Persistence in prayer: ask and expect
A few weeks ago we started exploring the mystery of prayer, making suggestions for making the most of our conversations with God. We have suggested that prayer shouldn’t just be God give me, God can you, God will you. While prayer shouldn’t be reduced down to only asking of God, asking of God is certainly a component of prayer and it is that component that we will be looking at this morning. We will be looking at asking in light of Jesus’ words in Luke 11. Turn there now if you would.
Luke 11:1-4 1 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.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
I suggest that this should be understood in light of the RELATIONAL aspect of prayer not approached from a ritualistic perspective. We can certainly RECITE this prayer word for word, but I suggest doing so genuinely. I don’t think intended to be recited, but serve as a model of simplicity. Matt 6, in context of simplicity – don’t keep babbling like the pagans. *Also, Matt says this is HOW you should pray, not WHAT. I don’t believe word for word reciting is what Jesus had in mind here.
I won’t take too much time in this portion of the text, but I want to draw your attention to a few things. Father, hallowed be your name. Hallowed means holy. That is an acknowledgment of God’s holiness, his character, it is adoration, it is essentially praise. Give us our daily bread. This is petition, asking of God. Forgive us our sins. Form of confession. Lead us not into temptation. Petition, asking for what is ultimate good.
So this prayer that Jesus gives as a model contains praise, confession and petition, much like Daniel’s prayer that we looked at last week. Notice what is RADICALLY different from Daniel’s prayer…and essentially every prayer in the OT: the address. Daniel: O lord, the great and awesome God. Talking to the same God that Jesus is. Daniel calls Him LORD, the great and awesome God. Psalms: O LORD. LORD, my rock. LORD, my salvation. LORD, God of Jacob. All of these ways of addressing God in the OT seemed to address a God who was huge, awesome, but also seemingly distant. The mentality in the OT seemed to be: Yes, I can address God and converse with Him, but He is God in heaven, I am man on earth. Look at how Jesus says to address God: Father. Father? You want us to call God, Father? Now you and I take that for granted because it’s been this way for 2000 years, but to them this was a brand new idea. Sure, Israel was God’s son, but really, in prayer? Address Him as father? This is intimate! This is relational. This is profound. This adds a new dynamic to prayer.
I suggest that we approach God in prayer as a child approaching his father.
Consider the way a child approaches his father:
· My daddy can do anything. I’ll ask him, expecting results!
· If I really want something, I will plead with him persistently.
· When I ask, he won’t ignore me but will answer me, even if it’s not the answer I expect, like, or want.
· My daddy can say no because he’s daddy and he’s running the show; I’m not.
· My daddy loves me and He wants what’s ultimately good for me.
Bottom line: children ask and expect. They ask with persuasive persistence, knowing that daddy can say no but that he will answer and in the end the response will be for their ultimate good because daddy loves them.
So Jesus adds a new dimension to prayer: that God should be addressed as father. It is my conviction that everything else that Jesus says about prayer should be understood in light of that.
ASK AND EXPECT
So our first suggestion about prayer this morning is ask and expect. Let me clarify. When I say ask and expect, I don’t mean to ask with the mentality that says, “God will do whatever I ask, however I ask him to, when I want him to do it.” I don’t mean ask and expect in a selfish or narcissistic way. I mean ask and expect in a respectful way that is rooted in a high view of God – one that says we have a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
What I’m saying is that we should have a high view of God. One that says, “He can.” Where I cannot and where my friends cannot and where the psychologists and sociologists and pharmacologists and ecologists can’t He can. He can. So I ask Him because He can. I have that kind of expectation of God. I have high expectations of Him because He alone can do all things. This is similar to the childlike view of his daddy. My daddy can do anything! My daddy is the smartest, the strongest, the handsomest. My daddy is the best and he can do anything.
Wouldn’t it say something about a child’s view of his father if he had an issue, a need…and he was talking to a friend about that issue, but the friend couldn’t help so the friend said, ask your dad. And the child said, “My daddy can’t do that. He can’t help.” That child would have low expectations of his father – a low view of his father. As it stands, most children have a high view of their parents. My parents can do anything – high expectations. That is how we should view God and I suggest that such a high view of God should drive our prayers so that we ask expectantly. My God can.
So when I suggest that we ask and expect, I mean that we ask with expectation because we have a high view of our heavenly father.
Furthermore, when I suggest that we ask and expect, I mean that we should also ask expecting an answer. We may not get the answer we want. We may not get the answer we expect. But, we should expect an answer because God answers prayer. And it is my conviction that he answers prayer in a way that promotes our ultimate good and His ultimate glory.
SO WHEN WE DO ASK, IT SHOULD BE IN THE MANNER OF A CHILD APPROACHING HIS FATHER: ASK AND EXPECT, BECAUSE DADDY CAN DO ANYTHING AND HE WILL ANSWER.
