Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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Lord, Teach Us to Pray
One day, we are told, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples suggested that he teach them to pray just as John the Baptist had apparently taught his disciples. And, Jesus proceeded to give them a model on which to pray that we now call the Lord's Prayer.
There are a couple of things to note here before we go on. Jesus was praying in a certain place. And, while it is certainly true that we can pray at any time and wherever we are, I think that there is something really beneficial about have a "certain place" for prayer. Have you and I established a "somewhere special" where we can easily pray? Jesus was also praying, we are told, "one day." This was just one day out of many. Prayer is not something out of the ordinary but something that we do each and every day. We could examine the prayer itself as well but suffice it to say that it simply acknowledges God in his rightful place and requests what we need. And that is the essence of any prayer.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus immediately goes on to the second prayer lesson. And he does so with a story, a parable, that supposes that a friend of yours has dropped in unexpectedly rather late at night. You realize that you are a little short on groceries. This was in the days before convenience stores and baking bread would have taken several hours. It is already late. The rest of your family may have already gone to bed. So you go to your next-door neighbor even though it is late and knock on the door trying not to wake his family to ask for three loaves of bread. He doesn't respond in a friendly way, however, and says, "Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything" (Luke 11:7).
If that were the end of the story, it would not be a very good one. However, Jesus says, "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs" (Luke 11:8). We have previously looked at the fact that we are to pray with boldness (see the September 11/08 Challenge). That is not totally absent from this story. But that is not the point here. Jesus continues,
"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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (Luke 11:9-10).
The point of Jesus teaching on prayer here is that our heavenly Father is not like the man next door. Yes, he shares his bread. But he does so begrudgingly. God is not like that. Jesus makes that point in what follows. If you are a father (or a mother for that matter) and your child asks for something that they need, will you give them what they don't want or what they don't need? No, none of us would do that. Neither would God. In fact, we are told,
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father in heaven give . . . to those who ask him" (Luke 11:13, see Matthew 7:11).
Our Father in heaven delights to give. "For God so loved the world that he gave . . ." (John 3:16). And yes, he responds to our bold requests. More than that, however, unlike the neighbor in the story, he will give us everything that we need because he is a friend.
I must admit that at first glance, I was a little troubled by the fact that we were asking for things we need and God gives us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). Is that not somewhat similar to asking for a fish and getting something else? I was tempted just to go to Matthew 7:11 and settle for the "good gifts." But remember, this is teaching about prayer and about getting what we need in prayer. And, elsewhere in scripture, we are reminded that, "we do not know what we ought to pray for" (Romans 8:26).
When we ask for help praying, God gives us his Holy Spirit in increasing measure. We do not know always how best to pray for ourselves or others. The Spirit is there to help us in our weakness. And, "the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). Have you ever felt like you didn't even know how to pray or what God wanted in a particular situation? Enter the Spirit of God. He transforms our requests into victory because he totally prays in accordance with the will of God. He cannot do anything else.
"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:27).
That is the only reason that Jesus could say with confidence that when we ask, we will receive, and when we seek, we will find, and when we knock, the door will be opened.
Learning to pray means learning to pray in and with the Spirit of God that we have been given in abundance. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Lord, teach us to pray is Lord, teach us to listen to and participate in the prayers that the Holy Spirit is praying on our behalf. When that happens, all things work together for good and we are more than conquerors through him who loved us! (see the rest of Romans 8).
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