Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 6:12-17 "TIME-OUT FOR PRAYER"
Day 70 – Luke 6
Text: Luke 6:12-17
TIME-OUT FOR PRAYER
The practice of prayer has always been associated with the life and ministry of Jesus. A brief summary in Luke’s Gospel narrative highlights the fact that prayer played an integral part in Jesus’ life.
1. Jesus was found in prayer at His “baptism” by John the Baptiser. (Luke 3:21)
2. Forty days and forty nights were devoted to fasting and prayer. Luke 4:1-13 (Cf. Matthew 4:1-11)
3. Jesus found “deserted places” for solitude and prayer. Luke 4:42(Cf. Mark 1:35-38)
4. No matter how full and busy a day Jesus had, Luke recorded the fact that He would often withdraw into the wilderness to pray. (Luke 5:16)
5. In today’s study text, we read of Jesus going up to the mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer. (Luke 6:12).
As we study the life of our precious Saviour, we cannot help but be deeply impacted by the fact that He set aside time to pray – often for extended periods of time! How is our prayer life? How real is prayer to us?
WHAT COULD JESUS HAVE PRAYED ABOUT?
What were some of the things that Jesus must have brought to His Father in prayer? We can think of a few outstanding things:-
1. Of immediate concern was the choosing of 12 men whom He would now call “apostles”. This was not an easy decision to make. Big decisions ought to drive us to prayer.
2. Of some concern would be the growing hostility of the Scribes and Pharisees. They were seething in rage, and Jesus knew that they would be relentless in their determination to kill Him.
3. Prayer was the most natural thing for Jesus. He loved His Father. He had practised prayer as a lifelong habit. But of course, He would find time for prayer, no matter how busy His day might have been.
4. Prayer was the time when His Father would speak to Him. “Morning by morning, He awakens me…” (Isaiah 50:4) was literally practised in the life of Jesus. There were times when He would seek His Father the whole night through just to commune with Him.
CHOOSING APOSTLES FROM DISCIPLES
Jesus had a larger group of Disciples than many realize. In Luke 6:13, He summoned His disciples “and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles” (Luke 6:13).
The Lord Jesus was now going on to “phase two” of His training of His disciples. There were now two groups of Disciples. The first group was called “apostles”. They were deemed ready for an even deeper level of training. The second group of people was still called Disciples. They too were sent on special missions from time to time. Luke 10:1 tells us that there were at least 70 people who made up a second tier of disciples.
One of the areas of training must surely be in the Word of God. They must understand the Scriptures at a deeper level, or else they would never be able to fend off the relentless attacks of the Scribes and Pharisees. Their enemies appeared to have a vast store of knowledge of their religious beliefs, if not of the Scriptures.
PRAYERFUL SELECTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL
Jesus had invited many different individuals to become His Disciples. It was now time to select a smaller pool of Disciples for special training. These would become His “Apostles” (lit. mng. “Specially sent-out ones”). They would represent Him. They would be especially imbued with authority and power. The ministry had grown very large, very quickly. Daily, multitudes came to Him, to hear Him expound God’s Word. They also came to seek healing from various illnesses. Some came because they wanted Jesus to deal with the problem of being afflicted by demons!
Anyway you look at it, Jesus could do with some help. He had a growing group of disciples. They had shown that they were faithful in a number of ways already:-
1. They had given up their professions to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11; 27-31)
2. They stood with Jesus even though they knew that the Scribes and Pharisees were against Him. (Luke 6:1-11)
3. They had suffered hunger in their training as Disciples. On one occasion, they were so hungry that they plucked off heads of grain, and ate them raw. (Luke 6:1-5)
4. Jesus knew however, that there were many more lessons that they must learn, if they were to succeed as His chosen Apostles.
5. Working under physical-human constraints. Jesus had to work within human limitations. He understood the constraints of having donned flesh.
a) There was just so much time and no more.
b) He could more effectively groom twelve men, than a multitude of people, or even seventy disciples.
c) To have too big a group of Disciples would also put further strain on those who opened up their homes to Jesus. To house 13 people would be a lot easier than to find food and accommodations for 83 people (70 Disciples plus 12 Apostles, plus Jesus Himself)
d) He also had a personal ministry to perform – besides the work of preaching the Gospel, and training Disciples. He came to fulfil all that God had given Him to do. The Cross of pain and suffering lay ahead. His destiny was death on the Cross. He must devote even more time to prepare heart and mind to endure the suffering of death.
CALLED… THEN CHOSEN
The Lord’s pattern of raising up leaders is still quite similar. He still calls people to follow Him as His disciples. In the process of time, He chooses some as leaders. Can God call you to serve Him in a leadership capacity? Are you prepared to be a disciple first?