And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
He withdrew alone to a quiet mountain to continue all night in prayer before calling His disciples at dawn and choosing twelve as apostles. He prayed earnestly for those disciples to be kept from evil and steadfast in coming trial, and for sinful, suffering humanity to turn and be saved, not for forgiveness of His own sin or relief of His own troubles. Those who held He also prayed for Himself taught that He earnestly sought strength and grace from the Father for His own work as well as for others. That communion strengthened His humanity, kept Him one with infinite power, and refreshed Him with comfort and peace to renew His work of teaching and healing in the morning. Though divine and without sin, His dependence on unbroken, agonizing prayer proves human need of constant fervent prayer for duty and trial and calls ministers and all followers to unite prayer with work to gain victory.
Place and Time of Prayer
The night of prayer took place alone on a mountain, a lonely and quiet sanctuary in nature set apart from the confusion of the city and the crowds. It was a mountainside near the Sea of Galilee, beneath sheltering trees, belonging to the quiet of fields and hills, of mountain and vale and sea, and including groves and desert places sought as sacred retreats. The Mount of Olives was a favored retreat for such prayer, and Gethsemane was a familiar retreat.
He withdrew there at eventide or in the early morning and continued all night in prayer and meditation, often spending whole nights in prayer because the crowded day of teaching and healing left no time to claim. While the world He came to save was wrapped in slumber, His disciples slept below or had been sent away to visit their homes and rest. Though weary He refused rest for Himself when it was urged, and in the morning at daybreak He returned to His active work among the people, ready to renew His labor.
Occasion Before Choosing Twelve
The all-night prayer was preparation for calling the disciples at dawn and choosing twelve of them as apostles. He prayed with them and instructed them and set them apart by prayer and the laying on of hands for sacred gospel work second only to His own. They were to be with Him, to share His joys and trials, to witness His works, to be sent out at times alone to teach and work as He taught and worked, to gain experience in gospel labor while He lived, and after His death to continue the work and lay the foundation of the Christian church. In this the first step was taken in organizing the church that was to be His representative on earth after His departure, so that the foundation of the church and of missionary activity was laid in prayer.
The same mountainside near the Sea of Galilee, beneath sheltering trees a little distance from the sea, is where the sermon on the mount was given. With no costly sanctuary at command He led the disciples there, choosing the quiet of the fields and hills because it was more in harmony with the lessons of self-abnegation, simplicity, and faith He desired to teach. There, surrounded by the works of His own creation, He could turn thoughts from the artificial to the natural, and the sacred experiences of that day were forever linked in their minds with the beauty of mountain and vale and sea. After dedicating and ordaining them for gospel ministry He gathered them close on the mountain so they could carefully hear and remember His teaching.
The prayer followed an uninterrupted, exhausting day of teaching the crowds and healing the sick by the Sea of Galilee, after which He withdrew to the solitude of the mountain for secret communion with the Father while the disciples slept below or had been sent home to rest. He spent the entire night in prayer and at dawn came to waken them for their appointment to sacred responsibility and their preparation for ministry with Him. A night of prayer likewise preceded other important works, especially before He was called to perform a mighty miracle, and before the transfiguration, His suffering and death, and the glory of the resurrection. After such a night with God He was prepared for another day of earnest work.
The night prayer was also driven by rejection and opposition, for He had come to His vineyard to claim His own but was rejected and abused while plans to crucify Him were laid and satanic agencies beset Him more and more. Priests and rulers resisted His work in proportion to the convincing evidences of His divinity, jealous because His power drew the people and because His ready tongue, full knowledge, and plain parables and illustrations from nature made truth plain to the unlearned. He saw that those entrusted with the oracles of God to be faithful expositors rejected the Teacher sent from heaven, that their spirit and principles were entirely contrary to the Scriptures, and that they misinterpreted and misapplied the Word so that it would be difficult to teach the people to read the Scriptures correctly while their teachers read with perverted judgment.
