Prayer Mountains

UV 2004/10000 Prayer Mountains

And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
Exodus 34 v 2

Each of us is to present ourselves on the mountain of the Lord, a metaphor for the high place the Lord inhabits in our souls and spirits. We are to have a one-to-One, face to face personal meeting or encounter with the Lord. Like the sun rises early each day, we are to rise early and bask in the Sun of Righteousness to renew our strength and draw energy, warmth and light from Him. When we do so, we receive the promise of the Lord that our days and our lives would be greatly blessed. It is the most sacred and blessed time and place of our lives. We receive the power to lead others from the Lord as Moses received power to lead his people. We receive wisdom to lead and to teach or train others. We receive specific instructions and guidance in the mundane challenges of the day.

Unlike in the time of Moses, the Lord does not write on tablets of stone or even on electronic tablets of the modern day but on the tablet of our hearts and minds. He burns His truths deep into our hearts so that our lives begin to reflect His glory and grace. He gives us the spiritual manna and the bread of everlasting life. He sends His word to heal us of our destructive ways, thoughts and emotions. We renew our covenant with the Lord day after day when we discipline ourselves to meet with Him. As we meet with Him with all reverence and thanksgiving, His presence covers us like a thick cloud and sends down the moisture or dew of Hermon that anoints us afresh and fills us with His eternal power.

When we unfailingly renew ourselves in the Lord and make the joy of the Lord our strength, He ensures that we have “top” of the mountain experiences in our relationships, our professions, our family , our challenges. Our homes become a “top” or a tabernacle of peace. Moses’ face shone with a divine radiance when he left the presence of the Lord and returned to the people. Even so, people will be drawn to the divine radiance in our lives. Sin and the desires of the world will no longer cling to us like leeches. The presence of the Lord will not leave us or forsake us even when we return to the valleys, when we have bad days or when we feel low and gloomy. Even though Jesus was so full of grace and truth, He needed to resort to the mountains around Jerusalem to commune with the Father and the Spirit. The South Korean believers have learnt from this habit of the Lord and designated various hills around Seoul as “prayer mountains” where hundreds gather every day to pray continually. The spirit behind the habit of the Lord is that we need to withdraw ourselves from all people, all attractions and distractions and retreat into the very presence of the Lord, to be renewed, re-charged and re-anointed day after day.

Prateep V Philip