06/30/2024
This morning we will reconsider the parable of the man who goes to his neighbor in the middle of the night to borrow bread. This parable teaches us persistence in prayer and typically is taught as prayer which motivates God by our nagging impudence. Today I would like to propose an alternate study. The lesson, as it is typically taught, goes like this... When Christmas is drawing near, our children begin to communicate their desires relative to Christmas gifts. Sometimes the list of wants might change but there are certain requests that remain as they repeat them time and time again. In this way they hope to nag us in hopes that they will get what they want.
“He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”
Luke 11:5-8 ESV
As parents we zero in on these wants and move them to the top of the list. Eventually, due to the child's persistence, we take action and the child receives the gifts they wanted most. But does God need to be prodded in this way? He hears our prayers before we even say the words, and he knows our hearts intimately. Yet, in this parable we are seemingly instructed to pray persistently. So if God already knows our heart and our prayers, why would it be that we should repeat them?
“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
Isaiah 65:24 KJV
“Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)”
1 Kings 8:39 KJV
There are certain gifts and lessons which come over time, just as we are not totally mature in our faith the very first day we believe. The apostles knew this and asked Jesus for help.
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”
Luke 17:5 KJV
Love and knowledge are also attributes that grow over time like our faith...
“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:9-11 KJV
So, is this the actual lesson in this morning's parable? Are we to continually and persistently pray, not for the things which God grants in an instant, but for those things that continue to grow in us over time? Perhaps our persistence in prayer is an exercise for our own benefit and not meant to pester God until he relents. Maybe we are learning to refine our own wants until they conform to the will of God.
As we pray persistently for things like increased faith, love, knowledge, wisdom, and so many other gifts that increase as our relationship with The Lord gains depth, we are keeping them in our forethought. It isn't necessary to repetitively ask God for the same thing over and over again... He remembers them perfectly, so maybe we just need to open our eyes and see that He has already answered, or is in the process of answering.
However, unlike God who doesn’t forget unless He chooses to do so, we need to be reminded, and our mastery of things does require repetition and revisiting thoughts. Our prayers bolster our memories, and serve to instruct us. God knows our heart and hears our prayers before we utter them, and He also teaches us through His provision; so in this way our prayers are always before him. We, on the other hand, need to be reminded, and to study the lessons of faith day after day. Our prayers serve to increase our breadth of faith and the many gifts and lessons of God.
This morning as we pray, let's recognize that the healing we have prayed for so diligently over the past days is actually a prayer for increased faith and trust, the prayer for a failing business is actually a prayer for knowledge and courage, and the repetitive prayers for our spouses are prayers for a deeper love and understanding. Let's pray that God will use our persistent prayers and attention to increase and refine His characteristics within us. Let's ask for a deeper and more robust walk with Him as He perfects Himself in us... each and every day, and with every prayer we revisit through repetition!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our prayers, even those we come to you with day after day. Help us Lord to understand the lesson in these repeated requests, and to realize that you haven’t forgotten them since the last time we prayed to you. Teach us the lesson that you intend for us, and bless us, not in our impudence, but in our understanding and desire that your will be done. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was and is, and is to come. Holy are you whose door we stand before day and night with adamant prayers on our lips, and unshaken faith in our hearts. Hear our repeated requests Father, not as a constant nagging in hopes of moving you against your will, but to demonstrate the urgency we feel in them. Hear our prayers Abba, and tend to them like a garden in which the frailest plant is given the most water, and attention. Tend to our repeated requests like you would to a sick child who cries out time and again in the night. Rise up Lord like you did when you sent Jesus to redeem us. Rise up Lord to answer our prayer and call to action as we pray that you send Him back again. Hear our repeated cry as we pray… “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Amen!
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:16-17 CSB
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”
Matthew 7:11 CSB
Hallelujah!
Rich Forbes