Sunday, May 21, 2006

Are We There Yet?

Now during those days he [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12)

I have a friend who recently returned from a trip to Israel. This was a very active trip; they did a lot of hiking, a lot of talking and a lot of praying. Over lunch last week he recounted one day's activities that has stuck with me.

It seems on this particular day they were to climb a rather high mountain. All the way up my friend had a conversation with God about the futility of what they were doing. "We could be seeing important sites, but no, here we are climbing this dusty mountain, wasting our time!" (God answered my friend, but His response was personal, and that is not my story to tell.)

After several hours of this, the group finally crested the summit, to see.... nothing. Well, there was a nice view, but no ruins - nothing to indicate this barren mountain top was of any significance at all.

"Where are we?", they asked the guide.
"We're on top of a mountain," was the rather sarcastic answer.
"What mountain? Is this place important?"
"Not particularly, other than the fact that Jesus probably climbed it, because it's the highest peak in the area. It's just a mountain."

This news was not received well by my friend and his exhausted colleagues.

Then, the guide went on to explain to them the Pharisaical tradition of climbing a mountain to pray. The climbing part took hours, and drained them of their energy - of themselves. When they reached the top, they would literally fall down prostrate.

"How do you feel?", asked the guide.
"We're totally fried!"
"Feel like collapsing? Too tired to think?"
"Yes!"
"Good. You're finally ready to pray."

And stripped of their own thoughts, agendas and laundry lists, each of them went off to pray for those God placed on their hearts and minds. My friend tells me he has never experienced prayer like that before.

"Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God."

May each of us learn what it is to empty ourselves of ourselves, even as Christ did, as we approach God and commune with Him.

posted by Mike Todd @ 9:38 AM Comments: 1