Personal Prayer

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  Luke 6:12 NASB

Whole night– Have you ever spent a whole night in prayer?  Perhaps you’ve participated in a prayer vigil or taken a shift in a community event.  But that’s not what this verse says about Yeshua.  The Greek term is dianuktereuō, literally, “to continually pass the night.”  Sundown to sunrise. It seems a bit daunting, doesn’t it?  Of course, we can rationalize this (offering ourselves an excuse) by claiming that Yeshua is the son of God, and therefore he can do things we cannot do, or at least we don’t think we can do.  But that assumes he isn’t fully human like we are human, and, of course, that has other consequences.  Perhaps we can understand the volitional and emotional context of a whole night in prayer if we pay attention to some comments by Anthony Bloom:

“First of all, it is very important to remember that prayer is an encounter and a relationship, a relationship which is deep, and this relationship cannot be forced either on us or on God.  The fact that God can make Himself present or can leave us with the sense of His absence is part of this live and real relationship.  If we could mechanically draw Him into encounter, for Him to meet us, simply because we have chosen this moment to meet Him, there would be no relationship and no encounter.”[1]

“The second very important thing is that a meeting face to face with God is always a moment of judgment for us.  We cannot meet God in prayer or in meditation or in contemplation and not be either saved or condemned.”[2]

“To meet God face to face in prayer is a critical moment in our lives, and thanks be to Him that He does not always present Himself to us when we wish to meet Him, because we might not be able to endure such a meeting. . .  Therefore, the first thought we ought to have when we do not tangibly perceive the divine presence, is a thought of gratitude. God is merciful; He does not come in an untimely way.  He gives us a chance to judge ourselves, to understand and not to come into His presence at a moment when it would mean condemnation.”[3]

Maybe the primary reason we don’t spend a whole night in prayer has more to do with our sense of condemnation and estrangement than it has to do with not falling asleep.  Maybe we are afraid of what would happen in a whole night in prayer.  The reason Yeshua could handle a whole night in prayer has more to do with his purity of heart than the human uneasiness about being (or not being) in God’s presence.  At any rate, this verse makes me feel quite uncomfortable.  First because it seems to set a standard that I can’t reach (does it really?), and second because I’m afraid that God might not show up even if I do.  Perhaps my worst enemy of “all night in prayer” is the expectation that I can’t make it last.  Maybe I just defeat myself before I even begin.

Topical Index:  prayer, whole night, dianuktereuō, Luke 6:12

[1]Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray, p. 26.

[2]Ibid.

[3]Ibid.

Subscribe
Notify of
6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Brett Weiner B.B.( brother Brett)

This is a very interesting topic, cost to mind I am just about in my history work the night shift going to bed when others are waking up, and waking up when others were going to sleep. Most of the world is not made for this kind of Lifestyle, think of it shopping at night, I mean the middle of the night am I doing things that ordinary people do. It took quite an adjustment, especially when it came to sleep, attempting to sleep in the afternoon while the kids were playing in the backyard was quite a task to undertake, and I realized earplugs and music, then I change the music to Bible on cassette one that was popular. And I change to meditate on the scriptures before sleeping, with the music after that worked real well for me. Preparation was the key for the task ahead. Then I went on a missions trip to India. Day and night or almost opposite. I was almost prepared because of the previous training. Even today backwards person unusual peculiar, now I think of it is something quite to the advantage. If I was in the army, and given the command to cover the Night Watch, it would be quite different, today I see myself in the army of the Lord and a soldier, on the Night Watch. , things that can be seen the activity at night is quite opposed to, what goes on during the day. Almost in opposition reminded that the light belongs in the dark place, to make the dark place bright, and dispel the darkness. I am often asked how do you adjust to being awake part of the day, like normal people? I tell them I take little naps in morning between 9 and 12. I found it unnecessary to sleep in the afternoon because I’m in the presence of my wife and I adore her company. When I’m with the one I love the most, I can go through anything. It says that Yeshua Jesus early to be with the father The Temptations, for Trials of the day we are no different…. In my opinion life is quite interesting when we live in both worlds.. I apologize for the long content, but the thoughts just seem to fit. Shalom to you all. Thanks skip can’t wait to hear the other comments. 1 verse stands out Ephesians 6. 12, we do not war against flesh and blood but powers and principalities of this Dark age

Brett Weiner B.B.( brother Brett)

When I was young, my father told me at in the elite, section of the Israeli Army oh, they you sleep deprivation their highest form of torture… I that very interesting back then oh, and I still do today.

Rich Pease

Perhaps when we see Yeshua face to face
we can get the straight story. But I suspect
the unique union of Oneness the Father and Son
shared in their mission to save mankind prompted
more than just one all-nighter of prayer. In this particular
instance, on the next day Yeshua went on to give what we
know as the Beatitudes, and scripture accounts that he “had
power coming from him and healing them all.”
Yeshua knew where his power came from and he drew to
the Father at all times. And us? Paul tells us we are to “pray
without ceasing”. Sounds like that’s the same assignment.

