Luke 6: 12-16 Jesus wrestles with his Dad

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles

12One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

14Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

Jesus was facing a very important decision. What did he do? he spent the entire night in prayer. it was a big decision, he dedicated a lot of time to it. I can imagine Jesus sitting through the night going down the list of his closest disciples. I see him praying to his father one at a time, listening for an answer in his heart.

At first blush it may seem strange that it took Jesus all night. He was God. He was one with his father. Why didn’t the list just come to him perhaps chiseled into a set of stone tablets? We must remember that Jesus was also human. He wanted to have life be a truly Human Experience, so he struggled with prayer.

The important thing is that Jesus recognized on a big decision he needed to know what his father wanted him to do. Thy will be done. Are we that way, you and I? Do we ask our father for advice or do we worry?

A small group that I’m part of is reading a book called Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly. I highly recommend it. In that book Matthew Kelly suggest that through the day at the beginning of every hour you think of what that hours worth of work, or whatever it is that you’re doing, you’re going to dedicate in prayer to. This wonderful idea I’m hoping creates in me a habit of asking God what he wants me to do on even the small decisions. Ideally I become the person that on the small decisions knows what the father would do almost instantly because he and I are one, and on the big decisions, I hope I learn from what Jesus did in this story. Wrestling with God it’s a very good thing.

Lord, teach me to constantly turn to your Holy Spirit for guidance. Help me to wrestle with you when that is what you want. Thy will be done.