Mountaintop Praying

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

One of the things that captures my mind when reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus, is how often He separated Himself to be alone with His Father in prayer. And it seems that one of His favorite places to pray was on a mountain.  

I would never presume to understand the Lord’s motive for praying on a mountain, but I really like the imagery of it. Think about the shape of a mountain, for example. It’s broad at the bottom and narrow at the top, right? The higher you go toward the top, the better it is to stay at the center because there is a lot less territory to roam to the right or left. And as you get closer to the top, there is less ground to be compromised. In other words, there is less room to fool around. Furthermore, when at its pinnacle, you must remain focused as there is no room for distractions.

Another thing that comes to mind is that it is not easy to reach the mountaintop. It is hard work. A Christ follower must exert a lot of energy to reach it. Mountaintop praying is not necessarily a casual experience. 

While we are encouraged to “pray without ceasing” [1 Thessalonians 5:17], we should, like our Savior, find the time and extend the energy to do some mountaintop praying. There is a lot to benefit from it, not the least of which is the power and blessing you can share when you come back down.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. Matthew 14:23