Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A
Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of
David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering
terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged Him,
“Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent
only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord,
help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread
and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman,
you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at
that moment. (Matt 15:21-28)
Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed,
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will.” Then He returned to his disciples and found them
sleeping…He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not
possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be
done.” When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were
heavy. So He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time,
saying the same thing. (Matt 26:39-44)
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at
midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a
journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one
inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children
and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even
though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet
because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much
as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be
opened. (Luke 11:5-10)
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a
thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded
with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-9a)
From
these scriptures, it’s easy to see God’s heart on the matter of prayer. Come to
Him…and He will answer. He will not chastise us for approaching Him multiple
times. Jesus prayed three times to be relieved from what He was facing! It’s ok to ask our Father for what we desire…even
if it’s more than once.
We
are invited to come boldly before Him (Hebrews 4:16), we are assured that He
hears us and that we can be confident that He will answer (1 John 5:14-15).
Further, we read that whatever we ask for that is in line with His will, we
will receive (John 14:13-14)! God invites our persistent prayers. When we
continue to go to God, it is recognition that He is the One who has the power
to answer – He is the One who can make it happen. So please, approach your
heavenly Father on a regular basis. Share your heart with Him…your needs…your
desires. In Luke 18, it is recorded that Jesus told a parable about a
persistent widow who was seeking justice from a judge. The judge ignored her for
a length of time but finally gave in saying, “Even though I don’t fear God or
care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see
that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!” In
telling this parable, Jesus was illustrating for His disciples that they should
always pray and not give up. The widow’s persistence invoked a response from
the judge. And when the judge responded, justice came about. AMEN!
So here are a couple of things to know
about our prayers…
First,
we must be children of God in order for the scriptures noted above to apply to
us. When we have put our trust in Christ, as our Savior, and made Him Lord of
our lives, we can read the scriptures and understand that the principles found
within are applicable to our lives. Many scriptures say that whatsoever we ask
IN HIS NAME, we shall receive. Well, without relationship with Him, we do not
have the authority to ask for anything in His name. The word tells us that no
one can come to the Father except through Christ (John 14:6). And without being
His children, we won’t recognize when He speaks to us (John 10:27). One more
thing, when you ask, believe! He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
(Hebrews 11:6)!
Second,
Jesus is not our “Cosmic Concierge”. We cannot just call Him up, give Him our
wish list, hang up, and then check those items off of our list – considering it
done. Although it is His good pleasure to meet our needs and He will do so for
His children, when we are praying and asking, we should only expect a “yes” to
our prayers when it is in God’s will. He desires the best for us. He has great
plans for our lives. He does not simply
give us anything and everything we ask for. (Praise God for that!) J Seek God’s will when you
pray.
The
third consideration is God’s timing. This is where the persistent prayer comes
in. It’s been said that God has three answers to our prayers: “yes”, “no”, or
“wait”. For me, the “yes” and the “no” are manageable. When I receive a “yes”,
great! When I receive a “no” I may be disappointed but I know the Lord has
something better suited for me. But the “wait” gets me every time. Am I the
only one who struggles with the “wait”?!?!?! The “wait” is the season before we
hear clearly from God – before the door is opened and we know we can move
forward or before the door is shut and it’s clear that we need to go in a
different direction. He may have some circumstances He’d like to walk us
through before He gives us a “yes” or “no”. And once He gives it, we are to
accept it and respond accordingly.
God’s
timing is perfect. God’s will for us is perfect. God’s love is perfect. Be
persistent in prayer until you hear clearly from God. Have faith in Him. He
will answer. And, by the way, He loves to hear from you!
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