Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. I. THE NIGHT OF NEEDFUL REST SHORTENED FOR PRAYER. II. THE SOLITUDE SOUGHT FOR SPIRITUAL PREPARATION. The crisis at which our Lord had arrived — 1. Originated the Christian ministry. 2. Began the Christian Church. 3. Involved the selection of His own betrayer. 4. Was a preparation for the full exposition of His doctrines. Sermon on the plain. III. THE CONDUCT OF OUR GRACIOUS LORD COUNSELS US TO. 1. Lonely prayer. 2. Preparatory prayer. 3. Self-denying prayer. 4. Leisurely prayer — "All the night." 5. Lingering prayer — "He continued." 6. Blissful prayer — All night with God. (W. H. Jellie.)Here is the great secret of much that we see in the active life of Jesus. 1. Secret prayer. 2. Long prayer. Prayer calms and strengthens the soul. After prayer a man descends upon his work rather than rises strainingly towards it. (J. Parker, D. D.) JESUS PRAYING. He sought the mountain and the loneliest height, For He would meet His Father all alone, And there, with many a tsar and many a groan, He strove in prayer throughout the long, long night. Why need He pray, who held by filial right, O'er all the world alike of thought and sense, The fulness of His Sire's omnipotence? Why crave in prayer what was His own by might? Vain is the question — Christ was man in need, And being man, His duty was to pray. The Son of God confess'd the human need, And doubtless ask'd a blessing every day, Nor ceases yet for sinful man to plead, Nor will, till heaven and earth shall pass away. (Hartley Coleridge.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. |
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