Let’s continue in the text. Remember, this is in response to the disciples’ request: teach us to pray. He is still teaching them to pray. So He tells the following story to teach something about prayer.
Luke 11:5-10 5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
7 “Then the one inside answers, ‘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.’ 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.
9 “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Jesus told a story about a friend who had a friend visit, didn’t have enough food to feed him and went to another friend. It was late. The friend wouldn’t get up to give bread due to friendship, but would do so simply based on the friend’s boldness. We shouldn’t read too far into parables to make every element correspond. Parables have one point. So we shouldn’t say, well, God won’t give us stuff because we are his friends, he only gives stuff because we are bold. Don’t go too far in trying to assign everything a direct meaning. Parables are designed to teach one point. This parable teaches the one point: be bold in prayer. Ask and expect.
Kids have boldness before their parents. They just ask. In other words, Anika doesn’t give me a huge speech about something before she asks me in order to convince me that her desire is profitable for both she and I. She just asks. And she asks boldly. Daddy, can I have gum? Daddy, can I sleep in your bed? Daddy can I come with you? She just asks. God is our father and we should approach Him with a childlike boldness. We should just ask, boldly.
Jesus tells another parable in Luke 18. Keep finger here in Luke 11 and flip with me.
Luke 18:1-8 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The point of this parable is: pray with persistence. In light of God being father, our prayers should be seasoned with a persuasive persistence. Keep asking in expectation. Ask and expect and do so with persistence.
When I read this parable, I think about Jordan Omies. Those of you who have spent time in our house have heard her ask over and over and over until she gets a response. Daddy can you turn the light on? Daddy can you turn the light on? Daddy can you turn the light on? Daddy can you turn the light on? She keeps asking until daddy turns the light on.
Children approach their fathers with a persuasive persistence. Recently, Anika has discovered the game of checkers. Everyday Anika asks me if we can play checkers. She asks with persistence. Sometimes the answer is no. That doesn’t keep her from asking the next day. And the answer as she keeps asking is eventually yes. When it’s not in her best interest or mine, the answer is no. But when it is in her best interest and mine, the answer is: yes. She may not fully understand the reasons why I say no. They range from: I need time with mommy to Jordan and Ellie are going to be left out. But, whether the answer is yes or no, the answer is rooted in the fact that as her father, I love her and want what’s best. God, as our father, loves us and wants what is best for us.
In prayer, we should approach God as a child approaching his father. Ask and expect, boldly and persistently, for we are asking of a father who loves us and wants what is best for us.
Now back to Luke 11. Look how Jesus concludes the text:
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus conveys essentially the same thing in Matt 7:11, but in that verse He says if you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.
Now it may be tempting to interpret this text as saying if a son asks for a fish he will get a fish. In fact, if he asks for a trout he will get a trout and if he asks for a goldfish he will get a goldfish. It’s tempting to interpret this as a son will get exactly what he asks for from his father, so when we ask God, we should be specific and God will give us exactly what we ask for.
But I don’t believe that’s what the text teaches. I think the text teaches that just as an earthly father (though evil) intends to give good gifts (not bad) to his children, how much more does God as heavenly father intend to give good gifts, not bad.
First, HE DOESN’T SAY if your son asks for a fish don’t you give him a fish. He didn’t say if your son asks for an egg, don’t you give him an egg. He DOES SAY if he asks for a fish will you give him a snake instead? If an egg will you give a scorpion instead? In other words it appears that what Jesus is conveying is that if your children ask for good things (like fish or eggs) you don’t give bad or evil things (like snakes and scorpions). In Scripture snakes and scorpions serve as a metaphor for evil. Flip back one chapter with me to Luke 10. The context of Luke 10 is Jesus sending out 72 disciples 2X2 to heal the sick and preach the kingdom. In verse 17 we see them returning to Jesus to report their experience. Look what the text says:
Luke 10:17-19 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
Jesus gave them power to trample on snakes and scorpions. Did Jesus mean that they literally stepped on and crushed literal snakes and literal scorpions? I don’t believe so. I believe that snakes and scorpions is a metaphor for evil and Jesus gave them victory over those things as the kingdom was advancing. I believe the same is true of our text back in Luke 11 on prayer. If your children ask for good (fish or egg) will you give them evil (snakes and scorpions)? No. Even though you’re evil, you intend to give good to your children. How much more will your father give good gifts? So in prayer ask…and expect. And know that even if you don’t get exactly what you asked for, God intends to give you what is ultimately good, not bad.
So in prayer, we should ask with a childlike boldness and persuasive persistence. We should also know that we may not get exactly what we expect, but we should know that God loves us, intends good for us and will give us what is for our ultimate good.
