That day, the New Testament reading was from Luke 18 which begins with a parable teaching that
we ought always to pray and not to faint. The same evening our girls had fallen asleep saying their prayers. The combination of events caused me to reflect on some of the aspects of prayer and perhaps my own reflections may be helpful to you.
The context
Luke 17:22 sets the context for the Master’s exhortation: “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it…” The disciples had some difficult times ahead of them. They were to be shocked by the death of Christ, then overjoyed by his resurrection. They would be separated from him as he ascended to heaven and would not know how long the separation was to last. Some of them would be persecuted and slain. All of them would have to endure to the end if they were to be found faithful when our Lord returns.
We can easily understand how some of them would grow weary of waiting for the Lord to return. We have the same problem. To avoid being overcome by the weariness of waiting we need to pray and keep praying.
The Lord’s example
Jesus had our nature and was in danger of fainting in the way just like ourselves. He knew the value of persistent prayer and practiced it.
Before selecting the 12 apostles, he spent all night in prayer (Lk. 6:12). That tells us something. He did not need to spend all night in order to ask for guidance in making the choices. The request would have taken only a minute or so. But it would take all night to review the qualifications of the various candidates and to consider the training they would need. Time would be needed as well to think over the Old Testament scriptures which indicated the problems he would encounter in being denied, betrayed and deserted by those who would be so close to him. His prayer was clearly more than making requests; it was also a time for reflection and meditation.
Requests are granted
Requests, however, are an important part of our prayers. God wants us to be in the kingdom. Surely He will provide us with what we need to get there. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…” (Matt. 7:7). “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (I John 5:14-15).
This is not to say that everything we ask will be immediately granted. But there are a lot of things that will only be done for us if we ask for them. Sometimes, our suffering will continue even though we ask for relief. But at other times, God will relieve us because we were persistent in our petition. One thing we can be sure of, it is His will that we endure our trials with humility, patience and godly fear; and if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us.
Always give thanks
We have so much to be thankful for that sometimes we take our blessings for granted. How could we do so? If 9 out of 10 lepers could fail to thank Jesus for healing them (Lk. 17:12-19), it is certainly possible for us to neglect thanksgiving.
Guidance of the Lord’s prayer
When we wonder how we should pray, we need only think of Jesus’ model prayer given to his apostles. We may not repeat the exact words, but surely here we have the basis of proper prayer.
We are to acknowledge our great blesssing of being children of God and are to commit ourselves to hallow His name. The coming kingdom is to be prominent in our thoughts and in our prayers. We are to look with confidence to God’s provision for today and not to be distraught about the needs of tomorrow. Forgiveness is something we need all of the time. If we are in Christ, we will always receive it, if we forgive others.
We are weak; temptation can easily overcome us. Just like the apostles, our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. How much we need God’s help to overcome; how capable He is of helping us, for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Preparation beforehand
If we just start praying without thinking about what we are doing or who we are, we can fall into the trap of the Pharisee. His mind was centered upon himself and his goodness compared to others around him (Lk. 18:10-14). What a foolish frame of mind.
Maybe the Pharisee did all the things he listed, but what was his motive? Receiving the praise of men? The publican knew where he stood and where we all stand — sinners in need of mercy. To avoid praying thoughtlessly or arrogantly, we need first to set our minds on our frailty and on our need for forgiveness of transgression.
Persistence in prayer
Jesus’ exhortation about prayer began with the great lesson about persistence. God is not an unjust judge; He is our merciful Father in heaven. But look at how strong the lesson is. If even a self-centered human can be moved by persistence, how much more can a God of compassion be moved by those who knock and keep knocking, who seek and keep seeking, who ask and keep asking.
We may sometimes despair, but He will lift us out of frustration and depression if we persist and do not faint.
How much greater assurance do we need of His care and His love than we receive from meditating on the bread and the wine and all they bring to mind?
The Lord has been raised from the dead and has been glorified. He will return. Let us be ready for his coming, being persistent in prayer.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One