Ascending to the Upper Room of Prayer
By: David McFadden
“There’s a day coming when the mountain of God's House will be The Mountain — solid, towering over all mountains. All nations will river toward it, people from all over set out for it. They'll say, ‘Come, let's climb God's Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He'll show us the way He works so we can live the way we're made.’ Zion’s the source of the revelation. God's Message comes from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:2-3 MSG)
We often speak of “mountaintop” experiences where we spend time alone with God. These encounters bring peace, joy, wisdom and revelation from Him and of Him, sometimes in a profound way.
Ascending to the high places to abide with God will often transform us—He knows that. God is always calling out to us to come up higher. This ascension to mountain-top prayer differs somewhat from the prayer closet, which is a physical place of abiding. I contend that mountaintop prayer is a spiritual ascent to answer God’s call to “…come up higher unto Me.”
In your Christian journey, there is a real sense of ascension on the road to spiritual maturity. Scripture also gives many examples of “going up” and attaining a glorious experience with God—Paul was caught up unto the third heaven. Peter, James and John ascended a high mountain with Jesus where He was transfigured. There, the men witnessed an otherworldly experience that testified of Jesus’ deity. God the Father affirmed His Son in this mountaintop experience.
“‘My dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy. Listen to Him.’ The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.” (Matthew 17:5 NLT)
Moses had one of the most notable mountaintop experiences mentioned in the Bible. Moses’s face shone with God’s glory from being in His presence, an example for us to emulate. God also gave Moses the Law through the Ten Commandments while on the mountain—He gives us what we need.
The Bible also mentions an “upper room” or “the” upper room several times. In reading these accounts, we discover that the upper room is a place of abiding, fervent prayer and miracles. In these scriptural narratives, we understand that the rooms were physical places but they also have spiritual applications for us to consider. These upper room experiences represent a place for separation and privacy, a special place where God meets with those who go there. Jesus even told His disciples,
“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 NLT)
The takeaway for us is that abiding in the upper room is a choice we make to set ourselves apart to seek God. When we make Him a priority and ascend to the high places, God gives revelation, answers prayer, and creates miracles.
To be candid, many Christians are not aware of the higher calling of setting themselves apart to meet with God. And then some choose not to make the effort. Why? Ascending to the upper room will cost us something, and it will most often be inconvenient. However, the Bible tells us that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. His reward is much greater and more significant than anything that would keep you from ascending to the high places to meet with Him.
The purpose of our ascension is to “live out” our desire to obtain the high places of prayer—mature prayer—a place set apart to hear His voice in the stillness. Doing so is not a casual undertaking. God wants you to want this. Hannah Hurnard, in her book, “Hind’s Feet in High Places,” says it this way,
“But the High Places of victory and union with Christ cannot be reached by any mental reckoning of self to be dead to sin, or by seeking to devise some way or discipline by which the will can be crucified. The only way is by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by God, by a continually repeated laying down of our will and acceptance of His…. Every acceptance of His will becomes an altar of sacrifice, and every such surrender and abandonment of ourselves to His will is a means of furthering us on the way to the High Places to which He desires to bring every child of His while they are still living on earth.” —Hannah Hurnard
Mountain top prayer defines believers who desire to live on the cutting edge of God’s reaping sickle—those who God uses to bring in the harvest through sacrificial times of prayer. It has been told how John Wesley, while on his knees, wore the carpet beside his bed through to the wood floor from praying long hours for England’s social and spiritual renewal. The upper room of prayer is for people willing to lay down everything and give it all for God’s purposes.
I am convinced that any person can touch the hem of Jesus’ robe, and He will answer the need; we know this to be true. Even so, there is a level of acquired spiritual maturity necessary to pray upper-room prayers. Why? Any ascension, whether an earthly effort or spiritual, requires exertion, diligence, abandonment to the cause and even sacrifice. Our desire to abide under the shadow of the Almighty comes with costs.—
Taking God’s Word Back to Him in Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your invitation to seek You and diligently pursue You—Your love draws me to the high places of communion with You. My time with You brings peace, joy, wisdom and revelation. I choose to abide in the upper room and set myself apart to seek You where You graciously transform my heart to become more and more like Jesus. I make You my highest priority and gladly and willingly ascend to the high places where You give me revelation, answered prayer, and where You create miracles. LORD, help me live on the cutting edge of Your reaping sickle—I want to be one whom You use to bring in the harvest through sacrificial times of prayer. Thank You for allowing me to cooperate with You to bring down heaven to earth for Your glory! I pray this in Jesus’ name, Your precious Son. Amen.
Excerpted and adapted from, “Prayer by the Book”
Available on Amazon.com by clicking here: Prayer by the Book
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