ILLUSTRATION. I used to work at AT&T. I would go jogging on my lunch breaks on the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail. I would jog from 16th & Guadalupe down 15th across Lamar to the beginning of the trail and jog to the end of the trail near Lamar and 35th St. This was the most amazing time of prayer for me. It was a time of sweet communion with God. One time I was jogging and praying and I asked God for something strange. Have you ever asked God for something and then wondered why did I ask for that? Where did that come from? This was one of those moments for me. In the midst of my prayers I asked God to protect me. I don’t know why. Again, it was strange. I wasn’t afraid that the boogey man was going to jump out from the trees. I wasn’t afraid that I was going to get heatstroke. I wasn’t afraid that I was going to get jumped by a gang. But for whatever reason, I asked God to protect me. Then as I’m thinking about this, wondering why even ask such a weird thing, within a minute I twisted my ankle. This wasn’t just a, oops, hobble for a second and shake it off and keep going. This was a OUCH. THAT HURT SO BAD! Hop on one foot till I could get to a picnic table lay on the bench part and cry like a little girl type of ankle twist.
You know what I’m thinking as I’m lying there? I’m two miles from work and I have to be back by noon. How am I going to get back? But more importantly, what was that about? God, I just asked you to protect me. That was a weird prayer to begin with. I don’t even know why I asked that. I just asked you to protect me! And you twist my ankle??? Is this your idea of protection??? How is this protecting me??? I don’t know why I prayed that or even what I expected God to do by way of protection, but it certainly wasn’t a twisted ankle.
God answered my prayer. I didn’t understand exactly how until the next day. You see, this was during a time in my life when softball was a huge part of my life. I was playing every season, sometimes on more than one team on more than one night of the week and sometimes tournaments on the weekends. So the next crucial thought after how do I get back to work was, how am I going to play softball tomorrow? The answer was I either don’t so it can heal, or I play at 60% speed. But I can’t play at 60% speed. I’m David Boone. I’m the guy who hears from the other dugout, “Don’t hit it to that short guy in LC, he’s fast.” I’m the guy who tags up from 2nd base and scores. I’m the fast guy. I had a lot of pride in my speed. And I ran fast for my glory.
I prayed a weird prayer, “God protect me.” And He did. He protected me from myself, from my sin, from my self-centeredness and pride. He humbled me. God answered my prayer in a way completely different than one might have expected a “protect me” prayer to be answered. But His answer was a twisted ankle, which was for my ultimate good and His ultimate glory.
We don’t always get exactly what we expect when we ask of God. But we do ask as a child asking of his father. And we know that men, even as evil as men are, still seek to give what is ultimately good to their children. How much more, will God give what is ultimately good to His children who ask of him? The answer may not be what we expect but it will be good.
BEFORE WE CLOSE, I’D LIKE TO CLEAR UP ANY CONFUSION I MAY HAVE CAUSED.
If I were you, I might be a little confused. A couple weeks ago I suggested against asking of God as if he’s a genie in a lamp and acting as if our wish was His command. I drew out the fact that we should pray in light of the nature of our relationship: he is the greater, we are the lesser. He doesn’t exist to serve us, but we exist to serve Him. He is master, we are servant, not the other way around. I suggested that our prayers, in light of what He has already given us should be more thanks-giving than request-making.
Now this morning, I talked all about request-making and to do so with expectation, with boldness and persuasive persistence. That might seem contradictory. He doesn’t exist to serve us, yet ask with boldness, persistence, and expectation. So I want to remind you the expectation, boldness and persistence is rooted in the position of a child before his father, the lesser asking of the greater. In approaching God with expectation, boldness and persistence there is a huge difference between doing it from the we are master, he is servant perspective and doing it from the we are child, he is daddy perspective. Yes, ask, expect, do it with boldness and persistence, but do it understanding the nature of our relationship. He is greater, we are lesser. He is master, we are servants. He is father, we are children. www.ncfgeorgetown.com Church in Georgetown, Texas. Reformed church Georgetown, Texas preterist church Georgetown Texas. Pastor David Boone. Full Preterism. Covenant Eschatology. New Covenant Fellowship Georgetown. Page House 10:00 am Loving God. Loving Others. Realized eschatology fulfilled eschatology Preterist church Austin Texas. Bible church Austin Texas Second coming of Jesus Christ
So to come full circle, I suggest that a child of God should approach his heavenly father with the following in mind:
· My heavenly father can do anything. I’ll ask him! Expectantly.
· If I really want something, I will plead persistently with my heavenly father.
· When I ask, my heavenly father won’t ignore me but will answer me, even if it’s not the answer I expect, like, or want. God answers prayer.
· My heavenly father can say no because he’s God and he’s running the show not me.
· My heavenly father loves me and whatever His answer is, it is ultimately for my good and His glory.
Our sermon audio and video files can be found at www.ncfgeorgetown.com/media.html
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