utilized the time when he arrived.

"There he prayed." He knew that this was His lifeline-that everything depended on His communion with the Source of life and direction and wisdom and power. He valued prayer so much that it took priority over fellowship with others and the comfort of an early morning bed.

For many men this moment might have read, "and there he thought" or "and there he checked his messages" or "and there he worked." But not Jesus. The business of solitude was singular. "And there he prayed."

There is a price for the fragrance of heaven. J. Oswald Sanders said in his classic book Intimacy with God that the "place on Jesus' breast is still vacant and open for those who are willing to pay the price of continuing intimacy. . . . We are now and we will be in the future only as close to Christ as we really choose to be."