Luke 6:12-16 Praying on a Mountain
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: July 16, 2018 Luke 6:12-16
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
(Understanding the Text) It’s interesting that the Pharisees had already determined to kill Jesus even before He chose the twelve. We always think of the twelve as always being with Jesus, but for the first half of His ministry, Jesus did not have a special group of chosen followers. Before this time, Peter and John were simply two of many disciples. True, Peter was already special in that it seems that Jesus stayed with him in his home a lot, but officially, he was in the same category as Lazarus before this.
Jesus was not just choosing twelve men who would take His gospel to the world. Many others assisted in that. He was choosing the twelve men who would work together to form the foundation of His new government. Israel was founded on twelve tribes based on human family, but the new sons of Abraham would come from every nation, kindred, and tongue based on new birth into God’s family. The twelve disciples would be the patriarchs of this new family. Each one was chosen for a special reason. We do not know what the reasons were for most of them. We know almost nothing about Judas the son of James or Simon the Zealot, except what their names tell us. We do not know their accomplishments. Even the ones we know about like James the brother of John, it is unclear what he accomplished since he was killed fairly quickly. Yet, the choice of these men was specially considered.
(Revelation of God) Did Jesus know that Judas Iscariot would betray Him when Jesus chose Judas? Or was that something that was revealed later? Did Jesus know that James would die quickly? Did Jesus see the lives that these men would live if they were not chosen? Would it have been more peaceful and content? Or would it have been just as tumultuous as their path after He chose them? These twelve men were chosen out of many more. What was special about them that Jesus chose them? Guzik says “Jesus was God. Why didn’t He simply use His infinite knowledge to pick the apostles instead of praying all night? Because like most every other struggle Jesus faced, He faced this one as a man, a man who needed to seek the will of His Father just as you and I do. ii. You have to wonder how many hours of that night in prayer were spent praying over Judas alone.” Jesus knew from prophecy that one of the twelve would betray Him and for how much, but prophecy would not tell Him which one. If He was facing this as a man, He might not have known that it would be Judas Iscariot until much later as He watched Judas repeatedly reject His love.
Jesus spent all night in prayer before making this choice. I wonder how that process worked. I can barely spend fifteen minutes in prayer when I am actually writing down my prayers. In spoken or mental prayer, I spend less time. I just can’t conceive of the process. I assume that Jesus spent time thinking of each of His male disciples and considering the pros and cons of each person. It wasn’t just the thinking about the twelve that took all night, but consideration of many more than the twelve.
Guzik cites an interesting anecdote related to the choosing of the twelve. “ii. A man once asked a theologian, “Why did Jesus choose Judas Iscariot to be his disciple?” The teacher replied, “I don’t know, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus choose me?”
(Application / Prayer) I know why You chose me to be in this place at this time, but I don’t know what You have planned for me next. I pray to learn of You the lessons that You wish me to learn. I pray to humbly love those You give into my charge. I pray to not lead anyone astray but always point them to You. Help me to be the person You want me to be.