He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

Luke 6:12-38 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on lnks page)

Choosing the Twelve

¹² It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷ Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. ¹⁹ And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. ²² Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. ²³ Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. ²⁵ Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹ Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Today's text again begins with an account of Jesus taking time away in prayer. It says, He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. How often do we find only enough time to send off a fleeting prayer here and there throughout our day? After spending that night in prayer the text says:     a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,  who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.  And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.      Jesus times of prayer were times to hear the Father. He chose the twelve after spending that time in prayer. That time in the presence of the Father also prepared and empowered Him for the day ahead. He was so filled with the power and presence of God that power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Prayer changes things. The most important thing that changes in prayer is ourselves. Life changing, circumstance changing prayer requires more than a fleeting request. It requires time in the presence of God. 

Moses was affected and changed when he spent time in the presence of God.     whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him. (Exodus 34:34-35)   We too, if we will faithfully spend time in God's presence will be changed, prepared and empowered for our days. Our times of prayer, however long we can make the time to have them, should not be long distance requests to a far away God. They should be times directly in His presence, where we can be changed by His glory. Look at this account from 1 Kings 19:11-13,  when Elijah encounters God.

¹¹ So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Certainly God can speak with a voice that will shake heaven and earth, but more often He will speak in gentleness, the King James version of verse 12 says:    And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.    If we pray to God from a distance He will still hear us. In Jeremiah 23:23 God  says: "Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off?  If we pray to a far off God He will indeed still hear our prayer. We however may not hear His answer. We may miss the still small voice of God giving us wisdom and discernment for our situation. We will miss the physical and spiritual change that comes from being in the presence of God and basking in His glory.

In the text Jesus then goes on and teaches kingdom principles. Principles that are contrary to the way things are on earth. Look at the list of things Jesus says bring blessing:    “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you,       He continues with kingdom principles:      love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.  Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

In Matthew 6 Jesus teaches us to pray: 9"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. In order for His kingdom to come, for it to truly be on earth as it is in heaven we need to live out the truths and principles of the kingdom that Jesus teaches. In order for us to live out the heavenly kingdom principles we need to know what they are. It's more than we can learn by reading the words Jesus spoke. We need to go, near to God, into His presence. We need to spend time there in the heavenly realm, hearing God's voice and being changed by His glory. Then the world will see the glory of God in us and through us. We will be empowered and changed in His presence. We will live the truths and the principles of the kingdom of heaven and we will bring the realities of heaven to earth. His kingdom will come, His will be done.  There will be power and people will be changed, saved, delivered and healed by the glory of God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit. Thank You that You are both near and far. Thank You Jesus that You made the way that I can come into the very presence of the Father, where I can hear His voice, where I can be changed in and by His glory. Thank You Holy Spirit that You fill me with the very presence of God, that I might live among here on earth in the power of heaven. Thy kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen