PRAY FOR.....PERSISTENCE

Jesus said that we, Christians, should pray to the Father “In My Name” is so much that whatever we asked, will be granted unto us.  He also said, we have not because we ask not. Prayer is the only means by which we can communicate with our great God in Heaven and the Savior. We are doubly blessed among all people in that our Savior – Jesus Christ – also intercedes for us. Now, wrap your mind around that for a second: the Creator of untold galaxies; the human body and everything that lives and breathes – prays for us! (Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them - Hebrews 7:25).

One of the most important qualities the Messiah imputed and embedded in us, is the ability to persist, press on, press forward and stay glued to Him, in prayer. Notice, He gave us the ability. For some reason, most do not access this part of the spiritual brain, choosing instead to let others pray for them when the chips are down.  But we should – God has not given us a spirit of fear but the ability to defeat it and conquer through prayer. He does want us to persist in our prayer and worship life – DAILY.

Jesus gave us an example of persistence here in Luke 18:1-5: “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”

So how does this look, on the ground –where the rubber meets the road? How do we persist in prayer when we, as a people,  hardly ever pray because of culture, wealth or  whatever?  From personal experience,  Persistence in Prayer begins with Fasting.  Jesus did not do away with Fasting in the New Testament and in fact, in His Great Sermon on the Mount,  He explained Fasting as a given (i.e. “When you fast”  …three times - click link here to read ).  He also rebuked His own disciples who were unable to cast the demon out of a man’s son in Mark telling them that this type of divine victory can only be accomplished by fasting!

But what does fasting have to do with anything? In essence, it reminds me of discipleship on steroids. Jesus told us that unless we are willing to take up our Cross and follow Him (i.e. deny ourselves and our worldly desires) we cannot be His disciples. Fasting is a proactive step in denying our physical wants and needs for a day or two per month, or for as long as you wish. It is saying, in our spirits to the Lord,  “Lord, I desire You more than that sirloin steak or chocolate ice cream after a cheese burger. Lord, I want to put aside the desires of the flesh today, so I can pursue a closer walk with You, in spirit and in truth….a closer walk which will set me on a path in the pursuit of a more powerful prayer life. Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief and help me to press on and press in and forge ahead, just like the woman and the unjust judge in Your Parable, in Jesus’ Name amen”.

The Lord will not despise such a prayer, such an action or such longing for holiness even if we are new at this process of Fasting. Some may say they are medically unable to go without food for more than 4 hours etc. This is fine. Consult a doctor and see if a vegetable diet once a week will harm you. I use vegetable broth which is found in small containers in the organic aisle of the local grocery store. Nothing fancy.  The main idea is to give up something of earthly value, then to come to the Lord humbly with a repentant heart, and your bible, then to sit, pray, persist and worship and press on in His Presence.

Persistence in Prayer is very important if you and I are the only ones praying for a certain matter, concerning another person,  issue or condition. We stick with it and travail along in prayer until the Holy Spirit sends Word from heaven that we can stop praying now for this or that person or issue, because the answer is at hand.  We never let go until such time. However, this point is never attained to, unless we first understand the starting point – coming to the Throne of Grace completely in pursuit of His Presence and Power in our Prayer.
Amen

Therefore Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, I surrender myself at the Altar of Christ to be taught by You, just how I can lay a hold of what You have already pre-destined for me.  I desire knowing all there is about You and the Lord Jesus Christ and I pray for release from my bondage of self, sin and smugness so I can humbly yet boldly see You through prayer and fasting and supplication. Lord, please strengthen my ability to first start on the path to persistent and travailing prayer and to stay that course, no matter what the distractions and disappointments in life.  Lord, I pray  You take the focus of my heart, mind body and soul away from the mundane things of life this very day, and reorient me into the foundation of Prayer, so that I may flow naturally into the stream of sweet fellowship with You, according to Thy Will and Thy Purpose, in Jesus’ Name amen.

(Photo Credit Here)

THY WILL BE DONE: PRAYER - "BE PERSISTENT"

If you look up the definition of the word “persistent” in the great Webster’s Dictionary, the word “relentless” stands out boldly. A classic version of this same dictionary, before language and culture got as corrupt and out of sync with reality and God, as today, has a significant definition for those who seek to pursue the Heart of God. The man or woman who fights life’s battles on his/her knees is to be admired and as a result immediately stands out among the ordinary.  To wit, the 1913 Webster’s defines Persistent, in relation to such a person, as one who “remains beyond the period when parts of the same kind sometimes fall off!!” This is actually the biological definition of the word, but describes what we are studying here, perfectly!

What this says, in essence is the persistent prayer warrior is one who presses on, when others simply give up because they think they are not getting the response from God they seek. We all have matters before the Lord, from the moment we were aware of His presence in our lives, before He called us through the process of rejuvenation and salvation, where prayers are either never answered (human perception) or the matter is under consideration (divine perception).

Jesus Himself showed us the way to perseverance in prayer in Luke 18:1-5 “Then He spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lost heart. Saying ”There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a certain widow in that city; and she came to him saying, ‘get justice for me from my adversary’. (The unjust judge) would not for a while; but afterward he said to himself, ‘though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her CONTINUAL COMING she weary me’.” (Emphasis mine).

