Perseverance: “…to persist
in anything undertaken; to maintain a purpose despite difficulty, obstacles or
discouragement; to continue steadfastly.“
There
ought to be no doubt in our mind that
the practice of biblical
prayer demands perseverance. It
ought to be one of the easiest things, since
the most basic definition of prayer is “talking to God”. However, the most seasoned Christians
will tell you that there are many obstacles, difficulties and
discouragements in the way of prayer in
this world of sin, where our hearts and
minds are so often weighed down by so
many matters of secondary and lesser
importance. The Lord Jesus
anticipated this and that is why, I believe, He attaches this
teaching on perseverance in prayer in addition to
the outline of prayer given in
response to the question of one of the disciples: “Lord,
teach us to pray”[1]
(Lk
11:1).
Before we move on to the subject of perseverance
in prayer (Lk 11: 5-13) allow me to
repeat what we have said
over the last two Sundays concerning
the “Lord’s prayer”.
The
order of this prayer suggests
that there is a structure to prayer.
We are called begin with God and His Name
and His kingdom and thereafter
we are invited to present all our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. This
is what is suggested in Matthew 6: 33
:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these things will be added to you…”
This simple outline is profoundly comprehensive. Everything is covered here. God is at the top of the prayer agenda as He is remembered, worshipped and honoured. This is followed by the invitation to present all our daily needs
to God.[2] Prayer is speaking to the God
who knows everything, sees everything and who can do everything. So we
must not think that prayer is an information session, for we cannot add any knowledge to God. David says, “Even before a word is on my
tongue, behold O LORD you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). Neither is the purpose of prayer to remind God, just in case God forgets! God is not a man . He who has planned and
executed every detail of this
universe continues to uphold everything
by His perfect knowledge.
So
prayer is a gift
from God, and it is for our benefit. He invites us and enables us
to speak to Him. Christ is the Mediator
through whom we have access into His
presence. That is why we pray to God the Father in the Name of Jesus. In prayer
we speak to God like a child would speak to a father. The father is the child’s provider, and the child trusts him to provide his essentials. The father has the resources, and
the father has the knowledge concerning what is really needed and what is
really important, and what is not
important or beneficial.
And
so, as the Lord Jesus
teaches His disciples these principles of prayer, there is now an added matter- that of persevering in
prayer! In verses 5- 13 He addresses 2 questions which we would often ask in connection with the matter
of perseverance in prayer :
1. How
much of prayer is my responsibility?
How much effort must I put into prayer
and how long must I persevere in order to obtain an answer?
2.
Why and on
what basis should
God be obliged to answer my prayer, and why does
it often take time before He answers prayer?
1.
My Responsibility – Patience and Perseverance in
Prayer
By
means of a simple story Jesus teaches us an important fact about prayer. A man goes
to the house of his
friend at midnight, and asks him for
food. He tells him that a friend has arrived unexpectedly from a journey
and he has no food to set before him. You will understand that for
a man in bed with his family all tucked in, this is an
inconvenient hour, and yet amidst
protests (v.7) the man perseveres and gets what he wants.(v.8)
The
point of the story is simple: If perseverance in asking works so well
between man and man, how much more may we expect when we persevere in prayer with God? May I remind you that Jesus used this
illustration to encourage us not
to give up in prayer – particularly in
relation to those prayers that
carry God’s approval.
Your duty is to persevere in prayer! In fact, perseverance is one of
the ways in which you show that you
really mean business with God!
Your duty is to persevere by asking: If the man had
not asked his friend for bread, he would not have received it. The same is true
for prayer. If we do not ask God, then we
must not expect to receive. Jesus encourages us to ask perseveringly : “…ask, and it will be
given to you; seek and you
will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you…”. The matter of
asking with perseverance is
taught here and later again in Luke
18:1-8, in the parable of the persistent widow, where it is explicitly said that “…
he told them a parable to the effect that
they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke
18:1). We must learn to persevere in
prayer.
Your duty is to
persevere by asking with sincere motives: We are making
this point because we do need to
understand that our prayers are not always answered immediately for we
often ask in the wrong spirit or with
wrong motives. Thus James tells us: “You do not have, because you do not ask. You
ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
(James 4:2,3). Now the man in Jesus’ story had a
sincere and legitimate need. There was
no issue of wrong or of hidden motives or self-gain implied in his asking. He was asking for
three loaves of bread, and this for another person who had suddenly arrived on his doorstep, and who
needed something to eat.
James
makes the point that asking (praying) in
a context of unconfessed and ongoing quarrels and fighting and
covetousness causes God to be deaf to our prayers. [3]
A self -centered spirit as is described
by James perverts our prayer life,
and we
will not receive anything from God.
This partially answers our question as to
why God keeps us sometimes waiting in terms of an answer to prayer. Often God teaches us in a time of waiting to confess our sins. At other times we learn adjust
our prayers, or to drop them altogether
as we discover that our motives have been wrong
or misdirected. At other times it is just a matter of God’s sanctifying
work within us by which He teaches us to
be patient and perseverant. It is
important to understand these things as we turn
to the next point.
Your duty is to
persevere with boldness! The
story of
“the friend at midnight” teaches us something else. Be persistently bold in your prayers! This man knew that he would
get what he wanted from his friend. Why?