Burden and Content of Prayer
That night was spent in earnest prayer for the disciples He had chosen, that they might be kept from the evil influences of the world and receive strength for the duties and trials ahead. He interceded that their faith would remain steadfast through the coming test and persecution, and that His own suffering and death would not overwhelm them with despair. Having prayed through the night on the mountain near the Sea of Galilee, He called them at dawn, prayed with them and instructed them, and set them apart for their important work as witnesses and representatives of the gospel church.
His pleading reached beyond them to sinful, lost humanity, to the crowds and to the suffering, sinful, and needy people He had served through the day. He poured out His soul for a world lost in error, pleading that people would turn from guilt to salvation and not perish in sin and impenitence nor follow Him in vain. With strong crying and tears He sought to save them from the pride, vanity, and love of pleasure that crowd out love for Him, and coming forth at sunrise He labored with sympathy to bring light to the world, to elevate fallen people and dispel moral darkness.
That prayer was not offered for forgiveness of personal sin or for relief from personal troubles, for He had no needs of His own to supply, but was made for others He came to redeem. Though fully sufficient in Himself, He interceded for sinners rather than for Himself, His communion refreshing and preparing Him to help others and to return to earnest work. Beside this stands the teaching of those who held that He also prayed earnestly for Himself as well as for His disciples and for those they would serve, seeking the Father for strength and grace to resist temptation, overcome Satan's power, and meet the duties and trials before Him.
The burden pressing upon Him that night was what He could do to soften and subdue opposing hearts. He had come to His vineyard to claim His own but was rejected and abused, with plans already laid to crucify Him and satanic agencies besetting Him more and more. Priests and rulers resisted Him in proportion to the convincing evidences of His divinity, jealous because His power drew the people while His ready tongue, full knowledge, and plain parables and illustrations from nature taught the unlearned. He saw that those entrusted with the oracles of God to be faithful expositors had rejected the Teacher sent from heaven, that their spirit and principles were entirely contrary to Scripture, and that they misinterpreted and misapplied the Word so that the people could hardly be taught to read it correctly while their teachers read with perverted judgment.
Manner and Spirit of Prayer
Jesus prayed alone in secret, in solitary communion with the Father, withdrawing to quiet retirement in lonely places rather than praying publicly to attract praise or win human notice. He loved lonely places as His happiest hours alone with nature and with God, taking the night for prayer because the crowded day left Him no time, sending His disciples away to visit their homes and rest while He Himself refused rest and went into the mountains as a sanctuary to intercede while the world He came to save was wrapped in slumber. He welcomed the morning with thought of God, study of Scripture, and songs of praise, then returned in the morning to His active work of mercy. His choice of solitude stood in contrast to religious leaders who prayed publicly to win admiration.
His prayer was earnest, persevering, and agonizing, poured out with strong crying and tears as if in an agony of distress. He frequently spent the entire night upon the damp ground in cold mountain places, in strong and severe conflict when pressed by the temptations of Satan and beset by satanic agencies. His supplication was marked by agony and tears in severe spiritual struggle, offered not for Himself but for sinful, lost humanity He came to redeem. After teaching through the day He compassionately dismissed His disciples to return home for rest and sleep while He poured forth earnest petitions to God in behalf of humanity.
His prayer was continual dependence and unbroken communion and meditation with the Father, even amid a life crowded with work and responsibility. He talked with God in prayer, laying hold of His promises and pleading, appreciating the privilege of prayer and living in constant communion and fellowship with Him. That communion refreshed Him and brought comfort and joy, strengthened His humanity, and left Him braced for duty and fortified for trial to receive divine strength for duty and trial. His work showed the results of that communion, and afterward at daybreak He returned to work among the people.
He always chose to be alone at such times so no one else would be oppressed by the sorrows weighing upon His divine soul. The severity of those sorrows can only faintly be conceived.
