Consistently Persistent
Preaching
What Jesus Did:
The Answer To WWJD
Jesus set an example of prayer that the disciples wanted to imitate and understand. "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples' " (Luke 11:1 NIV). I hear more in this request than just teach us to pray. I hear, teach us to pray so that we can have immediate and effective results as you have in your prayer. Do you hear that? I have to believe that these men, as faithful Jews, already knew how to pray. They probably had led the prayer in synagogue hundreds of times since their bar mitzvahs. They knew how to address God. They knew how to confess sins. They knew how to pray for the deliverance of Israel. What they didn't know was how to get results like Jesus got results.
• How would you rate your prayer life these days in terms of results?
I think Jesus heard both aspects of the request. His answer addresses how to pray as well as how to achieve results. The first is answered by the Model Prayer, also known as the Lord's Prayer: "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation' " (Luke 11:2-4 NIV).
This is a model for prayer, as well as a prayer in and of itself. Many congregations pray this prayer every Sunday. On Monday through Saturday, it would be good to expand on each section. Our Father: He is our Abba, our heavenly Daddy who is near to us and wishes to talk to us. He is above us, greater than us, stronger than us, wiser than us. Hallowed be your name: Remember God's name to keep it holy. Don't use God's name as a curse word, exclamation of surprise or delight or sling it around as if in a mud fight. Your kingdom come: We pray not only for the kingdom to come in Jesus' return, but that God would establish his kingdom in our hearts, that we would be obedient to his commands. Matthew adds to the prayer at this point. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: God's will is to have top priority in our lives. No one would question God's will in heaven, so why do we give God so much trouble about doing his will here, on earth? Give us each day our daily bread: Remember to ask God for all our daily needs, and to thank him for his daily provision of our needs. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us: We need forgiveness and we need to extend forgiveness. The two go together and cannot be separated. Lead us not into temptation. Help us to avoid our own sinful cravings. This also has the meaning of not leading us into a trial we cannot bear. This is asking for God's protection and sustenance through life's trials and tribulations. When we pray this prayer, we need to be mindful of the expanded message. This is Jesus' prayer outline that he expects us to fill in each day as we pray.
• Which is your favorite line of the Lord's prayer? Why?
Having answered the how to of prayer, Jesus proceeds to tell us how to get results. The short answer: keep on praying. Jesus expands this with the parable of the friend at midnight in Luke 11 and a similar parable in Luke 18 about the unjust judge. The major point of the parable of the friend knocking at the door at midnight is found in verse 8. "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 NIV). It is the word "boldness" that we need to focus on. In the Greek the word is anaideia. It means utter shamelessness. This word is usually translated as importunity, persistence, or perseverance. It includes the concept of great boldness, of urgency, of pressing your request, claim, or demand to the very limits, and it includes determination to persist in that urgent boldness until it receives the answer.1 It does not yield to discouragement, weariness, fear, or impatience.
Why did Jesus get such fantastic prayer results? We can also look to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, and Elijah as men who achieved amazing results through their prayers. Their secret? Importunity, persistence, perseverance, boldness. They were not afraid to ask for the most outlandish request. Israel had sinned the worst sin possible by worshiping the golden calf, yet Moses is bold enough to ask for their forgiveness and restoration (Exodus 34). Sodom and Gomorrah were the most sinful cities of their day, yet Abraham was bold enough to ask for their deliverance for the sake of the righteous (Genesis 19). Israel was so unfaithful to God that they were sent into exile, yet Daniel was bold enough to ask that they be restored to their homeland (Daniel 9). The people of Israel had given themselves over to Baal worship, yet Elijah was bold enough to ask God to give them revival and renewal (2 Kings 18). Have you been afraid to ask God because your request seemed so outlandish? Jesus' first lesson regarding getting positive prayer results is be bold.
• What is the boldest prayer you have ever prayed? What happened?
These people of prayer kept on asking until they got the answer they were seeking. Moses prayed forty days and forty nights until Israel was forgiven. Abraham stayed with God until he had bargained God down to ten righteous people. Daniel prayed for 21 days with fasting until he understood the answer. Elijah stayed on the mountain praying until the rain came, signaling renewal and revival. Lack of persistence has to be our biggest weakness. We give up so easily if we don't get the answer right away. If we give up praying, then it is certain that the answer won't come.
• What is the longest you have persisted in prayer? What happened?
