The 18th chapter of the Gospel of Luke begins, "And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). The parable was about a widow that continually brought her demand for justice to an unrighteous judge. Her persistence won the day. Jesus concluded, "And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them?" (Luke 18:7). Paul told the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17) and the Colossians, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving" (Col 4:2). I'm sensing a theme here.
Jesus instructed His disciples to pray and even how to pray (and how not to pray). Jesus Himself often went off for extended times of prayer (Matt 14:23; Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:28). He commanded prayer, taught prayer, and modeled prayer. I suspect, however, that few of us would claim we were prayer warriors. I suspect, if we were honest, most of us would have to admit we don't pray nearly enough.
Our lives ought to be marked by prayer. It is our lifeline to God, our constant admission that we need Him, our personal connection to Him in the midst of what we like to term "a relationship, not a religion." God, Master of the Universe, asks us to let our requests be made known to Him (Php 4:6-7). I fear our pitiful prayer lives belie a problem in that regard, and not a small one. Perhaps it needs more diligent attention from us. Do you want justice in this crazy world? Pray always and do not lose heart. There is no "too much" when it comes to prayer.
2 comments:
I read once somewhere about a believer anticipating an especially busy and demanding day ahead; instead of concluding, “I’m too pressed to pray today,” as many of us would be tempted to say, he/she stated, “I’m too pressed NOT to pray today.” Sure makes good sense in light of Phil. 4:6. Many times I scold myself, “You have the opportunity to talk to the sovereign God of the universe about your personal concerns, and you’re not taking advantage of that??! How foolish!”
I think the difficulty many of us have is that prayer often feels so one sided. It's more our lack of listening, but that's how it feels, like the footsteps poem.
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