Thursday, March 7, 2019: Luke 6:12

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.”

When you were in school, did you ever pull an “all-nighter” studying for a difficult exam? This often occurs when someone waits until the last moment and has to cram. Cramming for an exam doesn’t usually work out too well, though. Rather than cramming, it is more beneficial to recognize the difficult task ahead and the need to utilize every possible moment for preparation, in order to succeed.

In Luke 6:12, we read that Jesus pulled an all-nighter, too. While His exam wasn’t of the academic variety, it was a difficult test nonetheless. In Luke 6:12, Jesus was preparing to choose twelve apostles from the group of disciples who were following Him. As we learn throughout Luke’s Gospel, decision time for Jesus always meant prayer time (see 3:21; 5:16; 9:18,28; 11:1). Prayer time meant time to find solitude. And prayerful solitude meant hearing from God; in this case, it led to appointing the men who would form Jesus’ closest circle of friends and through whom He would ultimately build His church.

Jesus not only prioritized the discipline of prayer over “me time” as we learned in yesterday’s devotion. He prioritized the discipline of prayer even over sleep, in times when it was necessary. He wasn’t cramming, as if He had neglected prayer until then. Rather, Jesus was disciplined in the habit of prayer, so that He would always know and act in accordance with the truth and wisdom of God. Are you?

• Do you treat prayer more like cramming for a test, coming to Jesus only when the situation is desperate and immediately at hand? Or do you practice the discipline of prayer as a habit, understanding there are times that involve sacrifice? Why does it matter?

• Pray: Thank Jesus for His example of the importance of discipline in prayer. Confess the ways you neglect to prioritize prayer like He did. Ask Him to grow your understanding of the necessity of prayer in your life, and to increase your discipline in the practice of it.