Strength and Preparation Received
Prayer to the Father strengthened His humanity and preserved His oneness with Infinite Power, and His human nature drew divine strength from the Father as the source of fresh restoring power. That strength was what He used to help the sick and afflicted, and through prayer He received strength to resist temptation and overcome Satan's power. Though tempted in all points as human beings are and assailed on every point, and though His prayer belonged to a life of trial and spiritual struggle in which He wrestled with the powers of darkness until He overcame, Satan obtained no victory over Him and He made no mistake. Even amid a life crowded with work and responsibility He sought solitude and unbroken communion to receive divine strength for duty and trial, praying for energy, perseverance, and steadfastness and showing where His strength came from. The same prayer strengthens every soul who comes to the Father in faith, and daily communion with God is necessary for power to serve.
Communion with God refreshed Him and brought comfort, joy, peace, freshness, life, and power, and left Him refreshed and ready in the morning to renew His work. After laboring among the people and working through the day in preaching and healing, He prayed through the night so He could renew His labors at sunrise and come forth to bring light to the world. That renewed work was teaching the ignorant, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the multitude, enlightening and helping those in need, elevating fallen people, dispelling moral darkness, and freeing those held captive by Satan. Though fully sufficient He prayed to the Father for strength and grace, and His example shows that prayer equips people for duty and service.
He did not measure His work by hours but gave His time, heart, soul, and strength to labor for the benefit and blessing of humanity, devoting entire days to labor and entire nights to prayer. Those entire nights spent in prayer braced Him to meet the wily foe in all his deceptive workings and fortified Him to do His work of uplifting and restoring humanity. After the labors of the day He compassionately dismissed His disciples to return home for rest and sleep while He poured forth earnest petitions in behalf of humanity, and He was braced for duty and fortified for trial through the grace of God that came to Him in answer to prayer. Thus fortified He could face temptation, trial, and spiritual struggle until He overcame, and close, persistent prayer prepares people to meet trial and receive strength from above.
That night of communion prepared Him for duty and trial and for important work and great responsibilities. A night of prayer preceded the choosing and ordaining of the apostles and the Sermon on the Mount, and prayer also prepared Him for the transfiguration, His suffering and death, and the glory of the resurrection. He often prayed alone in the mountains on important occasions, especially just before He was called to work some mighty miracle, and after a day of labor He sent His disciples home to rest while He continued in earnest prayer for humanity. His pattern shows the need to set apart time for prayer and spiritual refreshing, especially before great trials or responsibilities, and connects earnest prayer with preparation for important work.
Pattern for Christian Life
Though divine and without sin, the beloved Son of God shared human weakness and felt prayer in His human nature to be both necessity and privilege, proving that human beings need divine support and constant, fervent, importunate prayer to be ready for duty and trial, temptation and danger, since each day brings new perils. Amid a life crowded with work and responsibility He withdrew to solitude for unbroken communion with His Father to receive fresh divine strength, find comfort and joy, and unburden His sorrows. He who was sinless prayed through the whole night on the mountain, valuing communion deeply and seeking strength for the duties and trials ahead, and those who face temptation and depend on divine grace need prayer all the more. His regular withdrawal to a quiet place to continue in prayer shows that communion strengthened and refreshed Him for the day, and His followers are taught by it to pray earnestly and persistently so they may become stronger in God.
His example teaches His followers, especially those facing temptation and distress, to pray earnestly and often, with persistence that resists weariness in seeking God. They are to bring trials, temptations, sorrows and disappointments to the Father and draw grace and power from a never-failing source, so as to resist the enemy and come off victorious. Prayer and constant communion with God are necessary for a successful Christian life, a defense and safeguard of integrity and a path to strength, peace and blessing. His repeated, often all-night communion on the mountain strengthened His humanity and left Him refreshed and ready for duty and trial, and after a day of labor He would send His disciples home to rest while He continued in earnest prayer for humanity.
