God of the nighttime, grant us its’ hush.
When the pine trees are dark against the skyline,
The humbleness of the hills who in their mightiness know it not,
And the laughter of the open water to brighten any cheerless spots when winter comes.
Is this why Jesus was fond of using the nighttime for prayer? In Mark 1:35 we read, "In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed." This followed a whirlwind of activity and opposition pressure. Was it after a restless night he moved out into the wilderness for a restoration in prayer?
And then in Gethsemane, Mark 14:32-42, in perhaps the most famous nighttime prayer of all where He asks God for another way if possible to achieve God’s goals besides the cross, yet affirms, "not what I want but you (God) want" and thus accepts the cross. Yet His disciples, after Jesus asks them to keep awake, could not. Does this say anything to us?
Past Weeks "Thought for the Week"