Climbing Prayer Mountain

What do you think of when you think of prayer? A nice quiet setting, serene music… dim lights? My mind used to go to pictures and places like that… NO MORE! Mt. Arbel, Prayer Mountain, is a main route between towns and places that Jesus traveled. We started at the bottom and traveled, or should I say, “scaled” hand over hand. We kept going up,up and up, over 121 flights (according to Jason’s Fitbit!) This consisted of huffing and puffing, finding shade, and more huffing and puffing. I have to say shade never felt so good!

Reaching the top, Scott lead us in a meditative reflection on Psalm 23 that says - the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he leads me beside still waters. Dotted on the mountain you could see us reaching to heaven with prayers of thanks, hope, mercy on our group, friends, kids, and ourselves.

Then we went down! OH MY!!! Crevices for foot holds, iron hand holds and rocks that were as slick as ones at the river. Step by step we scaled down the rock face in a train of hands and feet helping, encouraging and cheering all together with a celebration when all of our feet hit solid ground. Thank you Jesus!

The penetrating moment for me was when Scott asked, “Do you pray as hard as you climbed today!” Ooohhh, heart check. “No Lord I don’t,” I said to myself. Give me a heart more tenacious, more courageous, more enduring like when I was climbing Prayer Mountain.

This marks the day that forever I’ll never think of prayer as a quiet place in a serene setting… it is now full of struggle, shade, rejoicing and VICTORY in overcoming what looks impossible alone…. prayer was us together scaling the mountain… I wonder, “Shouldn’t it be that way in our church too?”