Ministers, gospel workers and medical missionaries must follow His pattern of uniting prayer with work, giving themselves to prayer and to speaking the Word. They are to commune with God and have fellowship with the Spirit to keep the best spiritual frame of mind, meditate and pray, examine themselves whether they are in the faith, keep all their powers for proclaiming the gospel as it is in Christ Jesus, and seek God for His Holy Spirit so they can present the truth aright. This calls for sustained prayer for the salvation of souls, with time set apart for it, instead of becoming engrossed with business matters, settling little difficulties in the churches, becoming overburdened and hurried, or being wearied by long committee meetings at night. As the great pattern medical missionary and greatest minister of righteousness He both preached the gospel and practiced it in unsullied purity and perfect holiness, bearing human nature to open the way for all other medical missionaries to labor; keeping eyes on Him rather than following any man's methods, however wise that man may seem, keeps His workers on the safe path while He refines and ennobles His people and heals the wounds and bruises that sin has made. Entire days were devoted to labor for the benefit and blessing of humanity and entire nights were spent in prayer that He might be braced to meet the foe and fortified to help those who came for relief, teaching workers, because the Lord is coming, to bend every energy and give themselves wholly to the work before them, since God alone gives growth to the seed sown.
His sorrowful, self-sacrificing life of whole days of work and whole nights of prayer, weeping over Jerusalem because its people would not accept the redemption He offered and would not come to Him that they might have life, is the pattern for believers and an example of good works for partaking of His divine nature. The King of glory often went alone to mountains and desert places to pour out His soul's request, frequently spending the entire night upon the damp ground in agonizing prayer, proving that sinful man, in whom is no strength, cannot live without so much prayer. That life rebukes those who think earnest pleading with tears and strong cries to God for pardoning grace and for strength to resist Satan's temptations is unnecessary while they seek their own pleasure. Young people who seek their own pleasure in vain frivolous conversation, laughing, jesting, joking, talk of fashion, dress and planned amusements, without mentioning Jesus, without making truth the subject of conversation and without glorying in the cross, are not imitating that pattern and must compare their course with His. He did not pray publicly to attract praise or win human notice but sought quiet retirement at night and resumed His work of mercy by day, in contrast to religious leaders who prayed publicly to win admiration. He did not measure His work by hours but gave time, heart, soul and strength to labor for humanity, and the entire nights spent in prayer braced Him to meet the wily foe in all his deceptive workings and fortified Him to do His work of uplifting and restoring humanity.
He withdrew alone to a quiet mountain to continue all night in prayer before calling His disciples at dawn and choosing twelve as apostles. He prayed earnestly for those disciples to be kept from evil and steadfast in coming trial, and for sinful, suffering humanity to turn and be saved, not for forgiveness of His own sin or relief of His own troubles. Those who held He also prayed for Himself taught that He earnestly sought strength and grace from the Father for His own work as well as for others. That communion strengthened His humanity, kept Him one with infinite power, and refreshed Him with comfort and peace to renew His work of teaching and healing in the morning. Though divine and without sin, His dependence on unbroken, agonizing prayer proves human need of constant fervent prayer for duty and trial and calls ministers and all followers to unite prayer with work to gain victory.
Place and Time of Prayer
The night of prayer took place alone on a mountain, a lonely and quiet sanctuary in nature set apart from the confusion of the city and the crowds. It was a mountainside near the Sea of Galilee, beneath sheltering trees, belonging to the quiet of fields and hills, of mountain and vale and sea, and including groves and desert places sought as sacred retreats. The Mount of Olives was a favored retreat for such prayer, and Gethsemane was a familiar retreat.
He withdrew there at eventide or in the early morning and continued all night in prayer and meditation, often spending whole nights in prayer because the crowded day of teaching and healing left no time to claim. While the world He came to save was wrapped in slumber, His disciples slept below or had been sent away to visit their homes and rest. Though weary He refused rest for Himself when it was urged, and in the morning at daybreak He returned to His active work among the people, ready to renew His labor.
Occasion Before Choosing Twelve
The all-night prayer was preparation for calling the disciples at dawn and choosing twelve of them as apostles. He prayed with them and instructed them and set them apart by prayer and the laying on of hands for sacred gospel work second only to His own. They were to be with Him, to share His joys and trials, to witness His works, to be sent out at times alone to teach and work as He taught and worked, to gain experience in gospel labor while He lived, and after His death to continue the work and lay the foundation of the Christian church. In this the first step was taken in organizing the church that was to be His representative on earth after His departure, so that the foundation of the church and of missionary activity was laid in prayer.
