Perseverance and Prayer

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” –Luke 11:9-10

Perseverance is a quality that we must develop in prayer. When a need arises, the natural tendency in prayer is to pray once or even to neglect prayer altogether. In the weakness of our flesh we often succumb to the pressures to start striving on our own apart from God. Our flesh wants to attempt to control the circumstances we face. God would have us pray and rely upon Him as we go through each trial. When things get difficult and we are tempted to give up in prayer, we are to keep on praying and keep on relying on God.

The Bible has much to say about continuing and being constant in prayer. We are told that it is God’s will for us to pray without ceasing. We are commanded to pray. In another place, we are told to be watchful in prayer. Here in Luke 11, we are told to ask, seek, and knock when it comes to prayer. These verbs are in the present tense, which indicates that we are supposed to keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking. Perseverance is continuing in that course of action with little or no indication of change. Prayer often feels this way. We pray and expect God to act immediately, but He doesn’t operate on our time schedule. We pray and then wait, and then pray, and then wait some more. Sometimes this results in us giving up on praying. But when we persevere in prayer, we begin to see God answer and fulfill our prayers in ways that we could never imagine.

Jesus is a prime example to us of perseverance in prayer. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed with perseverance. Remember, He was agonizing over the impending suffering that He would face on the cross. He prayed for another way but He also submitted Himself to the Father’s will and not His own. He didn’t leave the place of prayer until He had prayed three times and sweat drops of blood as He prayed. The disciples were not so diligent. They couldn’t even stay awake and watch as Jesus prayed. This is a great picture of the struggle we face in prayer. Jesus is the ideal. We want to pray with endurance and perseverance like He does, but we usually end up asleep like the disciples.

Lord, teach us to pray and to pray with perseverance.

The Valley of Vision - A Convert's First Prayer

MY FATHER,

I could never have sought my happiness in thy love,
   unless thou had'st first loved me.
Thy Spirit has encouraged me by grace to seek thee,
   has made known to me thy reconciliation in Jesus,
   has taught me to believe it,
   has helped me to take thee for my God and portion.
May he grant me to grow in the knowledge
     and experience of thy love,
   and walk in it all the way to glory.
Blessed for ever be thy fatherly affection,
   which chose me to be one of thy children
   by faith in Jesus:
I thank thee for giving me the desire to live as such.
In Jesus, my brother, I have my new birth,
   every restraining power,
   every renewing grace.
It is by thy Spirit I call thee Father,
   believe in thee, love thee;
Strengthen me inwardly for ever purpose
   of my Christian life;
Let the Spirit continually reveal to me my interest in Christ,
   and open to me the riches of thy love in him;
May he abide in me that I may know my union with Jesus,
   and enter into constant fellowship with him;
By thy Spirit may I daily live to thee,
   rejoice in thy love,
   find it the same to me as to thy Son,
   and become rooted and grounded in it
     as a house on a rock;
I know but little--
   increase my knowledge of thy love in Jesus,
   keep me pressing forward for clearer discoveries of it,
   so that I may find its eternal fullness;
Magnify thy love to me according to its greatness,
   and not according to my deserts or prayers,
   and whatever increase thou givest,
   let it draw out greater love to thee.

-The Valley of Vision, p. 94-95
Banner of Truth Trust 1975

The Valley of Vision - Reconciliation

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

Thou art beforehand with men

   for thou has reconciled thyself to the world through the cross,

   and dost beseech men to accept reconciliation.

It is my responsibility to grasp thy overtures of grace,

   for if thou, the offended part, act first with the word of appeasement,

   I need not call in question thy willingness to save,

   but must deplore my own foolish maliciousness;

If I do not come to thee as one who seeks thy favour,

   I live in contempt, anger, malice, self-sufficiency, and

   thou dost call it enmity.

Thou hast taught me the necessity of a Mediator, a Messiah,

   to be embraced in love with all my heart,

     as king to rule me,

     as prophet to guide me,

     as priest to take away my sin and death,

   and this by faith in thy beloved Son who teaches me

   not to guide myself,

   not to obey myself,

   not to try to rule and conquer sin,

   but to cleave to the one who will do all for me.

Thou has make known to me

   that to save me is Christ’s work,

   but to cleave to him by faith is my work,

   and with this faith is the necessity of my daily repentance

   as a mourning for the sin which Christ by grace has removed.

Continue, O God, to teach me

   that faith apprehends Christ’s righteousness

   not only for the satisfaction of justice,

   but as unspotted evidence of thy love to me.

