Remember Jesus’ story in Luke 11:5-13 of the man who went to a friend’s house at midnight and knocked on the door because he had guests and needed bread to serve them. At first, his friend turned him away as he was already in bed for the night and didn’t want to be bothered but the man continued to knock and knock and finally, the man got out of bed and gave the man all that he needed.
Jesus teaches in this story the lesson of persistent prayer, emphasizing that we should confidently and continuously ask God for what we need, just as we would persistently ask a friend for help in the middle of the night, trusting that God, as a loving father, will ultimately provide for his children.
What about us? Do we continue to have faith and hope in Him, to trust Him while we wait, even for a very long time, to get an answer to our prayers? Do we continue to pray and to seek Him even when our prayers do not get answered right away?
We pray for things we need and for others that are suffering and in need as we should but our Heavenly Father knows what we each need before we even ask so for whom are our prayers really for?
In Jewish oral tradition, it is taught that we don’t praise God because He needs our compliments. We don’t thank God because He needs our gratitude. And we don’t make requests because God doesn’t know what we need. Rather, we do all these things in order to change our hearts — to increase our awareness of God, the Source of all things.
First and foremost, prayer is about communing with God and that prayer is about more than getting immediate results. Sincere prayer is about coming closer to God.
We don’t pray so that we will get an answer; our prayer is the answer. Prayer is not for God’s benefit; it’s for ours. Through prayer, we grow and change. Prayer is the greatest change agent that there is; it cleanses and renews us too. When we pray, we evaluate what is truly important to us and regret past mistakes in repentance; we pledge to move forward in faith with greater appreciation and dedication and obedience. Most importantly, we grow closer to God, deepening our connection to Him because we are relying on Him.
More often than not, we don’t get instant results from our prayers. It’s easy to give up after praying for the same thing over and over again and began to doubt our faith. The powerful lesson that we learn from Zechariah and Elizabeth is that we must press on and press forward with our prayers. The very next one may be the last one — the one that opens the door.
The Hebrew word used in biblical verses “to pray” can also mean “to dig.” The Jewish sages teach that praying is like digging. Praying hollows out a tunnel between us and what we are praying for, until at last, we can reach it. However praying, like digging, takes time, persistence and patience. Just because we haven’t reached our goal yet doesn’t mean that nothing is happening; we are moving forward, we’re just not there yet.
The sages also point out that this word “to pray” also shares a root with the Hebrew word for “pitchfork.” They explain that our prayers are like pitchforks. A farmer uses a pitchfork to overturn piles of damp grain so that the grain won’t rot. Little by little, the whole pile is overturned and seasoned. Similarly, prayers overturn piles of judgment we deserve into piles of mercy. Little by little, our prayers change God’s mind from judgment into mercy until we are deserving of what we are praying for.
Even so, we know that we don’t always get what we pray for. But we always get what we need, and that makes all the difference in the world. When we pray for one thing and we don’t get what we asked for, it feels as though one of two things has happened. Either God didn’t hear our prayers, or He has denied us a gift. But neither is true. God hears every one of our prayers. Sometimes He says “yes” and other times He says “no” and sometimes “Not Yet”. But when God says “no,” it’s not because He doesn’t want us to have good things. When God says “no” to what we asked for, it’s because He has something even greater in mind to give us! Our unanswered prayers are often the greatest gifts of all.
When Joseph was unjustly sitting in that prison for all those years, more than ten, because of potiphar’s wife Zuleika’s accusation against him, he surely prayed over and over for God to deliver him. Joseph’s prayer was heard by God but God had something special in mind for Joseph. God was waiting on the two servants of Pharaoh to be put into prison beside him. Joseph interpreted their dreams for them and it led one of the servants to remember him and recommend Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. This led to Joseph being promoted to the second highest official in Egypt and the saving of untold millions during the 7-year famine. God used Joseph to bring his own family to Egypt and preserve them and to prepare a place for them during the 400 years of waiting until Moses arrives on the scene.
Now that we know to be persistent in our prayers and that some don’t get answered because it’s something we want but don’t really need or that God has something better in mind for us, what should we be praying for?
We end our prayers in Jesus’ name and that is the same as Him saying the prayer for us. The key I think is to first consider what would Jesus ask for in praying for us.
Would he ask for worldly riches such as great quantities of money, a lavish lifestyle, a palace to live in or immense honor and power over other people?
Jesus was offered as much from Satan himself and instead turned his face toward that cross on Calvary where he would be raised between heaven and earth. You see, His father had something else much better in mind for His Son who was living in the flesh.
The blessed cup that His father put before him was pure JOY as Jesus knew that His suffering and death would remove the separation between us and God and save us from being condemned for our sins. His Father knew too that His Son’s obedient suffering would make Him perfect in the flesh.
How will God bring us Joy and perfect us?
Would he bless us by allowing us to suffer for His names sake so that when we stand with Him in faith we might be made perfect and have riches in Heaven? We can only hope.
Look how the Apostle Paul suffered in his faith and preached Jesus in the knowledge that in any city he entered, he could be taken out into the street and stoned to death or scourged to the point of death. He will be rewarded with a crown of righteousness!
Because my Heavenly Father knows what I need, my main prayer is that if I am to suffer, let it not be because of my own wrongdoing but because I took a stand with Him against the evil one who rules this world. This is the cross that Jesus asked us to take up and bear for His Names sake. Amen!