Daily Devotions
January 2nd, 2013 by Pastor SolleyMatt 14:23 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.
A lot of things happen on or around mountains in the Bible, here we see Jesus going up into a mountain to pray. Ever wonder what took Jesus to that place where he needed to be apart and alone with God the Father in prayer? There are times when we forget that Jesus while being the Son of God, being God in the flesh, being Almighty God, was still a man, still a human being as we are. If you read Matthew 14 you find the account of the murder of John the Baptist. John was a close friend of Jesus, was the prophet who opened the door of the gospel message, was the one who pointed all to Jesus, and was a cousin of Jesus. No doubt they were very close and no doubt that his death troubled our Lord. Jesus had lost a close and trusted friend, a man he grew up with, and a man he loved. It was also a time of stressful work for our Lord with the feeding of the five thousand. At a time when Jesus was tired from work, at a time He was suffering the loss of a loved one, at a time when He may have been a little discouraged, He went to the Father in prayer. What a lesson for us today. Why is that when we face these same circumstances many run from God instead of to God? At a time when we need God the most many turn to medication, to friends, or to self for help. Why is that? We need to follow the example of Jesus and go to the Father in prayer.