Help me to make use of his work of salvation as the ground of peace

   and of thy favour to, and acceptance of me the sinner,

   so that I may live always near the cross.

The Valley of Vision, Banner of Truth Trust, 1975

Love Shed Abroad

The following is from the "Valley of Vision" book of Puritan prayers, p. 252-253

Gracious God,
My heart praises thee for the wonder of thy love in Jesus;
He is heaven's darling, but is for me
     the incarnate, despised, rejected, crucified sin-bearer;
In him thy grace has almost out-graced itself,
In him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!
My heart is stone, melt it with thy love,
My heart is locked, let thy love be the master key to open it;
O Father, I adore thee for thy great love in the gift of Jesus,
O Jesus, I bless thee for resigning thy life for me,
O Holy Spirit, I thank thee for revealing to me this mystery;
Great God, let thy Son see in my the travail of his soul!
Bring me away from my false trusts to rest in him, and him only.
Let me not be so callous to his merit as not to love him,
    so indifferent to his blood as not to desire cleansing.
Lord Jesus, Master, Redeemer, Saviour,
    come and take entire possession of me;
    this is thy right by purchase.
In the arms of love enfold and subdue my wilful spirit.
Take, sanctify, use my every faculty.
I am not ashamed of my hope,
    nor has my confidence led me into confusion.
I trusted in thee regarding my innumerable sins,
   and thou has cast them behind thy back.
I trusted in thee when evils encompassed me,
   and thou broughtest me out into a wealthy place.
I trusted in thee in an hour of distress,
   and thou didst not fail me, though faith trembled.
O God of the eternal choice,
O God of the restored possession purchased on the tree,
O God of the effectual call,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
   I adore thy glory, honor, majesty, power, dominion forever.

The Commands of Christ - Matthew 6:9-13

"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." -Matthew 6:9-13

What does this command require?

Pray following this example. 

What truths do we learn from this command?

It is important how we pray. Jesus has given us an example to follow. I do not believe that we must repeat this prayer every Sunday or every morning--that would contradict what Jesus just said about not praying like the heathens that use vain repetitions when they pray. Rather, Jesus wants us to use this as a pattern for how we ought to pray. He has given us the outline, and we are to fill it in with our praises, thanksgiving, requests, and supplications.

A quick perusal of this model prayer will show you that there is some invaluable truth here. God is our Father, He is in heaven. His name is hallowed. He has a kingdom. His will is being completed in heaven. He is the source of daily sustenance. He is the Forgiver of sins. He can help keep us from temptation. He can deliver us from the evil one. There is so much here! When was the last time you prayed like this? Start today, following Christ's command and model of how to pray.

What are the consequences for disobeying this command?

Inconsistent prayer life. Failure to pray for the will of God to be done on earth. failure to confess sins. selfish prayers.

The Commands of Christ - Matthew 6:5-8

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. -Matthew 6:5-8

Who is this command to? Spoken to the multitudes and the disciples, instruction for Jesus' followers.

What does this command require?

Do not be like the hypocrites. When you pray, go into a secret place. Do not use vain repetitions in prayer like the heathens. Do not be like them.

What truths do we learn through this command?

We learn some interesting details about the heathens and the hypocrites. The heathens like to use vain repetitions because they think it will help them be heard. The hypocrites pray in a public place so that they may be praised by men for their 'spiritual prayers.'

We learn that God rewards and answers those who pray to Him in the secret place. God desires that people pray to Him with sincerity. He knows what we need, but He desires to have that communion with His children. What a comfort to know that God hears our sincere prayers and rewards us for our perseverance in prayer. James 5:17 says, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." May we always pray, and not give up.

What are the consequences for disobeying this command?

unanswered prayer, praise from men for praying in public, heathenish prayers, lack of reward from God.

Obeying the Word of the Lord

The other day I continued my reading through the Old Testament, and I came across Deuteronomy 4:5-9, which says,

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons.

Moses is here speaking to the people of Israel, but I also see it as a direct message to the Church, the people of God in this dispensation. As I read, I also read it as a personal message to myself.

We are believers. We are God's people. Perhaps, as I, you have been taught "statutes and judgments" of God by various people throughout your life. Were we taught the precious commands of the Lord in vain? Certainly not. What must we do? "...the Lord [our] God commanded [us], that [we] should do so..." We were taught the Word of God to obey it! We are not to simply let it pass through one ear and out the other, so to speak. As James put it, "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." We must hear God's Word, and do it. Loving children will gladly obey their loving father.

So, as God has shown us the epitome of His love with the work of His Son, we should gladly obey our Father. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:10,19) In Colossians 3:23 we read, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Also, Ephesians 6:5-6 says, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart."