Laurita Hayes

Encounter with the Divine, for me, is all about forgiveness. On the other side of forgiveness lies all the good stuff. When I forgive others, I lose the unholy motivations that showed up, tempting me to ‘protect’ myself against those others (or against myself, or against God, too). When I lose all that motivation, I find that I also lose the main motivation to sin further, too. The experience of sin is brutal: forgiveness is about erasing the effects of that invasive assault on my identity (sovereignty). Forgiveness is about reinstalling my true identity (sovereignty), so repentance and forgiveness must come first to get all that is not me out of the way (condemnation) of my relationship with God.

People say that the #1 fear we have is the fear of death. That is simply not true: I think we are afraid of life, because life is about being responsible, but sin is all about ducking that responsibility (sovereignty). Relationship is about equality: both sides equal in their sphere. It’s like ambassadors meeting on neutral territory. As images of God, I believe we were created sovereign in our sphere to be able to meet God on His own terms (love, of course). Sin is where I handed over that sovereignty to the god of this world: my will is “unequally yoked” with sin: I am a slave to unholy motivations. Those motivations are, all of them, I believe are driven by a primal fear of my own sovereignty: sin convinced me to lock myself in my own basement dungeon and throw away the key.

A precious person sent me a Youtube Ted Talk about parasites by Ed Yong, labeled “Suicidal wasps, zombie roaches and other…”. I think sin infects the software: the motivations, just like a parasite. We turn over our will – our sovereignty – to another. When I repent for sin, I agree to pick my responsibility back up off the floor where I dropped it and get back on the throne of my heart so that I can properly meet heaven as the image of it. When I repent for those unholy motivations, I cleanse my heart of all the stuff that is afraid of God (where I became a zombie image of that fear of all the wrong forces), self, others and reality, too. I become responsible to all again, as God’s sovereign representative. As that representative, I suddenly have a whole lot that needs to be discussed and dealt with. There’s plenty to talk about!

Science assures us that the brain never gets tired: that dreams are about working on the stuff we didn’t get around to dealing with during the day. That’s how the brain refreshes itself: how it “rests”. David says that he “communed on my bed” with YHVH. I guess as the sovereign representative of his tribe he had a lot to discuss, too. I find that the nights I spend with my eyes closed in the dark (body and eyes resting), unable to sleep, dealing with whatever I find on my heart as it comes up, is like talking with a lover. I consider whatever my heart wanders over to as the other half of the conversation. I can tell you that whole lot of it does not look a lot like the Lord’s Prayer: it looks more like crying about sad things or interceding for others or turning over intimidating things or like simply picking random daisies; just hanging out. Together. On the other side of all that got in the way.

Larry Reed

I think instead of it being either or, it might be both . We have a fear of death and we have a fear of living as God is calling us to live. Sin is often a crutch that we are so used to, that we are not sure how we would ever walk without using it. I’m speaking about myself here.
I have people close to me who are struggling with physical life and death issues who are consumed with fear. Fear of dying. Could it be that they are fearful because they don’t really know God nor their identity in Christ. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The reason we may fear this is because we actually are afraid of God and have believed something about him that causes us fear. Probably the same mindset that the elder brother had in the story of the prodigal son. According to John, there is no fear in love because fear has torment and he who fears does not fully understand love. Behold, what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God!
I really appreciate what you wrote Laurita. It rings true in my spirit, confirming what the Holy Spirit has been teaching me in regards to who I am in Christ. In order to experience and live out who I am in Christ, I have to lay aside every
weight AND the sin that does so easily beset!
I have come into a time when I have chosen to run to God in all of my messiness, instead of trying to find an alternate covering (fig leaves?!) and fool myself into thinking he doesn’t see.
Just as I am, without one plea, but that your blood was shed for me, and that you bid me come to Thee, oh Lamb of God, I come. The reason Jesus had no fear of God was because there is no fear in love and God is love ! Wow, nothing between us and God. What a great thought! That in itself, is heaven.

Larry Reed

A couple of other things.
I really appreciated the comment by Anthony Bloom . I wonder if we are ever past the stage of “ beginning” prayer. Have to keep going back to the Lord’s prayer as the framework. Anthony says that we are either “saved or condemned by God’s manifest presence”. When condemned we tend to hide from him, or so we think !
Also, I hadn’t thought about what Skip said in regards to we should be grateful that he doesn’t always show up when we want Him to. I’m glad that I cannot manipulate God. It would only be to my detriment.
So much of what Laurita says resonates so strongly with me. I think I have a read it three or four times seeking to consume it. Reminds me of some on my recent reading by Watchman Nee. “Sit,Walk and Stand”. Understanding of who we are in Christ. This never changes. Regardless of my dysfunction he continues to call me to who I am. The father of lies seeks to get me to believe what I see and experience instead of what God has declared about me. For most of my life whether I was actively engaged with God or a wandering off somewhere else, I always had an incredible sense of insecurity in my birthrights. I always felt at any moment I might be cast out of the garden. God is changing all of that within me. There is a real sense of being a child of God, born of the Spirit, to an inheritance incorruptible! The very basis of salvation. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by Whom also we have access through this faith into the grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Hallelujah ! To God be the glory !
What an incredible gift to be a part of this community of seeking believers !