This incredible teaching by the Lord in the passage above, followed by the analogy or anecdotal evidence of the "unjust judge" is all we need to persist in prayer. Let us briefly examine what Jesus said here: "He spoke.....that men.... always ought to pray and not lost heart (verse 1)
Consider this:
Jesus spoke- Now this is the very SAME voice which SPOKE the world into existence, "in the beginning" of time, as we know it! Think of what power the Voice, Which sounds like Niagara Falls, actually has! He Who spoke us into existence.... He Who parted the Red Sea....He Whose Voice called Lazarus from the dead....it is He Who is telling us HOW we are supposed to pray! Earlier on, the Voice of God also "strongly recommends", in the Sermon on the Mount, that we both pray and fast. This is NOT Old Testament, so LISTEN TO HIM!

So we have the underlying directive from the Greatest Authority of the World - the Voice of Jesus (re: Jesus spoke) and He tells us we "always ought to pray"! The word "ought" here is originally written "dei". This strong word means more than "you should....or you REALLY ought to"! What Jesus is saying here is "it behooves you to so do, and in fact, it is more than NECESSARY for you to press on and then press in, because you know what, you really MUST...." All of this is wrapped up in this one word!

Then finally, the Voice, after saying it is necessary to pray for (or offer prayers about), directs that we should NOT lose heart. The original language here, which is key to understanding Truth, is "ekkakeó". Jesus is saying in common vernacular "come on, man, are you going to give up this easy? Are you going to fall away too? I expect one of My children, My sons and daughters, My prayer warriors, My men and women of God to fight all the time, in all circumstances, in all manner of ways on their knees!"

Jesus knows He can answer any prayer and correct every wrong immediately, if He wanted to, but just like the woman who had the blood issue, He allowed her to SEEK HIM OUT, THEN touch the priestly tassels on His garment so she could be healed. This is the only way humans can really appreciate how great a Salvation we have and how much God really loves us and wants to help us! We do all of this praying and not getting weary or "losing heart" or otherwise throwing in the towel like most modern Christians - we do this ALL on our knees. We are the only people in Creation ever, who are strongest when we are weak, meek and seek on our knees!

In these few words from the Creator of the Universe (Colossians 1:13-21) we see the exhortation and the example of persistent prayer. So when things are not going our way, things which affect us deeply, personally and even professionally, we stay focused on Him, we fight with Him and we finish the course on our knees before Him. The key thing is "we stay", we persist, we never lose heart and never weary in doing good, or speaking with the One Who is forever Good, True and Holy! If He answers differently  than we expect, well then, it is for our own good. 

Be persistent! Stand out as a warrior on your knees, staying there, while everyone around is giving up and walking away. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord thy God, is with us. Amen.

Next: "Be Positive"

THY WILL BE DONE.....PRAYER - THE PLAN

Continuing on in the area of the Methodology of Prayer and God’s response, let us first recognize what an incredible privilege this is! In the west, we take Christianity and the God of the Bible so casually (which we all do) that we fail to full comprehend just Who we are talking about!  For goodness sake, He is the God of the Universe. He is the Ancient of Days.  He is the Sustainer of Life, the One Who holds every single breath in His Hands. He is the Creator and thus the Judge of all things and all peoples, the One Who holds our eternity in His Hands.

In His Hands,  reside the keys to this wonderful mystery called Prayer.  This is very important to note because this Almighty Supreme Being of the Universe, Who always existed owes us sinful humans nothing but the back of His Powerful Hand. We deserve nothing more than rebuke from He Whose Voice sounds like Niagara Falls (the Book of the Revelation calls His voice “the sound of many waters”). So understanding this truth is primary to grasping absolute fact which is thus – God owes us nothing. Conversely, we owe Him everything. We owe Him Respect; Obedience; Worship and Praise.

Therefore the Methodology of the Effective Prayer life begins with the full comprehension of just to Whom we are praying.  Secondly, we simply do not know how to pray! The average Christian may pray once a week in church or in an emergency health or traumatic situation, cry out for help. Statistics show the average American pastor only prays 10 minutes per week! When we do pray, we stumble around unless we have been prayer warriors for a while. The bible says the following from Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God".

So given all of this, are we losing courage in our prayer lives when God does not immediately, five minutes after we pray, tell us His Will for our lives? Do you get disheartened when we pray for the healing or health of a loved one and either nothing happens or the loved one’s health declines? Do we give up when we pray about say, moving to a state with more career opportunity when others are telling us to stay put? How does Sally if she should marry Jim, or Junior should marry Jill? Decisions decisions decisions.....How do we pray for an and expect an answer to these life-changing events we all must make, at one time or another?

God knows our weakness. The awesome thing about being born-again is that the same Spirit Who raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us to execute what God has revealed in the two verses above from Romans 8:27-28. The thing is we literally cannot do this on our own. Christians are supposed to function in such a way as to allow the Spirit access to our lives and decisions so He can interpret the needs and wishes of our hearts. This way, He can fulfill what this scripture says, in order to transmit our petitions and prayers directly to the Father in Heaven. Think of it this way. Think of the Holy Spirit as the Divine Filter of Heaven, Who takes our jumbled up words and weird wants, cleans them up and presents them the way God will accept before the Throne. This is the only way for the saint by calling to have our prayers heard by God. There is no going through a third party like a priest or pastor, or lighting a candle or whatever material thing mankind thinks must occur.  There is only the Holy Spirit and what He does, as just described here.

Subsequently, this also confirms a significant truth from the Bible that God ONLY hears the prayer of a righteous man! Who is a righteous man since we are still sinners from time to time? A righteous man is one who has repented, believed the Gospel, cried out to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior. Anything else is easy believism modern western cotton candy Christianity. THIS is the only first step to following the Plan for Prayer, as God has ordained. This first step is Salvation. 

NEXT: EFFECTIVE PERSISTENT WARRIOR