In the One “who made Himself flesh”, there is a pattern to be found in His seeking the will of the Father “in the mountains”. For is it not said, “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone” (Matthew 14:23). And is this then not a pattern that has been reserved for all who belong to the house of the Lord? For are we not all called to mature into “a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”? For does the living Word not speak of the pattern of going up the mountain when it says, “Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings (lives purified) and their sacrifices (a living sacrifice) Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah‬ ‭56:7‬)? For how else shall we know the will of the Father unless we seek the face of our God in prayer? And what else is prayer but ascending in the spirit to the heights of the mountain of the Lord that we may enter into the tabernacle of meeting, that we may know the will of our Father? For are not our three great priorities that in all that we think and do, that hallowed be His name (Psalm 86:12; John 14:13; Revelation 15:4)? That we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), so that His kingdom may come? That our food be doing the will of Him who sends us (John 4:24), so that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven?

     By the Lord’s own account and pattern of specifically “dismissing those who were with Him” so that, upon His going up the mountain to pray, that He may be alone with His Father, does this pattern not showcase that whilst, on the one hand, we are all called to THE TOGETHERNESS “of community”, being the horizontal call of the outstretched arms of the Cross unto “a brotherhood of togetherness” as far as the east is from the west, so that in our coming together we may all ultimately love our neighbour as ourselves, then as with the pattern of Moses (a type of Jesus), and then Jesus, who both ascended up the mountain ALONE, does this pattern not show that we are likewise also all called one-by-one up the mountain “of communion”? Being the vertical call of the Cross unto “quality time” with the Father, so that we may all have one-on-one alone time and fellowship with our Father? And He with us? So that we may break bread with our Father, and eat of the bread of life and drink of the cup of the wine of the new covenant, and in so doing, ultimately love the LORD our God with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our strength? And just as for Jesus, who came not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it, by each of us fulfilling these two greatest of commandments through the horizontal call to community and the vertical call to communion, being the pattern of the Cross, that in all things we may pattern ourselves after Jesus, and likewise, thereby fulfil ALL THE LAW too. For is it not written that “on these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets” (Matthew 12:40)?

     Is this pattern of going up the mountain not also why Jacob “beheld a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached up to heaven”? And why he “beheld the angels of God ascending and descending upon it”? For what else but for a way for man to ascend into the realm of God would the purpose of a ladder be that can reach all the way into heaven? For is it not so that those who seek God’s face may have a way of entering into His Presence? For is this not why the Veil was torn? And are these angels then not man? For is it not written of Jacob that he FIRST beheld them “ascending” and THEN “descending”? Which would mean that for those to first ascend BEFORE descending, that those availing themselves of the ladder are those “from earth”? Which are all those who, in the similitude of Jesus, have first ascended upon the mountain of the Lord, that they may likewise be alone to pray and apprehend the will of the Father? And who having then heard from the heart of the Father, have then descended back down that they may make the heart of the Father known to all who would incline their ear? And, as such, who are then none other than “messengers of light”, or “angels of God”, being all those who have a message from the throne room of heaven for those on His footstool below that we may all call each other higher. For what else but “to call one upward and higher” is the upward call to ascend up the mountain of the Lord?

      And of this vertical call to ascend up the mountain into communion with God, being the high call to prayer and fellowship, does the gold standard for His thoughts and His ways not show us a rich pattern that it is “from the mountain tops” that He has always made His will unto man known? Is it not from the mountains that He has revealed His heavenly and eternal purposes? For when He sought to reveal His will for mankind to His people, did He not first summons Moses up the mountain? For did His Son not also die on the mountain? For are we not called to the mountain that we should die to self so that He should live in us? Therefore, for all those who seek to pattern themselves after His ways, does this not tell all those who have ears to hear and eyes to see that His ways are in the mountains? And that if we are to pattern ourselves upon His image and likeness, that our ways are to likewise be in the mountains too? For do not the Psalms also teach that if we seek the Lord, that we shall find Him in the mountains? “I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2). Does it not plainly say that the holy place of the LORD is in the mountain? “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24:3).

     Is it not true that I, the Lord your God, am always calling you higher? Which is why I am calling you into the mountains. For is it not true that when David led his father’s sheep to find fresh grazing, that he took them into the mountains? For am I not likewise calling you up the mountain to eat of Me? So that on the great day of the coming of the Lord when I call my sons to gather around Me, that you may all be found to be at your very best (1 Thessalonians 5:23)? And is it not true that those who likewise seek the best for others will be those who likewise call their brothers forever higher? Which will be all those who call them to arise and ascend to the mount of transfiguration? For is it not true that when you meet with Me on the mountain, that you shall be steadily transformed and progressively transfigured, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)? For does my Word not teach, "For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.'" (Jeremiah 31:6). And are those days not now? Have we not arrived at the time and the season that for those who seek the Lord, they shall find Him - in the mountains? And when they find Him, is it not said, “He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off.”‭ (‭Isaiah‬ ‭33:16-17‬). So look to the mountains and learn the lessons that I would teach you. Am I not the God of your salvation? Is this not the season that “Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths" (Micah 4:2)?

Come now. Let us reason together (Isaiah 1:18). Have I not given you life by preserving you in My ark? And just as Noah’s ark come to rest at the top of the mountain, has not My ark (Christ) found a resting place in the high mountain of the heavenlies?

So come now! Arise! Let us go up to Zion!