The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Luke 18:1-8 (day four)

This odd little parable comes right after Jesus is telling the disciples about the future coming of the Kingdom of God. He advises them, as they consider his second coming, “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” He concludes this conversation on an ominous note as he foretells his crucifixion.

I’m sure the tension was palpable after the disciples heard this. Seeing their pain and confusion, he gives them a word of encouragement. He tells them, in the face of all of this, to pray. Pray with determination like the widow who had nothing left to lose. Pray to the One who is not an apathetic judge, but who is the creator of justice. Pray with boldness to the One who meets judgment with mercy. It is nothing short of a miracle that we’re invited to pray with boldness to this good of a God.

Part of that “losing your life” business Jesus talked about happens through this kind of prayer. The more we boldly approach the throne of God, the more acquainted we become with the One who sits on it. The more we get to know him, the more we can loosen our grip on our life as we give it into his hands.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 18:1-8 (day three)

“Now [Jesus] was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart…”

Jesus confirms that demoralizing prayer experiences are a thing. The very reason for the existence of this parable, Luke states, is Jesus’s concern for the toll such experiences take on the human spirit. It’s those moments of meagerness and frailty that matter to Christ: the poor woman possessed only two coins to give; the crowd had only two fishes and five loaves; and the desperate person feels only despair in prayer. To all who know such circumstances, Jesus declares that no anguished heart will go unanswered. Thus, Jesus honored the poor woman as the biggest giver of all; Jesus fed everybody until they could eat no more; and to the person at rope’s end, Jesus says, “Tell me more.”

Re:Verse passage – Luke 18:1-8 (day two)

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, vs. 1

Our re:verse passages these last two weeks have included some interesting parables from Jesus. A casual reading may lead one to believe that we can pester God to granting our requests. Jesus uses characters that are not beacons of virtue to illustrate his point about boldness and persistence. I also think there is another lesson to be gleaned from these passages. It is found in verse one of this week’s reading. Not only are we to be bold and persistent, but in so doing we create a discipline of prayer. Jesus is reminding of us of our absolute need to stay tethered to the father. We must have a pattern and routine of dialogue. We must speak, and we must listen. This regularity will change our hearts as we constantly seek audience with the divine.

As you celebrate Independence Day today, take time to thank God, in prayer, for the freedom to worship and share your faith.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day seven)

Two weeks ago I preached in Logos and referenced the synoptic parallel of our passage out of Matthew 7. I had referenced a young man from camp that  I had advised to pray to God persistently to feel the presence of the Lord. God answered that prayer! “Persistent praying pays off!” I said.

Afterwards, I was approached by a woman who had said she begged God for years to give her peace and to feel His presence, but it never came. Why does God sometimes not answer our prayers of persistence even when they are pure and patient?

Our persistence doesn’t change God; it changes us. God uses our persistence to mold us, shape us and tune our hearts with His. Sometimes the persistence doesn’t pay off in the way we might expect, but the persistence will always achieve the purpose it was set out for: to perfect the pray-er.

 

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day six)

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4

Heavenward prayer and delight in the Lord are cousins, or as Scott Lane might say, two sides of the same coin. Persistence and trust spring from a heart that is enamored with God’s Kingdom (Luke 11:2) and certainty of its reality. Or said another way, you only keep knocking if you are certain of the reward.

Heavenward prayer flows from a heart that delights in the Lord. God promises to answer that kind of prayer; any other is a clamoring gong.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day five)

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

It almost seems like Jesus is teaching 2 different approaches to prayer.  Asking and trusting. What if they are two sides of the same coin ?  A tension that we must live in? What if we are persistent AND trusting in our prayers?  Jesus believes both should exist at the same time. Both are required. When both are together, our prayers give us humility and boldness. Both needed and necessary. For God’s glory, and for our good!!

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day four)

At first glance, this passage can be puzzling. Are we waking a sleeping deity when we pray persistently? Do we simply annoy God into answering our prayers? Of course not. Jesus is saying that if a reluctant neighbor is willing to honor your persistence, how much more will the Father who loves you?

It seems to me that the Lord honors his children who stay leaned in, who are willing to wrestle in prayer. I’m reminded of Genesis 32 when Jacob wrestles with God. Jacob is persistent, he stays engaged and he receives a blessing. Our persistence doesn’t badger God, it honors him. Every time we ask, seek, and knock, we’re proclaiming that we believe God is who he says he is – a good Father who is mighty enough to meet our every need.

So go ahead – ask with persistence, keep knocking, wake the neighbors, seek the Lord shamelessly in prayer. The Lord is faithful to open the door.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day three)

“…yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”

One of the recurring assurances Jesus makes is that you are not at the mercy of the universe, but rather at the mercy of God. The created order – gravity, space, time, light, quantum particles, chemical reactions – is impersonal. God, on the other hand, is a person, and good. This is why when you ask, seek, knock, you will receive, you will find, the door will open. God responds and the universe yields. Asking, seeking, knocking – these actions are forms of persistence, and this impersonal cosmos will open up to beings created in God’s image. You’re not shouting into the void; you’re shouting into God’s ear.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13 (day two) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” vs. 13

Do you ever reach a point with your friends or family where you stop asking for help? You don’t want to be ‘that guy’ where everyone runs for cover when they see you coming. Maybe you have things going on in your life that are just not quite right, but you you think you have gone to the well one too many times. When we think this way about the Lord we have sorely misjudged his capacity to listen. This kind of thinking leads to a skewed relationship with the Lord. If this passage says anything, it speaks to the demand that we be persistent. God understands our situation, but he also requires us to be honest and completely trusting in his ability to hear and act according to his great will.

As an aside, let me add my request before my church family. Today, the Youth Worship team begins day three of ministry in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We will be serving all week long in missions, food banks, and other ministries that serve the underprivileged. Yesterday, they led worship for a church in Calgary and sang for a retirement community. We will sing in several other places along the way. I am asking you to pray for their strength, rest, endurance, and boldness.