The same mountainside near the Sea of Galilee, beneath sheltering trees a little distance from the sea, is where the sermon on the mount was given. With no costly sanctuary at command He led the disciples there, choosing the quiet of the fields and hills because it was more in harmony with the lessons of self-abnegation, simplicity, and faith He desired to teach. There, surrounded by the works of His own creation, He could turn thoughts from the artificial to the natural, and the sacred experiences of that day were forever linked in their minds with the beauty of mountain and vale and sea. After dedicating and ordaining them for gospel ministry He gathered them close on the mountain so they could carefully hear and remember His teaching.
The prayer followed an uninterrupted, exhausting day of teaching the crowds and healing the sick by the Sea of Galilee, after which He withdrew to the solitude of the mountain for secret communion with the Father while the disciples slept below or had been sent home to rest. He spent the entire night in prayer and at dawn came to waken them for their appointment to sacred responsibility and their preparation for ministry with Him. A night of prayer likewise preceded other important works, especially before He was called to perform a mighty miracle, and before the transfiguration, His suffering and death, and the glory of the resurrection. After such a night with God He was prepared for another day of earnest work.
The night prayer was also driven by rejection and opposition, for He had come to His vineyard to claim His own but was rejected and abused while plans to crucify Him were laid and satanic agencies beset Him more and more. Priests and rulers resisted His work in proportion to the convincing evidences of His divinity, jealous because His power drew the people and because His ready tongue, full knowledge, and plain parables and illustrations from nature made truth plain to the unlearned. He saw that those entrusted with the oracles of God to be faithful expositors rejected the Teacher sent from heaven, that their spirit and principles were entirely contrary to the Scriptures, and that they misinterpreted and misapplied the Word so that it would be difficult to teach the people to read the Scriptures correctly while their teachers read with perverted judgment.
Burden and Content of Prayer
That night was spent in earnest prayer for the disciples He had chosen, that they might be kept from the evil influences of the world and receive strength for the duties and trials ahead. He interceded that their faith would remain steadfast through the coming test and persecution, and that His own suffering and death would not overwhelm them with despair. Having prayed through the night on the mountain near the Sea of Galilee, He called them at dawn, prayed with them and instructed them, and set them apart for their important work as witnesses and representatives of the gospel church.
His pleading reached beyond them to sinful, lost humanity, to the crowds and to the suffering, sinful, and needy people He had served through the day. He poured out His soul for a world lost in error, pleading that people would turn from guilt to salvation and not perish in sin and impenitence nor follow Him in vain. With strong crying and tears He sought to save them from the pride, vanity, and love of pleasure that crowd out love for Him, and coming forth at sunrise He labored with sympathy to bring light to the world, to elevate fallen people and dispel moral darkness.
That prayer was not offered for forgiveness of personal sin or for relief from personal troubles, for He had no needs of His own to supply, but was made for others He came to redeem. Though fully sufficient in Himself, He interceded for sinners rather than for Himself, His communion refreshing and preparing Him to help others and to return to earnest work. Beside this stands the teaching of those who held that He also prayed earnestly for Himself as well as for His disciples and for those they would serve, seeking the Father for strength and grace to resist temptation, overcome Satan's power, and meet the duties and trials before Him.
The burden pressing upon Him that night was what He could do to soften and subdue opposing hearts. He had come to His vineyard to claim His own but was rejected and abused, with plans already laid to crucify Him and satanic agencies besetting Him more and more. Priests and rulers resisted Him in proportion to the convincing evidences of His divinity, jealous because His power drew the people while His ready tongue, full knowledge, and plain parables and illustrations from nature taught the unlearned. He saw that those entrusted with the oracles of God to be faithful expositors had rejected the Teacher sent from heaven, that their spirit and principles were entirely contrary to Scripture, and that they misinterpreted and misapplied the Word so that the people could hardly be taught to read it correctly while their teachers read with perverted judgment.