This is the secret to Jesus' prayer life as well. He would spend hours in prayer, nights in prayer, until he was sure he had the answer from his heavenly Father. Before he began his ministry in Galilee, he rose up early for prayer (Mark 1:35). Before he chose the twelve apostles, he spent the night in prayer (Luke 6:12-13). Before he went to the cross, he spent the night praying in Gethsemane. If Jesus, the Holy Son of God, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure or limit, needed to pray that much, how much more do we need to pray? We need to be bold, persistent, persevering, never-give-up people who pray continuously.
The word is importunity, and it is being rediscovered in those churches that emphasize the importance of prayer. It is an art of prayer we need to recover, or our prayers will never be as effective as they could be. Boldness, importunity, not ashamed to keep on asking. We should not be afraid to come to our heavenly Daddy and ask him for what we want. There is no need for fear or shame. God never rebukes someone for being importunate. In fact, the bolder the better. The more persistent the pray-er, the more consistent will be the answers to prayer. Only as we give up, do we lose the hope and assurance of answered prayer.
Jesus follows this parable with an encouragement to pray. "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 NIV). This loses something in the translation. The force of the passage is in the imperatives. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Nag if you have to. Pound the door down if you have to. Don't give God any break until you get the answer you are seeking. Who are the ones who receive, find, and have the door opened? The ones who have consistency in their persistency. The ones who never give up. The ones who want the answer so much, they will never give in to Satan's tactics of discouragement, frustration, or impatience. Do we keep on asking because God needs to be nagged, or because God has short-term memory loss and forgets as soon as we ask? No. We keep on asking because Jesus tells us that this is the secret to positive results in prayer. When we keep on asking, God keeps on answering. If we stop asking, the answers stop, too. Consistency in persistency brings continuous answers.
• What was the most clear answer to prayer that has happened in your life?
To what kinds of prayers should we be giving this kind of energy? The ones that are in line with God's will. We can take good lessons from the saints before us. Many people waste their prayers on things they shouldn't have in the first place. "Bless me, Lord. Give me more. Make me prosperous." Such was not the example of Jesus and these other saints.
The first priority I see in their prayers is for the whole people of God, the Church. Moses, Daniel, and Elijah were concerned that the people of God be renewed, revived, restored, forgiven. Our prayers need to be for our church, and for every other congregation. Renewal is happening in many churches across the nation and around the world. But if these few are the only ones being renewed, we are a flickering candle surrounded by an ocean. As we pray for renewal in our churches, we must pray for renewal in other churches as well. Pray that we will live holy lives that demonstrate the power and reality of Jesus Christ in our lives. This kind of renewal will not happen overnight. We must be consistently persistent in prayers for the renewal, revival, and lifting up of the body of Christ here in this city and around the world. How earnestly do we want renewal and revival? When our heart's desire is renewal and revival, we will be bold and persevere in prayer until the answer comes.
• How important is prayer in the life of your church?
A second priority is prayer for lost people. Paul says that unbelievers have been blinded to the truth by Satan. We must be consistently persistent in our prayers that those blinders will be shattered, that the walls will come tumbling down. We want the blind to see the truth of Jesus and come to faith in him. Praying for lost people is an ongoing spiritual battle. If we give up, people go to hell. How earnestly do we want lost people to be saved? When seeing people saved from eternal punishment is our heart's desire, then we will be bold and persevere until the answer comes.
• How important is praying for the lost to you?
We can add other requests that will take importunity. How much do we want strong families, where home is a haven from the world? If that is our heart's desire, then we will be bold and persistent. How concerned are we about our missionaries and their efforts around the world? If we truly want them blessed and effective, we will be bold and persistent in our prayers.
We may be tempted to ask, "Is there something wrong with God that we have to keep on asking? He knows what we want and need; why doesn't he just give it us without the hassle?" There is nothing wrong with God. The point of the parable of the unjust judge is that God is exactly opposite in character to that judge. God wants to answer our prayer. God also wants us to be constantly aware that without him, we can do nothing. When we begin to think we can do things in our own strength, then our prayer effort will decrease, and so will our success rate. Prayer is a demonstration of faith and dependence on God. Only God can bring about renewal, revival, forgiveness, healing, salvation, and blessing.
How much do we want those things? To that degree, we will be bold, unashamed, persistent. We will keep on asking until we receive; we will keep on seeking until we find; we will keep on knocking until the door is opened. How much do we want these things? If Jesus had to get up early and be bold and persistent, how much more do we?
