In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink, he presents the argument that snap decisions are often as good or better than deliberated and thought out ones. He presents science for his argument. We present Jesus for ours. Here, God the Son, Jesus Christ, modeled for us what to do when we have a momentous decision to make. If anyone would be able to make a perfect snap decision, the Son of God is that one. Look at verses 12 and 13 at what he did for many hours before choosing the twelve. He went far away from civilization, up a mountain. He did not make a pro and con list. He did not do a cost/benefit analysis before making a decision. He prayed. He prayed all night. Then, and only then did the Messiah choose the disciples who would be closest to him.
Now, who has time to do what Jesus did? Well, everyone, but we prioritize differently than Jesus did. That is a problem. Another problem, uniquely American one, is our can-do attitude. Who needs prayer? Just do it! The society at large has adopted this stance on prayer. Following the school shooting in Texas, Christians extended, as usual, their “thoughts and prayers”. A growing segment of the population today is more inclined to tell us what we can do with our thoughts and prayers. Again, Jesus modeled what we should do with our thoughts and prayers. Go, get away, and pray. Think. Don’t blink. Continue in…
Thoughts and prayers.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church