Manner and Spirit of Prayer
Jesus prayed alone in secret, in solitary communion with the Father, withdrawing to quiet retirement in lonely places rather than praying publicly to attract praise or win human notice. He loved lonely places as His happiest hours alone with nature and with God, taking the night for prayer because the crowded day left Him no time, sending His disciples away to visit their homes and rest while He Himself refused rest and went into the mountains as a sanctuary to intercede while the world He came to save was wrapped in slumber. He welcomed the morning with thought of God, study of Scripture, and songs of praise, then returned in the morning to His active work of mercy. His choice of solitude stood in contrast to religious leaders who prayed publicly to win admiration.
His prayer was earnest, persevering, and agonizing, poured out with strong crying and tears as if in an agony of distress. He frequently spent the entire night upon the damp ground in cold mountain places, in strong and severe conflict when pressed by the temptations of Satan and beset by satanic agencies. His supplication was marked by agony and tears in severe spiritual struggle, offered not for Himself but for sinful, lost humanity He came to redeem. After teaching through the day He compassionately dismissed His disciples to return home for rest and sleep while He poured forth earnest petitions to God in behalf of humanity.
His prayer was continual dependence and unbroken communion and meditation with the Father, even amid a life crowded with work and responsibility. He talked with God in prayer, laying hold of His promises and pleading, appreciating the privilege of prayer and living in constant communion and fellowship with Him. That communion refreshed Him and brought comfort and joy, strengthened His humanity, and left Him braced for duty and fortified for trial to receive divine strength for duty and trial. His work showed the results of that communion, and afterward at daybreak He returned to work among the people.
He always chose to be alone at such times so no one else would be oppressed by the sorrows weighing upon His divine soul. The severity of those sorrows can only faintly be conceived.
Strength and Preparation Received
Prayer to the Father strengthened His humanity and preserved His oneness with Infinite Power, and His human nature drew divine strength from the Father as the source of fresh restoring power. That strength was what He used to help the sick and afflicted, and through prayer He received strength to resist temptation and overcome Satan's power. Though tempted in all points as human beings are and assailed on every point, and though His prayer belonged to a life of trial and spiritual struggle in which He wrestled with the powers of darkness until He overcame, Satan obtained no victory over Him and He made no mistake. Even amid a life crowded with work and responsibility He sought solitude and unbroken communion to receive divine strength for duty and trial, praying for energy, perseverance, and steadfastness and showing where His strength came from. The same prayer strengthens every soul who comes to the Father in faith, and daily communion with God is necessary for power to serve.
Communion with God refreshed Him and brought comfort, joy, peace, freshness, life, and power, and left Him refreshed and ready in the morning to renew His work. After laboring among the people and working through the day in preaching and healing, He prayed through the night so He could renew His labors at sunrise and come forth to bring light to the world. That renewed work was teaching the ignorant, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the multitude, enlightening and helping those in need, elevating fallen people, dispelling moral darkness, and freeing those held captive by Satan. Though fully sufficient He prayed to the Father for strength and grace, and His example shows that prayer equips people for duty and service.
He did not measure His work by hours but gave His time, heart, soul, and strength to labor for the benefit and blessing of humanity, devoting entire days to labor and entire nights to prayer. Those entire nights spent in prayer braced Him to meet the wily foe in all his deceptive workings and fortified Him to do His work of uplifting and restoring humanity. After the labors of the day He compassionately dismissed His disciples to return home for rest and sleep while He poured forth earnest petitions in behalf of humanity, and He was braced for duty and fortified for trial through the grace of God that came to Him in answer to prayer. Thus fortified He could face temptation, trial, and spiritual struggle until He overcame, and close, persistent prayer prepares people to meet trial and receive strength from above.
That night of communion prepared Him for duty and trial and for important work and great responsibilities. A night of prayer preceded the choosing and ordaining of the apostles and the Sermon on the Mount, and prayer also prepared Him for the transfiguration, His suffering and death, and the glory of the resurrection. He often prayed alone in the mountains on important occasions, especially just before He was called to work some mighty miracle, and after a day of labor He sent His disciples home to rest while He continued in earnest prayer for humanity. His pattern shows the need to set apart time for prayer and spiritual refreshing, especially before great trials or responsibilities, and connects earnest prayer with preparation for important work.
