12 Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. NRSV
The material below is from the book “ A Year With God” by Richard Foster.
Two Significant Emphases in Luke are prayer and solitude. All the Gospel writers mention prayer, of course, but Luke takes care to show how Jesus’ prayer practice was often linked to solitude: “(Jesus) would withdraw to deserted places and pray” (5:16) “At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place” (4:12). Other Gospel writers mention his calling of the twelve apostles, but not that he prayed all night about it, as we see here. And they relate his challenge to the disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” but not that he was praying by himself before he put the question:”Jesus was praying alone, with only disciples near him. (9:18).
When have you spent time in solitude and prayer before making a big decision? What was the result?
It is so refreshing that Jesus functioned as we must so that we have his example for us today!
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