I have been praying to God for as long as I remember.  One of my most vivid memories from early in my life is praying with my father in my bedroom to receive Christ as my Savior around the age of 4 or 5.  Through the years I have had many answers to prayer that have either been exactly as I have asked or a different answer that through time I see the wisdom gained through that Divine response.  And yet as I look at my current prayer life, there are many times where I either hesitate or delay lifting up all kinds of prayers and requests.  This is not due to my hesitancy regarding the need for or the power of prayer.   As I ask myself why I don’t pray more, my self-reflection seems to point to either indifference or control. 

Recently I was studying for a devotion that I was leading and the passage that I was teaching from was Luke 18:1-8. 

“And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to Him and saying, give me justice against my adversary.  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. ‘  And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God give you justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night?  Will He delay long over them?  I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?’” 

As I read and studied this teaching I was convicted of my lackadaisical approach to communicating with the One True God!   I was compelled to answer questions I had.  Is this parable teaching that God will give us everything we ask for and in a hurry?  Are we to approach prayer with God in a winey posture of entitlement?  This parable seems to allow for more of a “genie in a bottle” relationship rather than coming into the presence of the Creator of the universe.  One preacher explained the sanctifying work God is continually doing in us this way.  “Faith is not so much getting what you want as learning to receive what God has for you.”  In my opinion this is more what Jesus is trying to teach us from this parable.  In fact, the point Jesus is trying to make is stated in the first verse.  “…That they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”  A part of prayer is receiving from the Lord.  And the timing of God is very different than ours, never early and never late.  But the answer we receive from the Lord many times is different than what we initially think.  The most important thing with prayer is realizing a proper view of God and a proper view of ourselves.  The next parable Jesus states in Luke 18 deals with the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple.  It is made abundantly clear that whoever approaches God humbly and contritely is the one on whom God looks favorably.  Approaching the Lord properly in prayer is essential to righteous unity with Him.  This is why the instructions through the Lord’s Prayer are so critical. 

Personally as I read this passage I was convicted with how I have come to the Lord in prayer over the last 12 months on a particular issue.  As I have ridden the long spiritual “rollercoaster” of God’s will in this matter I have honestly become discouraged and disheartened.  In my mind, that compares with the size of the Grinch’s heart. I could not figure out what God was doing in this situation that seemed so clear to me.  And even now as I have had a renewing of my mind regarding God and His Sovereign Will, I am grateful for what He is teaching me in a situation that has yet to be resolved.   My faith has been strengthened and my resolve to approach the Lord thankfully and humbly has been renewed.  I may not understand fully what God is accomplishing through His Will, but I can confidently approach the merciful Savior and trust that His timing and work are perfect. 

My request is that when you are done reading this blog you will take a good portion of time and meditate on Luke 18 yourself.  My hope and prayer is that the Son of Man will find you and I faithful to Him on this earth.  Go ahead and make dedicated time for your personal faith lesson from Luke 18.