Pattern for Christian Life
Though divine and without sin, the beloved Son of God shared human weakness and felt prayer in His human nature to be both necessity and privilege, proving that human beings need divine support and constant, fervent, importunate prayer to be ready for duty and trial, temptation and danger, since each day brings new perils. Amid a life crowded with work and responsibility He withdrew to solitude for unbroken communion with His Father to receive fresh divine strength, find comfort and joy, and unburden His sorrows. He who was sinless prayed through the whole night on the mountain, valuing communion deeply and seeking strength for the duties and trials ahead, and those who face temptation and depend on divine grace need prayer all the more. His regular withdrawal to a quiet place to continue in prayer shows that communion strengthened and refreshed Him for the day, and His followers are taught by it to pray earnestly and persistently so they may become stronger in God.
His example teaches His followers, especially those facing temptation and distress, to pray earnestly and often, with persistence that resists weariness in seeking God. They are to bring trials, temptations, sorrows and disappointments to the Father and draw grace and power from a never-failing source, so as to resist the enemy and come off victorious. Prayer and constant communion with God are necessary for a successful Christian life, a defense and safeguard of integrity and a path to strength, peace and blessing. His repeated, often all-night communion on the mountain strengthened His humanity and left Him refreshed and ready for duty and trial, and after a day of labor He would send His disciples home to rest while He continued in earnest prayer for humanity.
Ministers, gospel workers and medical missionaries must follow His pattern of uniting prayer with work, giving themselves to prayer and to speaking the Word. They are to commune with God and have fellowship with the Spirit to keep the best spiritual frame of mind, meditate and pray, examine themselves whether they are in the faith, keep all their powers for proclaiming the gospel as it is in Christ Jesus, and seek God for His Holy Spirit so they can present the truth aright. This calls for sustained prayer for the salvation of souls, with time set apart for it, instead of becoming engrossed with business matters, settling little difficulties in the churches, becoming overburdened and hurried, or being wearied by long committee meetings at night. As the great pattern medical missionary and greatest minister of righteousness He both preached the gospel and practiced it in unsullied purity and perfect holiness, bearing human nature to open the way for all other medical missionaries to labor; keeping eyes on Him rather than following any man's methods, however wise that man may seem, keeps His workers on the safe path while He refines and ennobles His people and heals the wounds and bruises that sin has made. Entire days were devoted to labor for the benefit and blessing of humanity and entire nights were spent in prayer that He might be braced to meet the foe and fortified to help those who came for relief, teaching workers, because the Lord is coming, to bend every energy and give themselves wholly to the work before them, since God alone gives growth to the seed sown.
His sorrowful, self-sacrificing life of whole days of work and whole nights of prayer, weeping over Jerusalem because its people would not accept the redemption He offered and would not come to Him that they might have life, is the pattern for believers and an example of good works for partaking of His divine nature. The King of glory often went alone to mountains and desert places to pour out His soul's request, frequently spending the entire night upon the damp ground in agonizing prayer, proving that sinful man, in whom is no strength, cannot live without so much prayer. That life rebukes those who think earnest pleading with tears and strong cries to God for pardoning grace and for strength to resist Satan's temptations is unnecessary while they seek their own pleasure. Young people who seek their own pleasure in vain frivolous conversation, laughing, jesting, joking, talk of fashion, dress and planned amusements, without mentioning Jesus, without making truth the subject of conversation and without glorying in the cross, are not imitating that pattern and must compare their course with His. He did not pray publicly to attract praise or win human notice but sought quiet retirement at night and resumed His work of mercy by day, in contrast to religious leaders who prayed publicly to win admiration. He did not measure His work by hours but gave time, heart, soul and strength to labor for humanity, and the entire nights spent in prayer braced Him to meet the wily foe in all his deceptive workings and fortified Him to do His work of uplifting and restoring humanity.