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All Night?


                One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,  Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,  Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.(Luke 6:12-16)
          What? Pray for twelve hours? Ten…eight…five…three hours…one hour…more than 3 minutes? I can’t find any statistics about how long the average conversation lasts, but according to Microsoft, the average attention span of a human is eight seconds, while the attention span of a gold fish is nine. I have to wonder how they defines attention span, and I hope mine is at least a little better than a gold fish’s. This might explain why people complain about my not letting go of a subject that I think we’ve barely begun to discuss. Unfortunately, it may also explain why I have to reheat mugs of coffee – sometimes more than once before I take my first sip. I may have to get a book on the subject…. What were we talking about? Oh yeah!
         Jesus spent the night before He called His twelve disciples in prayer. I often wonder what Jesus talked to the Father about. How much of the time did the talk, and how much was spent just enjoying each other’s company? Did they review the resumes of prospective members of the Twelve? It seems to me that decision was made before time began. Was there a pep talk for Jesus about His mission? I know, He’s God, but another prayer we’ll look at shows that He was able to feel reluctance (but willingness) to go ahead with The Plan. I don’t know. This is one of the questions for which we might get an answer someday, but not today.
          How do we follow His example? We have work to do, and I can tell you that thirty-six hours and longer without sleep, or without enough sleep, is really hard on a person. It was easier when I was younger, but how many of us can pull ten or twelve hours out of our schedules? Life was slower then, wasn’t it? These are really not good excuses. Jesus was running a start-up ministry with no paid employees. Healing people made him as busy as a clerk in a popular store on Black Friday, and yet, He took time – lots of time – to talk to His Father.
          As I said earlier, my prayers seem to have reduced to ten second whines. I used to love my long “walk and chews” when I took an hour or more to “chew on” a subject with God. Now, I could probably do that sitting nearby in case Dad needs me, but there are so many distractions. Journaling helps me keep focused. I need to get back to it.

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