My Prayer Point of View (Part 2)

"How often have we prayed something like, 'O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way'? Have we stopped to consider what it is we're requesting? Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. Would you dream of saying, "O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way"? No way. You would say, "Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there's any problem. Any questions before we go?" We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. We want them to know specifics. It should be no different with prayer. "-David Jeremiah

Isn't it odd that such simple principles can often seem so hard to grasp?

"A centipede was happy till one day, a toad in fun said, ‘Pray, which leg goes after which?’ Which strained his mind to such a pitch he lay distracted in a ditch, considering how to run. I think there are a good many toads in the world, and sometimes, not in fun at all but very seriously, they manage “to strain our minds to such a pitch”, that instead of going on in simplicity we may easily find ourselves distracted in a ditch, not running, but only considering how to run.
-Amy Carmichael

So often I am my own toad. (Oh, that sounds wierd.) I spend so much time asking God to "help me with this" or "show me this" when He has already given me answers in His word! I remember a particular period when I spent so much time wondering (and dispairing) "in a ditch on the side of the road" because I felt I could recieving no answer.

The Lord opened my eyes to what I had so pridefully ignored and I saw when I asked for strength He answered, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9) I asked for joy and He said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (Jn 15:10-12) I could find joy in obedience, do all things through His strength, find His will for my life (1 Thes 5:16-18) -even my prayer life.

You see, so many principles of prayer that are laid out plainly in the Scriptures have been very difficult to grasp. There was a point in my life when I knew the foundation of my life in Christ was supposed to be fellowship and communion with Him, but I had so much trouble in proceeding. I could easily spend time praising Him, but I was confused and concered about how to bring my petitions before Him. Was I supposed to ask God for something only once, and the wait with a spirit of longsuffering for the answer? If I asked two or three times (or more) was I whinning and begging or not being grateful enough.

I thought, what about the parable of that persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), and the story of Elijah's prayer (1 Kings 18:41-45. Seven times he bowed down, praying for rain, and when he finally saw a cloud as small as a man’s hand, he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’”)? I read Luke 11 and saw that right after Jesus was asked to teach about prayer, Jesus gives a pararble of a man who came at midnight asking his friend to get up and give him bread, and Jesus said "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs." And for the next five verses Jesus tells us to keep asking, seeking, knocking.

Leslie Ludy said, "Instead of assuming that Christ doesn't desire to answer our prayers when we don't recieve an immediate response, we are to press in with even more persistance not letting go until our requests are granted. Just as Jacob wrestled all night with God saying, 'I will not let you go until you bless me,' we are to wrestle in prayer until the breaking of day. (See Gen 32:26)"

There are times when repeated prayers are inapropriate. (see Matthew 6:7, and in 2 Corinthians 12:7,8 three times was enough.) Though as we see in Elijah's case, it was God's will for the rain to come, and yet the Lord required Elijah to show faith and persistance until He answered Him. Jesus repeated prayers, Matthew 26:44, "So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words."

Prayers that are in accordance with God's will, and prayed in faith (we must be certain of the nature of God) with persistance, (do not falter), and prayed with purity (prayers can be hindered by sin, 1 Peter 3:7, Matthew 5:23-24) are prayers that God takes pleasure in answering. Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37:4

Perserverance is an indespensible factor. Spiritual victories are rarely won in single battles.
Faithful prayer can be established by persistantly resisting hinderance. But every rich approach to God is bound to meet resistance. The enemy will never entirely quit. He returns time after time after time using many different means. Do not grow weary, keep praying again, and again.