God is not up in heaven, ready to zap us when we do not obey His commands. He is patient with us, and waits for us to obey Him out of love. When we think of all that Christ has done for us, we should be compelled to love the Lord the most we can, and we do that by being obedient.

Keeping and doing the Lord's statutes and judgments is our "wisdom" and our "understanding." Wise people, and people with understanding will obey the Lord. They will gladly serve Him.

What is wisdom? We may look to many verses in the Bible:

"The fear of the Lord is wisdom," (Job 28:28) "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments," (Psalm 111:10) and what better book of the Bible to look for wisdom than the book of Proverbs. It is full of wisdom, and words about wisdom. Let's look at just a few of the many verses:

Proverbs 1:7 ~ "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 2:1-6 ~ "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

I could go on and on, but I'll let you read the rest of the book of Proverbs for yourself. Over and over again the Lord tells us the wisdom is obeying God's Word, and obeying God's Word is wisdom. I have heard it said that wisdom is knowledge in action. It is when you take what you know, and put it into practice, in this case, with the Word of God.

Continuing in Deuteronomy 4, in verse 6:

"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

The world is watching. We must be ever mindful of this fact. We are Christians, little Christs. We bear His name and we represent Him in this world. As 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "We are ambassadors for Christ..." In this age, we speak for Jesus. The way the world is going to hear about Him is through us. Not just by our words, but by our actions. John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." People are watching us. If we are different from them, as we should be, they are going to notice. If we are obeying the statutes and the judgments of the Lord, people are going to say, either out loud or in their heads, "Surely this [person] is a wise and understanding [person]." They're going to begin to ask why we're different. And what better opportunity to share the Gospel with them!

"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?" (Deuteronomy 4:7)

Who, besides us believers, have God so near us? No one! The LORD, Jehovah, the creator of the universe, is above us (Joshua 2:11), around us (Psalm 34:7), before us (Exodus 13:21), behind us (Exodus 14:19), beneath us (Deuteronomy 33:27), with us (Isaiah 41:10), and within us (John 14:16-17). Our Lord has promised, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5) No one else in the world, apart from believers, has this blessing. Even Israel, although the LORD was with them at all times, did not have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

"In all things that we call upon Him for," God is always right there with us, and right there for us. No matter what the case, when we call upon the Lord, He is there, ready to listen and ready to act. But notice, God doesn't just throw out blessings all over the earth. We must call upon Him. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." James tells us in chapter 1 verse 6, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..." We have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us. He guides us, protects us, and provides all of our needs. Sometimes we think we know what we need. But we really don't. Who is wiser? An infinite, omniscient God who inhabits eternity, or a puny, finite, simple human being? I think the answer is quite clear. He knows our needs. And as we can read in Matthew 7, what loving Father will not care for his child and give good gifts? The Lord will always provide for His children. If any of us lack anything, we must simply ask Him in faith.

Prayer is a crucial element in our spiritual life. It is our breath. When spiritual decline begins, the first thing to go is our prayer life. We become distant from God, we don't feel like talking to Him, and that creates more distance. It is necessary to maintain our relationship with Him. He's our Father, our Friend. Thinking of the love that He has for us, the precious gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, how can we not love Him and desire to strengthen our relationship with Him? We must maintain communication with Him.

"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8)

The Israelites were blessed to have the law given to them directly from the Lord. How much more blessed are we, having the full canon of scripture, "given by inspiration of God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)?

The Word of God should be our most prized possession. As prayer is our spiritual breath, the Word is our spiritual food that we must have daily, or else we will starve for certain. Perhaps the greatest chapter in God's Word, about God's Word, is Psalm 119. With the exception of 2 verses, every verse mentions the Word of the Lord in some form. Let us look at a few verses:

Verse 11: Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Verse 16: I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy Word.

Verse 28: My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy Word.

Verse 47: I will delight myself in thy Commandments, which I have loved.

Verse 59: I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies.

Verse 89: For ever, O LORD, thy Word is settled in Heaven.

Verse 97: O how love I thy Law! It is my meditation all the day.

Verse 105: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Verse 133: Order my steps in thy Word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Verse 140: Thy Word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Verse 160: Thy Word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Verse 165: Great peace have they which love thy Law: and nothing shall offend them.

Verse 172: My tongue shall speak of thy Word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

This is just a small portion of scripture, and we can see the God's Word is many things. It is our shield, our strength, a lamp to guide us, it is pure, true, everlasting, righteous, and our source of true peace. As children need proper nutrition to grow, so must we feed ourselves spiritually to grow spiritually.

