The Mountain

Luke 6 In these days He (Jesus) went out to the mountain to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles.

So what do you think Jesus was praying about?

All night.

A couple of things occur to me...When was the last time that I spent all night in prayer? And, If Jesus needed to pray all night before making an important decision, how much more do I need prayer?

So what does prayer really do when it comes to making decisions? Usually we pray for a couple of reasons. We pray to thank God, like before a meal or when we receive a blessing; or we pray to ask God for something like to heal us from illness or to provide us with a job or a home or some monetary blessing. But as for me, at least, I find that I don't usually bring my decisions to Him and as I sit here wondering why that is, a small voice whispers in my heart, Because this type of prayer involves being quiet and waiting on your Lord to speak. Oh....yeah, I guess there is that.

I want to bring my list to God of all the things I need for Him to do for me or give the obligatory thank yous that I know He deserves but to bring my decisions to Him, to lay my plans before Him and to sit quietly and listen and obey....well, that's different. That's hard. That requires time and trust and patience.

So maybe that would explain some of my past decisions and their poor outcomes.

It really comes down to who is in charge of my life. Me. Or Him. It is a matter of control. Will I follow where He leads or just run on ahead on my own? Will I move when He says to or drag my feet? Or will we walk together through this life?

Will I hold myself and my plans and decision up to Him with an outstretched arm and an open hand and say, Here it is Lord, all of it. What would You have me do?

Even if it takes all night.

Oh Father, teach us to pray and to be silent and wait for You to speak. Sometimes I am in such a hurry that I just pray and before You even have time to speak I say Amen and run along. Teach us to patiently wait for You Lord, for Your voice, for it is Your voice that we long for.