by Pastor Afolabi Oladele
One of the common excuses for prayer delinquency arises from the notion that if God’s will is what ultimately prevails, why should one pray? Such a notion could come from frustration of having prayed and the assumption that one has not received an answer or total ignorance of God’s disposition towards us as His children; the Father that seeks fellowship with His children.
The disciples saw the Lord modeling the mode of relating with our Heavenly Father and recognizing the importance of prayer asked to be taught how to pray. This episode recorded in Luke 11:1-4 was quickly followed with our theme text that revealed the essentials in the practice of prayer. Our theme text, Luke 11:5-11, reveals a number of principles we each need to learn and turn to habit.
And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread], For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him; And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]? I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Luke 11:5-13 AMPC
We hardly come to terms with the process involved in waking up a typical Middle Eastern house that’s gone to bed! Certainly not one to be contemplated, yet the shameless, unabashed persistence of the one in need would come to bear and represent the first discipline of prayer; the discipline of persistence and insistence. This is not about vain repetitions the Lord warned about in Matthew 6:7-8, rather a tenacity of holding on until answer comes! Associated to the discipline of persistence is the discipline of patience, not turning away responding to emotions that tear us when we seem not to be getting an answer!
Vs.9,10 of our text directly speaks to the petitioner is full of expectation that he will get a response, a disposition of confidence in our Father’s heart towards us as children and His faithfulness. Nowhere is this best expressed than in Psalm 65:2-5 (AMPC)—O You Who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come. Iniquities and much varied guilt prevail against me; [yet] as for our transgressions, You forgive and purge them away [make atonement for them and cover them out of Your sight]! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You choose and cause to come near, that he may dwell in Your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. By fearful and glorious things [that terrify the wicked but make the godly sing praises] do You answer us in righteousness (rightness and justice), O God of our salvation, You Who are the confidence and hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off on the seas.
Do you have the conviction that God answers to and speaks back while in prayers?
Vs.11-13 exploded in deep insight by way of the contrast the Lord revealed here after reaffirming the need for patient persistence—What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
Earthly fathers are limited in that they can only give earthly things, but our Heavenly Father gives the perfect gift, the ultimate in the spiritual from where the earthly is controlled! The gift of the Holy Spirit is God offering HimselF, in the completeness described in John 14: 16,17 (AMPC)—And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.
The practice of prayer speaks to having a deep and abiding relationship with God, where the grant of our desire is not, repeat not, the prize; the prize of the practice of prayer is knowing the heart of our Father. Selah
Lisa Blair
“Do you have the conviction that God answers to and speaks back while in prayers?” Yes.
I believe God answers all prayers. Sometimes He says, “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No.” And sometimes He says, “Wait.” We don’t always appreciate the answer we receive or the timing of the answer, but I believe He answers us.
And sometimes God asks human vessels to be His arms and feet, but they don’t obey, so the manifestation of the answer isn’t expressed on the earth – though that was His heart and will.
And sometimes the other side interferes as we see when Daniel prayed, and the answer was delayed 3 weeks by demonic beings.
So, He hears our prayers, He answers our prayers, but the manifestation of the answer is sometimes different than what we expect and that is where trust or doubt appear before us and we have to make a choice on which way we will believe and walk out our belief.