How Did Jesus Pray?
The Twelve Apostles
Luke 5:12-14
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
It wasn't like because Jesus was the Son of God that he didn't need to pray. In fact before he does anything important, he spends large amounts of time in prayer to His Father. We see he usually goes to a quiet place away from the distractions of what was going on around him. In this case he spent the whole night praying to God.
Jesus chose disciples (learners), but he also chose only 12 apostles (messengers). The apostles were his inner circle; he gave them special training and sent them out with his own authority. These were the men who started the Christian church. In the Gospels these 12 men are usually called the disciples, but in the book of Acts they are called apostles. 6:13-16 Jesus selected “ordinary” men faith an extra-ordinary purpose. Notice the diversity of the men from different backgrounds and skill sets.
Importantly Jesus spent a large amount of time in prayer before he made this decision to select these men to be messengers of the Good News. When you are about to make a big decision, how much time do you spend in prayer? All too often I pray too little, too late and pay the price later. As we see Jesus choosing his disciples, you see a confidence in his going first to God, and then moving toward his decision to choose his 12 apostles.
Jesus persevered in prayer. He didn't stop praying before he sensed God's guidance in this all important decision. Where do you need to persevere in prayer like Jesus did? If Jesus needed to spend this much time in prayer, why would we think we would need anything less.
Luke 5:12-14
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
It wasn't like because Jesus was the Son of God that he didn't need to pray. In fact before he does anything important, he spends large amounts of time in prayer to His Father. We see he usually goes to a quiet place away from the distractions of what was going on around him. In this case he spent the whole night praying to God.
Jesus chose disciples (learners), but he also chose only 12 apostles (messengers). The apostles were his inner circle; he gave them special training and sent them out with his own authority. These were the men who started the Christian church. In the Gospels these 12 men are usually called the disciples, but in the book of Acts they are called apostles. 6:13-16 Jesus selected “ordinary” men faith an extra-ordinary purpose. Notice the diversity of the men from different backgrounds and skill sets.
Importantly Jesus spent a large amount of time in prayer before he made this decision to select these men to be messengers of the Good News. When you are about to make a big decision, how much time do you spend in prayer? All too often I pray too little, too late and pay the price later. As we see Jesus choosing his disciples, you see a confidence in his going first to God, and then moving toward his decision to choose his 12 apostles.
Jesus persevered in prayer. He didn't stop praying before he sensed God's guidance in this all important decision. Where do you need to persevere in prayer like Jesus did? If Jesus needed to spend this much time in prayer, why would we think we would need anything less.
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