By John Katebe 

In certain Christian circles, we hear talk about going to the mountain to pray. In fact, in almost every town in Zambia, there are a number of Christians who habitually go to some local mountain for the purpose of prayer and fasting.

Going to the mountain, however, has two meanings – one literal and the other metaphorical.

When one group of Christians talk about going to the mountain to pray, they literally refer to a physical mountain or hill.

Prayers on mountains range from one day in duration to several days or even a few weeks.

The idea behind going to pray on a mountain is to be alone with God in order to seek a deeper experience of God or to seek a solution to a significant life problem.

Another group of Christians uses the phrase “going to the mountain”to refer to a period of extended private prayer. This language goes back to the time of great revivals many centuries ago when prayer among Christians was a very serious business.

The power of God was manifested among nations in response to the prayers of devout believers. There were revivals across countries and continents and many lives were transformed.

When these Christians talked about going to the mountain, they referred to periods of withdrawal from society to seek the face of God. 

Do we ever need to go to a mountain to pray, either literally or metaphorically?

Let me start by addressing the case of physical mountains.

Traditionally, mountains have been viewed as places conducive for achieving spiritual illumination by practitioners of different religions. The mountains of Tibet have been the source of revelations of ancient spiritual truths. For instance, practitioners of Yoga have developed miraculous powers through prolonged meditation on the mountains of Tibet.

Christians who believe in the practice of going to a mountain to pray base their belief on the example of Jesus who often withdrew to a mountain to be alone in prayer.

They also cite the example of Moses who spent a great deal of time alone with God on Mount Sinai.

Elijah is another servant of God who spent time with God on a mountain.

However, we can not build a teaching on  the conduct of God’s people in the bible. For example, many servants of God in Old Testament times practised polygamy. Is that a license for us to practise polygamy?

We do not know why servants of God preferred to go to a mountain to pray. One reason could be the protection that mountains provide against wild animals. The mountain rocks could also have provided much needed shelter from the harsh elements of nature.

Two reasons given for going to a mountain to pray are to be alone with God and to avoid distractions. 

Yet, one other reason why people find mountains attractive is that they give one a feeling of elevation – a feeling of being raised above normal humanity and closeness to God.

This feeling, though, is a false one because a raised platform does not bring you closer to God. You can be up on the mountain while your thoughts are down in the valley of life. What is the use of being on a mountain if your heart is still full of thoughts of unforgiveness and pride?

True elevation is a state of mind. In fact, it is only God who is able to raise our thoughts to a higher realm. 

When the Apostle Paul talks about being caught up to the third heaven, he was not referring to a mountaintop experience. He was probably praying in the privacy of his dwelling.

If you truly find the solitude offered by a mountain conducive to uninterrupted prayer, there is nothing wrong with you going to a mountain to pray.

What is wrong, however, is to insist that everyone needs to go to a mountain to pray. 

I, for one, love the bush and find it a natural environment to focus on God without being distracted by human noise and activity.

It would, however, be wrong for me to force everyone to go to the bush for prayer and meditation.

Not everyone loves the bush. Some people have a fear of the bush. Instead of thinking about God, their thoughts would be filled with images of snakes and other creatures!

With the coming of Jesus, the focus shifted from physical dimensions to spiritual dimensions. (From mountains to no mountains.) After the mediatorial work of Christ through the cross, it became possible for man to commune with God wherever and whenever.

The conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman as recorded in the book of John throws some light on man’s changed relationship with God.

The Samaritan woman held the notion that God could only be worshipped in a prescribed place.

In John Chapter 4:20 she says to Jesus:

“Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

To her, the mountain represented a special place where you could have an intimate relationship with God.

Jesus explained to her that the worship of God would no longer be in physical terms but spiritual. He said to her:

“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” (John 4:21)

He told her that God desires to be worshipped in spirit and truth. Not necessarily on mountains. (John 4:23)

During his ministry, Jesus instructed his followers to pray in secret in their closets rather than on mountains.

Therefore, we can confidently pray to God in the safety and quietness of our dwelling places, knowing that He will hear us.

When the phrase “going to the mountain” is used to refer to spending an extended period of time in prayer for some legitimate spiritual reason, one is free to do so if the desire comes from within oneself. 

No one (not even a servant of God) has the right to direct anyone to devote himself to prayer in this fashion unless it is clear that they are speaking by the prompting of the Spirit of God. 

The person so directed must be allowed to discern whether the instruction is indeed from God.

Fasting and extended prayer should always stem from personal conviction. 

Of course, there are exceptional circumstances when a leader can appeal to his or her group for a special time of prayer and fasting. But even then, it should be left to those who are willing to respond positively to the appeal, depending on their individual circumstances.

You cannot dictate spiritual exercises because not everyone is in a state to comply. Some members may be in ill health while others may have personal issues that would prevent them from complying with the request.

So should we have regular extended times of prayer? 

It depends on our motives. When the practice is used to show others how spiritual we are, it is better that we do not.

However, if we do go, we must make sure that the right hand does not know what the left one is doing. We must shut the door, in our individual worship of God.

29 November 2022