WWJD -- Schedule a day for a special emphasis on prayer. Consider a day of prayer and fasting for the biggest problem or need in your life.
____________
1.ÊWesley Duewel, Mighty Prevailing Prayer (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1990), p. 80.
• How would you rate your prayer life these days in terms of results?
I think Jesus heard both aspects of the request. His answer addresses how to pray as well as how to achieve results. The first is answered by the Model Prayer, also known as the Lord's Prayer: "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation' " (Luke 11:2-4 NIV).
This is a model for prayer, as well as a prayer in and of itself. Many congregations pray this prayer every Sunday. On Monday through Saturday, it would be good to expand on each section. Our Father: He is our Abba, our heavenly Daddy who is near to us and wishes to talk to us. He is above us, greater than us, stronger than us, wiser than us. Hallowed be your name: Remember God's name to keep it holy. Don't use God's name as a curse word, exclamation of surprise or delight or sling it around as if in a mud fight. Your kingdom come: We pray not only for the kingdom to come in Jesus' return, but that God would establish his kingdom in our hearts, that we would be obedient to his commands. Matthew adds to the prayer at this point. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: God's will is to have top priority in our lives. No one would question God's will in heaven, so why do we give God so much trouble about doing his will here, on earth? Give us each day our daily bread: Remember to ask God for all our daily needs, and to thank him for his daily provision of our needs. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us: We need forgiveness and we need to extend forgiveness. The two go together and cannot be separated. Lead us not into temptation. Help us to avoid our own sinful cravings. This also has the meaning of not leading us into a trial we cannot bear. This is asking for God's protection and sustenance through life's trials and tribulations. When we pray this prayer, we need to be mindful of the expanded message. This is Jesus' prayer outline that he expects us to fill in each day as we pray.
• Which is your favorite line of the Lord's prayer? Why?
Having answered the how to of prayer, Jesus proceeds to tell us how to get results. The short answer: keep on praying. Jesus expands this with the parable of the friend at midnight in Luke 11 and a similar parable in Luke 18 about the unjust judge. The major point of the parable of the friend knocking at the door at midnight is found in verse 8. "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 NIV). It is the word "boldness" that we need to focus on. In the Greek the word is anaideia. It means utter shamelessness. This word is usually translated as importunity, persistence, or perseverance. It includes the concept of great boldness, of urgency, of pressing your request, claim, or demand to the very limits, and it includes determination to persist in that urgent boldness until it receives the answer.1 It does not yield to discouragement, weariness, fear, or impatience.
Why did Jesus get such fantastic prayer results? We can also look to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, and Elijah as men who achieved amazing results through their prayers. Their secret? Importunity, persistence, perseverance, boldness. They were not afraid to ask for the most outlandish request. Israel had sinned the worst sin possible by worshiping the golden calf, yet Moses is bold enough to ask for their forgiveness and restoration (Exodus 34). Sodom and Gomorrah were the most sinful cities of their day, yet Abraham was bold enough to ask for their deliverance for the sake of the righteous (Genesis 19). Israel was so unfaithful to God that they were sent into exile, yet Daniel was bold enough to ask that they be restored to their homeland (Daniel 9). The people of Israel had given themselves over to Baal worship, yet Elijah was bold enough to ask God to give them revival and renewal (2 Kings 18). Have you been afraid to ask God because your request seemed so outlandish? Jesus' first lesson regarding getting positive prayer results is be bold.
• What is the boldest prayer you have ever prayed? What happened?
These people of prayer kept on asking until they got the answer they were seeking. Moses prayed forty days and forty nights until Israel was forgiven. Abraham stayed with God until he had bargained God down to ten righteous people. Daniel prayed for 21 days with fasting until he understood the answer. Elijah stayed on the mountain praying until the rain came, signaling renewal and revival. Lack of persistence has to be our biggest weakness. We give up so easily if we don't get the answer right away. If we give up praying, then it is certain that the answer won't come.
• What is the longest you have persisted in prayer? What happened?
This is the secret to Jesus' prayer life as well. He would spend hours in prayer, nights in prayer, until he was sure he had the answer from his heavenly Father. Before he began his ministry in Galilee, he rose up early for prayer (Mark 1:35). Before he chose the twelve apostles, he spent the night in prayer (Luke 6:12-13). Before he went to the cross, he spent the night praying in Gethsemane. If Jesus, the Holy Son of God, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure or limit, needed to pray that much, how much more do we need to pray? We need to be bold, persistent, persevering, never-give-up people who pray continuously.