Jesus says, firstly because he
was his friend, and secondly because of his persistence.(v.8). Now notice that Jesus
is building up to His final argument, illustrating in verses 9-13
that God is our
friend, and as such He is neither
tight fisted nor unsympathetic to our
urgent pleading. He is after all our Father in heaven (11:2,13). Both,
Abraham and Moses are good
examples of men ‘urgently arguing ‘ with
God on behalf of their people.[4]
They are clearly doing this on the basis
of their relationship with Him. God was very real to them. We learn from their example, and from Jesus
example here and in Luke 18:1ff that God is
not offended if you ask with boldness and persistence. He is your Father and He is your friend. He is for you and not
against you.
The
secret of bold prayer lies
in understanding and appropriating ‘the promises of God’ – the things
that He has clearly said and promised in
the Scriptures. We pray on solid ground when we
ask according to the promises of
God’s Word. Spurgeon says : “Our
prayers are according to the mind of God when they are according to the word of
God.”
Monica, the godly mother of Augustine (b. 354 A.D), the North African Church father prayed for
him relentlessly before his conversion. I quote this transcript
of a prayer of Monica[5],
Augustine's mother, as a beautiful example of this earnestness and simplicity
of faith in pleading the promises of the word:
'Lord,
these promises were made to be made good to some, and why not to me? I
hunger; I need; I thirst; I wait. Here
is thy hand-writing in thy word; … I am resolved to be as importunate till I have obtained,
and as thankful afterwards, as by thy
grace I shall be enabled; being convinced that I am utterly lost and undone, if thou hearest not
the desires of the humble: and if thou
dost hear and grant, I am so well acquainted
with myself and with my own heart, that I have nothing to glory in; but
I shall wholly glory in the Lord; and I do resolve and believe, that I shall to all eternity celebrate and
magnify the riches of thy grace. Thy promises are the discoveries of thy
purposes, and vouchsafed as
materials for our prayers; and in my supplications I am resolved every day to present and tender
them back to thee; and if thou wilt
have regard to them, and appear to be a "God of truth to my soul; a poor
creature, that hath long feared to burn in hell for hypocrisy, will be secured
and made happy for ever. I am resolved
to wait upon thee, and to cast down my soul upon thee.”
The practice of persevering prayer then is a Christian’s duty, and so I trust that you have the answer to that question answered, How long must I pray? The answer is this, Until God answers! Thankfully God is not deaf. He is not ignoring you. He is working out His plan. While Monica was praying, God was working in Augustine’s life[6] to bring him to his end and to repentance and to conversion.[7]
2. God’s Responsibility: Faithful, Fatherly Love
So,
how much commitment can I expect from
God when I present my prayer persistently and boldly and without selfish
motives to Him? The answer is this:
God is fully committed to answer
every God honouring request
in prayer! The biblical
basis for this is found in verses 11 & 12 : “What father among you, if his son asks for
a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an
egg, will give him a scorpion? “ Your heavenly father is good and kind. He will not give you
something evil in return for a reasonable request. So if you ask
what is God glorifying (Your kingdom come – i.e. to see souls saved- your children or family members saved), and if you ask for what you need (daily bread; forgiveness and power to forgive; escape from
temptation) will God refuse you these things? No! He has promised
to look after your daily
physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The basis for this is the fact that God is a
good, caring Father to His children. A
good father does not ignore the legitimate needs of his children. He may not
give them everything that they want, but He will provide everything that they need. That is good
parenting. Even if the answer is “no”
or “wait a little longer” it is a good answer and a loving response, and it is for our
benefit. How thankful we can be that God
does not always grant us the
desires of our heart. Standing at
this particular point in life, and looking back, I can say with gratitude: ”Thank you Lord that you did not grant me
certain things which I had asked, and that you have closed certain doors.”
So, God will withhold no good thing from
me; yet at the same time I know that He
will not grant me anything that would set me back spiritually, for the
chief reason for which I exist is to
glorify God.[8]
A
brief comment on the last verse: “ If you then, who are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (v.13) In giving us the Holy Spirit, God gives us Himself , and
in giving us Himself He gives us everything that we need and desire:
- Salvation to eternal life which is the work of the Holy Spirit ; this promise is for us and our children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” (Acts 2:39)
- Sanctification, which is power from the Holy Spirit for holy living.
- Spiritual Gifts - the ability to work effectively in the kingdom of God and in our local church through the spiritual gifts which the Holy Spirit gives us.
Persevere
in prayer then, dear brothers and sisters. God is for
you. But be prepared for Him to work in
you while you pray. Ultimately we
persevere because He perseveres with us.
Amen!
Amen!
[1] Jesus was probably asked this
many times, and when He did
He gave this
outline which we find in Matthew 6:9-13 and also here in Luke
11:2-4, which clearly were different occasions.
[2] The 10 commandments
( Ex 20:1-17) follow a similar pattern :
God and His honour first , and then the various human relationships .
[3] God is deaf to our prayers when we
deliberately and habitually sin against
Him : see for instance Jeremiah
7:17 ; 11:14; 14:11
[4] E.g. Genesis 18: 22-32
( Abraham) ; Exodus 32:11-14 ( Moses)
[5] Quoted in
Charles
Bridges commentary on Psalm 119 : 76
p.207
[6] Augustine’s insights
in this regard are remarkable
( Sheed : p.72)
[8] Westminster
Catechism : Question 1 : “What is the
chief end of man?” Answer : “The
chief end of man is to worship (glorify)
God and to enjoy Him forever. “
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