Faith

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PREVAILING IN PRAYER

PART ONE

HOW TO PRAY AND OBTAN ANSWERS

“And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:7-8

I have often pondered over the last lines in this verse, wondering if our generation has grown in faith with the increase in the knowledge of God? Or we are still “sucking at the milk” trying hard to figure out who God is. Has the increase in human wisdom, information technology, science and medicine, and intellectual excellence robbed us of the fundamental principles that govern faith and prayer?

When we stand in prayer, do we pray with faith—the kind of conviction that presupposes that God will grant us our wishes therefore, we are confident of the outcome of our prayers. Do we have the mustard-seed-sized faith that Jesus talked about: the kind of faith that can move hills and mountains?

It’s true that most of us have issues in our days: the kind of issues that are fundamental in all human species. Let’s face it. We all need joy, happiness, and freedom. We desire to be in charge of our lives, at least, as much as we can. Considering the myriads of issues confronting us on a day-to-day basis, we need faith to be able to walk through our problems. The kind of faith we need to turn things around is the subject of the 8 weeks essays on the subject of prayer.

Jesus told us that if our faith is as tiny as a mustard seed, we can command the mountain to remove from its place into the sea and it shall surely happen (Matthew 21:21-22). What is the size of your faith?

Even though prayer is the subject matter of this piece, faith always is identified with our essence as believers. Pleasing God begins with love, obedience, and faith. Hebrews 11:6 indicate that none of us can please God except through faith. Prayers that appeal to the heart of God must be lifted up in and with faith. It is not how many spiritual voices we may speak or invoke in our prayers. It’s not how much eloquence or theologically “correctness” we may pray with the word of God. It all comes down to how much faith is behind every spoken word in prayer.

WHEN DO WE QUIT PRAYING FOR SOMETHING?

The beginning of Luke Chapter Eighteen clearly shows that it is God’s intended purpose and plan for us to prevail in prayer. “Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).

Expounding on the necessity of prevailing in prayer, Jesus used the example of a widow and the wicked judge (Luke 18:1-8) to teach His disciples about praying without quitting until an answer is given. The question on the lips of is, “When do we stop praying for something?”

I will not try to pretend that I know all the answers, but I am here to offer suggestions that, I believe, may be necessary for anyone who is struggling to understand the dynamics of prayer. By being familiar with certain information that I will make available as we proceed, the reader will begin to recondition the heart to focus on certain aspects of their prayer life that have been ignored.

After reading the weekly piece on prayer, one may be able to determine whether his or her prayer is been heard and when it’s time to move on to another prayer topic.

Now back to the parable on prayer.

The wicked judge was portrayed as insensitive, wicked, rude, and arrogant; character traits that are directly opposite to God’s divine attributes. Jesus used this description to show us that, persistency can break the resolve of the most insensitive person. God is not like the uncaring judge. He cares for the tears of His children and may not want to see us go night after night asking for the same thing over and over again. He is not that insensitive.

The question: Why does He take such a long time to answer prayers? At times, He is quick and at other times He does not answer at all. The question is not, why does God takes His time to answer prayer, but what constitutes “a long time” for the petitioner.

If you stay the course without giving up, you will learn useful lessons that will change your prayer life forever.

Jesus, in the parable, suggested that we pray without fainting or giving up. All those who will stay the course and persist in prayer, He promises to come in swiftly and render justice. Does it mean God will answer every prayer swiftly? Not at all! The parable does not suggest that every prayer will be answered even if they do not call for God’s justice.

The parable teaches that God is a just God. He delivers swiftly those who are persecuted, cheated, robbed, destroyed, or taken unfair advantage of in society. The context suggests that when wicked people threaten our lives, we must turn to God. When we come against powerful people and those we feel weak to confront, we must turn to God who will dispense justice as swiftly as lightening.

The widow in this parable was desperately seeking judgment for her piece of property that was forcefully taken away from her. The notorious judge, unlike God, cared less about this woman’s plight. But the widow, undaunted by the judge’s lack of interest in her cause, kept showing up night after night until the judge got fed up. Finally, the judge gave in and said, “I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me” Luke 18:5b). He granted justice to this poor widow.

Jesus, in His usual teaching style concluded, “And shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?” Then He went on to answer the question. “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”

Our God is not wicked, but kind, loving, and is willing to see the best in us. Our Father gives good and perfect gifts to His children. He comes to our rescue whenever we are in trouble, feel cheated, abused, oppressed, or persecuted. Yet, He desires that we pray without ceasing. Why? Because prayer should not be seen only as going to God to ask for ourselves the things we need, but instead, going before Him in praise of His love and kindness, and on behalf of others, interceding for the well being of our family, friends, and people we do not know. This is our calling.

