I've always been a "praying man", and as my faith has matured I've learned a variety of ways to enter into the presence of our Lord. A more robust exploration into prayer will have to wait for another day, but a situation in my personal life has brought home for me the importance of urgency, perseverance and belief in our prayers.
My brother, whom I love dearly, was diagnosed with ALS earlier this summer, and the Lord and I have spent many agonizing (for me) moments wrestling with this. I've accepted the reality of the situation, but I have days where it simply breaks me down. During these times, I dive into the Word and look for guidance. Today, I've been drawn to scripture on prayer.
I'm reminded by Matthew that we have but to ask God, and He will respond: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) The caveat here is that what we're asking for must be in-step with God's will for us, but there are no other conditions. We must simply ask.
And God wants to give us good things, too! "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" The Holy Spirit interfaces with God on our behalf, communicating what we truly are asking for, so that we don't have to worry about the words to use. In fact, we don't even have to use words at all. When I'm broken, and weeping, and can't even speak, this is very comforting to me.
We need to be serious about our prayers and requests, though. Christ alludes to this in the scripture from Matthew quoted above; note the progression of "Ask...Seek...Knock". Each step in the process involves more activity, another level of involvement, persistence. The Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke gives a wonderful picture of what this looks like:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people
thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me
justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even
thought I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I
will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'" And the Lord
said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen
ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that
they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
(Luke 18:1-8)
If we truly want what we ask for, we must keep asking. God tells us that He will answer our prayers (John 14:13-14), but He doesn't tell us when or how. Your next prayer may be the one that He's waiting for before He answers, so don't give up!
And finally, don't doubt that He's going to answer. Be persistent in your prayers, and because God has told us that He will answer, BELIEVE that He will! As James tells us, "...when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." (James 1:6,7) So stand firm in your petitions to God - He expects nothing less.
Pray fervently, pray persistently, pray with the expectation that your prayers will be answered. And God will respond accordingly.
Shalom,
My brother, whom I love dearly, was diagnosed with ALS earlier this summer, and the Lord and I have spent many agonizing (for me) moments wrestling with this. I've accepted the reality of the situation, but I have days where it simply breaks me down. During these times, I dive into the Word and look for guidance. Today, I've been drawn to scripture on prayer.
I'm reminded by Matthew that we have but to ask God, and He will respond: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) The caveat here is that what we're asking for must be in-step with God's will for us, but there are no other conditions. We must simply ask.
And God wants to give us good things, too! "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" The Holy Spirit interfaces with God on our behalf, communicating what we truly are asking for, so that we don't have to worry about the words to use. In fact, we don't even have to use words at all. When I'm broken, and weeping, and can't even speak, this is very comforting to me.
We need to be serious about our prayers and requests, though. Christ alludes to this in the scripture from Matthew quoted above; note the progression of "Ask...Seek...Knock". Each step in the process involves more activity, another level of involvement, persistence. The Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke gives a wonderful picture of what this looks like:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people
thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me
justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even
thought I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I
will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'" And the Lord
said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen
ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that
they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
(Luke 18:1-8)
If we truly want what we ask for, we must keep asking. God tells us that He will answer our prayers (John 14:13-14), but He doesn't tell us when or how. Your next prayer may be the one that He's waiting for before He answers, so don't give up!
And finally, don't doubt that He's going to answer. Be persistent in your prayers, and because God has told us that He will answer, BELIEVE that He will! As James tells us, "...when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord." (James 1:6,7) So stand firm in your petitions to God - He expects nothing less.
Pray fervently, pray persistently, pray with the expectation that your prayers will be answered. And God will respond accordingly.
Shalom,
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