The last verse of the passage we are examining in Deuteronomy chapter 4 is verse 9:

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

We must always examine ourselves, and guard ourselves, 'lest we forget.' We must constantly be in the Word, filling our mind with the things of God, reminding ourselves of the things which we have been taught. We've got to keep what we have learned fresh in our minds. When we neglect our time studying God's Word, we distance ourselves greatly from our Lord. If we are not careful, we will forget what we've learned, and they will 'depart from thy heart all the days of thy life.'

Lastly, it is not only important to 'take heed' to ourselves 'lest we forget,' but we have a responsibility to teach God's Word to our children, and our grandchildren. This is a command! "Teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." We are the example for our children to follow, and we must give them a good example. There is no guarantee that our children will not depart from the ways of the Lord, but we must do our part.

Proverbs 4:1-7

"Hear, ye children the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding..."

We see here the very process of teaching that must go on. Solomon speaks to his children the things that his father, David, taught him. Now we know that David had a few sons that didn't turn out too well, but Solomon was a bit different from them. Perhaps David taught all his sons the same, perhaps not. But he taught Solomon and Solomon remembered. Not only did Solomon keep that wisdom for himself, he taught it to his children. So David was obedient to the command, "Teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." He taught his son Solomon, and through Solomon he taught his grandchildren.

The responsibility starts with you, at home. You can't just think, oh I'll just send my kids to Sunday school and youth group and they'll get their Bible teaching there. No! It doesn't work that way! YOU are the example. Children look to adults for their example, and more specifically, their parents! If they do not see their own parents following the Lord, why should they follow the Lord? If you truly love your children, be a godly example, and teach them the Word of God!

"My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee." (Proverbs 3:1-2)

My parents have always been a godly example for me. Did I always follow that example? No, but it was and is their influence that guided me to the right path. I desire nothing more than to serve God with my life, and if I didn't have the example of my parents, who knows where I might be?

We have a great God! The only God. He is the Creator of all things, and yet He loves us. He loves us so much that before He even created the earth, He planned to send His Son, Christ Jesus, to save us from sin. (Revelation 13:8) He knew we would sin, but He still created us, knowing what lies in eternity for those who love Him, and who seek Him with all their heart.

Therefore, let us keep His commandments, out of LOVE for Him. Commune with Him, talk with Him, for that is our spiritual breath. Rejoice and give Him thanks that He has given us His written Word, for it is our spiritual food, and in it, we have eternal life. It is our shield, our strength, a lamp to guide us, it is pure, true, everlasting, righteous, and our source of true peace. Let us learn from it, to gain wisdom and understanding, and let us keep what we have learned fresh in our hearts and in our minds, lest we forget. And let us share that wisdom and understanding, teaching our children, and our grandchildren, that it may go well with them all the days of their lives.

Falling Flat

“Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.” So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory of which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet…” –Ezekiel 3:22-24a

How do you respond when you encounter the Lord? Do you scoff at Him? Do you run away? Do you get angry with God? Do you tell Him all your problems? Do you pay attention to what He has to say to you? Do you stand in amazement of who He is? Or, like Ezekiel, do you fall on your face before Him?

Ezekiel knew what it meant to be in the presence of the Lord. He probably knew what the Israelites said in Deuteronomy 5:26: “For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” Ezekiel knew that where he was standing was one of the most privileged places he could ever be. He was standing before the glory of the Lord God. He responded correctly by falling on his face before God.

As believers, we are encouraged, even commanded to come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4). But there still needs to be a realization of who it is we are actually going before for help. When we enter the presence of the Lord through prayer, we are bringing ourselves before the Almighty God, the Lord of hosts, the living God. We stand before the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present God who sent His Son to provide the only way of salvation for us. So when we enter the presence of the Lord, we stand on holy ground.

The proper response would be for us to fall on our faces before Him. We must realize that we are nothing in His sight and without Him, we can do nothing. Ezekiel demonstrates for us the principle we find in James 4:10: “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Ezekiel didn’t stand before God and plead his case. He didn’t try and defend himself, or say anything at all. He merely fell before the Lord, humbled to be in the presence of the Almighty. When Ezekiel showed his humble attitude, the Lord lifted him up and set him on his feet.

So I ask again, how do you respond to an encounter with the living God? May I suggest you humbly fall flat on your face before Him and let Him lift you up.

Paradoxes of Prayer

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve...
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things...
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy...
I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men...
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life...
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for--but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered--

I am among all, most richly blessed!

-Author Unknown-