The question people often ask me is, “How much faith do we need for God to grant us our heart’s desire? How far must we go before God can hear our cry? Where must I go with my problem if God is slow in responding?

Many Christians struggle with issues of this nature. In the foregoing parable, we see the faith of a widow who decided that she needed to be heard. She did whatever she knew best—to show up night after night until the judge gave her audience. She wasn’t going to just say to herself, as many of us do, that she had had enough of the wicked judge. The issue was very important, and as such, it didn’t matter to her how many times she took that trip. It was central to her life. Her future depended on that piece of property. Or as a matter of principle, she was not ready to allow the “bad guys” to have it the easy way.

Sometimes, we allow the “bad guys” to snatch our blessings without a struggle. They come and take away our joy, peace, marriage, finances, emotions, and self-esteem. They plunder into our treasury and wrestle the blessings from us. There’re times we say, “That is it! I give up.” Jesus says, “Do not give up, for justice is on its way.”

The widow knew that she lived in an unfair world with morally bankrupt people. She understood that if she didn’t seek the ear of a higher authority, she would end up losing her only property that she had. The best way for her, and the only option she had was this wicked judge. What are your options in life? Who is your higher authority in life? And how long are you willing to remain in his presence?

TOO MANY OPTIONS DEFEAT FAITH

Quite often, our faith fails because we can think of several options for the same problem. We task the mind to develop alternative plans and strategies should one plan fail. This kind of thinking makes us more reliant on “our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) rather than training the heart to believe and trust in God.

When we have no other options in a particular situation, but to move forward, we will trust more in God’s saving strength. Unfortunately, our fast-paced world presents to us thousands of tailor-made options and expert advice.

Consider this example.
What will a man stuck in the middle of the Sahara Desert do? With no satellite phone or GSP Navigation System to guide him, and with desert vultures hovering in the sky, waiting for him to fall down so that they can pounce on his body as meat, his only option will be divine intervention. “Oh, God send me some help!” His prayers will not be like a-drive-thru service. He will pray his heart out and not be weary. At that point in time, this man has no option.

When we approach as if we have options, faith fails to work miracles. Hebrews 11:6b says, “Anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” The petitioner must acknowledge the sovereignty of God, His immanence, and His rewards for those who earnestly or diligently seek Him.
We are always seeking short cuts to resolve our problems because we have many options. When God fails us, we believe we can make it somehow.

This is the reason why at times God uses pain to grow us. Our limited choices bring us on our knees. The more time we spend with the Lord, the more we grow in faith and dependency on His grace and power.

The widow was persistent. She had no other option, and that produced the desired answer. Therefore, when we speak of faith and prayer, how much of each must be present to move God on our side? Every good prayer must revolve around faith because, “without faith we cannot please God.” Fervency and effectiveness of our prayers depend upon many other factors.

Does your heart convict you when you pray that you cannot obtain what you asked from God (1 John 3:21)?

OUR MOTIVES CAN HOLD BACK GOD’S RESPONSE

Another factor that influences the strength of our prayer is the motives with which we approach God. The apostle James revealed to us one area frequently ignored by Christians when it comes to asking God for our needs. Motive is a big player in prayer: asking a blessing with the wrong motive may be spending time and effort in futility. The delays are very obvious because God knows the condition of the human heart. He knows that the average heart is inherently selfish, greedy, and unappreciative of the many benefits already received.

I guess the question God sometimes would like us to answer in prayer is: “Why must I grant you this single wish?”

Just like going for a job interview, you must convince the interviewer that you are the most suited candidate for the job. He might not know whether it is true or not. One cannot fully tell just by merely looking at your resume until you take the job. People are good in interviews, whilst others, no matter how good they are, flop during interviews. Unlike the human interviewer that you can outwardly please, God knows your innermost thoughts, abilities, and motives before you went into a asking-mode.

If we can answer the Almighty Father that the blessings we seek are intended not to show-off, or compete with others, but rather to extend ourselves to those that are in need, then we are completely paving the way for divine outpouring.

Lying harmlessly and unbeknown to us, within the depth of our hearts is our motivation for asking, doing, giving, loving, sharing, caring, relating to others, and more importantly, serving God.

What is your motivation for asking a blessing from God?

According to James, regardless of the amount of faith we may possess, if our motives in prayer are not in line with God’s, we will not receive an answer. The reason? Listen to what James says. “ When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures,” James 4:3

Knowing the difference between needing and wanting something might help to devote more time the Lord through those things that are critical to our very existence. Jesus says, when we commit to prevail in prayer not giving up, God responds with swiftness.

How long must we spend on an issue in prayer? And how do we know if we have prayed enough?

To Be Continued Next Week

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