All-Night Prayer Meeting
Luke 6:12 ESV says, “In these days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” After his all-night prayer meeting, he came down in the morning and hand-picked the 12 disciples he called apostles. I am struck by the significance of what Jesus models for us.
Learning To Pray
Learning how to linger in prayer is a life-long practice of discipline and spiritual growth. I remember when spending just five minutes in prayer seemed like a chore. I would set a timer for ten to twenty minutes and try to stay spiritually engaged. Have you ever done something like this? Maybe you waited as long as you could then you checked the time and only eight minutes had passed! An all-night personal prayer meeting sometimes seems out of reach.
Yet Jesus did this not just one time but many times throughout the gospels, leading me to believe it was a regular practice. One time he even went away praying and fasting for forty days.
As radical as it may seem to spend such tremendous time in prayer, Jesus never prayed without a purpose. He did not spend 40 days in the wilderness to flex his spirituality to the disciples. He was in the desert to face temptation and prepare for ministry.
Prayer With A Purpose
In Luke 6, he returns from prayer and calls out twelve young guys who unknowingly would establish the early church in that entire region of the world. I think it is safe to infer that the selection of these apostles was part of what Jesus prayed for on the mountain.
You might wonder, why would Jesus need to pray? If he was God, why would he have to pray? When Jesus models prayer like this, it shows us how we ought to imitate him.
What stands out to me the most is how Jesus's prayer life positioned him to live a life of significance. It is not that he was unsure about who would make a good disciple (after all, he had already picked them out), but that he understood the weight of his decision. It merited an all-night conversation with his Father.
Jesus shows us that the way of the kingdom is a way of partnership with the Father. When Jesus spends such significant time in prayer, it communicates intentionality and confidence in his purpose. When he came down from the mountain, the disciples all knew where he came from and what he was doing. When he began to call out their names, assigning them to a vital role in his kingdom, they must have known that his decision was not a flippant assignment but an eternal choice.
Tomorrow I will share more about this story and how it can impact our perspective on our prayer life.
Abiding happens daily in his presence. Abiding Daily is a simple and practical reminder to stay connected to the vine. Each prompt is inspired from the scriptures and designed to point you toward prayer and encounter. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To get the Daily Invitation sent to you every day click this link or text “Daily” to +1 (779) 237-3914.