The word is importunity, and it is being rediscovered in those churches that emphasize the importance of prayer. It is an art of prayer we need to recover, or our prayers will never be as effective as they could be. Boldness, importunity, not ashamed to keep on asking. We should not be afraid to come to our heavenly Daddy and ask him for what we want. There is no need for fear or shame. God never rebukes someone for being importunate. In fact, the bolder the better. The more persistent the pray-er, the more consistent will be the answers to prayer. Only as we give up, do we lose the hope and assurance of answered prayer.
Jesus follows this parable with an encouragement to pray. "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 NIV). This loses something in the translation. The force of the passage is in the imperatives. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Nag if you have to. Pound the door down if you have to. Don't give God any break until you get the answer you are seeking. Who are the ones who receive, find, and have the door opened? The ones who have consistency in their persistency. The ones who never give up. The ones who want the answer so much, they will never give in to Satan's tactics of discouragement, frustration, or impatience. Do we keep on asking because God needs to be nagged, or because God has short-term memory loss and forgets as soon as we ask? No. We keep on asking because Jesus tells us that this is the secret to positive results in prayer. When we keep on asking, God keeps on answering. If we stop asking, the answers stop, too. Consistency in persistency brings continuous answers.
• What was the most clear answer to prayer that has happened in your life?
To what kinds of prayers should we be giving this kind of energy? The ones that are in line with God's will. We can take good lessons from the saints before us. Many people waste their prayers on things they shouldn't have in the first place. "Bless me, Lord. Give me more. Make me prosperous." Such was not the example of Jesus and these other saints.
The first priority I see in their prayers is for the whole people of God, the Church. Moses, Daniel, and Elijah were concerned that the people of God be renewed, revived, restored, forgiven. Our prayers need to be for our church, and for every other congregation. Renewal is happening in many churches across the nation and around the world. But if these few are the only ones being renewed, we are a flickering candle surrounded by an ocean. As we pray for renewal in our churches, we must pray for renewal in other churches as well. Pray that we will live holy lives that demonstrate the power and reality of Jesus Christ in our lives. This kind of renewal will not happen overnight. We must be consistently persistent in prayers for the renewal, revival, and lifting up of the body of Christ here in this city and around the world. How earnestly do we want renewal and revival? When our heart's desire is renewal and revival, we will be bold and persevere in prayer until the answer comes.
• How important is prayer in the life of your church?
A second priority is prayer for lost people. Paul says that unbelievers have been blinded to the truth by Satan. We must be consistently persistent in our prayers that those blinders will be shattered, that the walls will come tumbling down. We want the blind to see the truth of Jesus and come to faith in him. Praying for lost people is an ongoing spiritual battle. If we give up, people go to hell. How earnestly do we want lost people to be saved? When seeing people saved from eternal punishment is our heart's desire, then we will be bold and persevere until the answer comes.
• How important is praying for the lost to you?
We can add other requests that will take importunity. How much do we want strong families, where home is a haven from the world? If that is our heart's desire, then we will be bold and persistent. How concerned are we about our missionaries and their efforts around the world? If we truly want them blessed and effective, we will be bold and persistent in our prayers.
We may be tempted to ask, "Is there something wrong with God that we have to keep on asking? He knows what we want and need; why doesn't he just give it us without the hassle?" There is nothing wrong with God. The point of the parable of the unjust judge is that God is exactly opposite in character to that judge. God wants to answer our prayer. God also wants us to be constantly aware that without him, we can do nothing. When we begin to think we can do things in our own strength, then our prayer effort will decrease, and so will our success rate. Prayer is a demonstration of faith and dependence on God. Only God can bring about renewal, revival, forgiveness, healing, salvation, and blessing.
How much do we want those things? To that degree, we will be bold, unashamed, persistent. We will keep on asking until we receive; we will keep on seeking until we find; we will keep on knocking until the door is opened. How much do we want these things? If Jesus had to get up early and be bold and persistent, how much more do we?
WWJD -- Schedule a day for a special emphasis on prayer. Consider a day of prayer and fasting for the biggest problem or need in your life.
____________
1.ÊWesley Duewel, Mighty Prevailing Prayer (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1990), p. 80.
