Yesterday was a night of amazing realization for me. This will surely be a Monday-esque blog, but it’s just something that’s gotta be put down on…. screen…….. before I lose this.
Mr. David Perkins is an amazing man. His heart is totally for prayer and that God’s people will be in prayer always. It’s great. Last night we had The Gathering, which is the gathering of both DLA and The Furnace, and we get together and have worship and prayer and then David talks afterwards.
DP talked about something that I think everyone needs to hear. He talked about our prayers, and how weak our prayers are at times. Sure it sounds bad, but its not. There is great news.
He first talked about how often we can look at people who pray that pray with such vigor, such a fervent heart, and we see them as “great prayers”. Sure they may be someone who is great at praying, but does that mean they are any better at praying than the person who can just say a few words? Not at all. In Luke 11:5-10, after Jesus gets done teaching His disciples how to pray:
‘Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”‘
This is a great representation of our prayer. Sometimes we don’t even bother praying, well, because we don’t think our prayers are strong enough. But it says that because of your shameless persistence he will get up and answer the door. In other words, if you are persistent in your prayers, no matter how small they may seem, they will be answered.The door will be opened. The one who seeks, finds. So I first want to encourage anyone with that. That if you keep on asking, you will receive, but we must do so with shameless persistence.
We are also weak. We are weak in our prayer lives. We are weak in our walk with God. We are weak. I’ve heard it said that Christians are just people who pray to a God that they typically use as a crutch. When that is supposed to come off as an insult, it is completely true. We are a weak people. We are on this earth, living our lives and putting all of trust in God. Putting all of our strength and lives into God. Without Him we are weak. I am weak, I am cowardly, I am angry, I am envious, I am self-loathing, I am lustful, I am a creature that amounts to nothing. I am all of this and more until I find God. Until I put my trust in Him and allow Him to help me become a better man. To rise up from this boy I was to a man who is strong enough, not to take on this world alone, but to be strong enough that I am able to admit that I can do nothing, I can be nothing without God in my life.
In the Bible it was always the weak, the broken and the wounded that came to Jesus for healing. It was the blind, the crippled, the lame, the deaf, the mute, the broken that came to Jesus. Some so weak that they had to be carried to Him, or some who were just able to touch the hem of His garment. But Jesus knew that they knew they needed Him. He knew why they had come to Him. And He picked them up and made them whole. Those who were “strong enough”, those who were self sufficient didn’t come to Jesus. “We don’t need Him”. Those like the Pharisees and the Kings and rulers of the day. They had come to a place where they could fend for themselves. They didn’t need anyone else. We need to come to a place where we know we are so weak that we can’t continue living without God in our lives. Without the touch of Jesus.
When these weak people come to God, we will pray weak prayers. And like I said, God hears every prayer and responds to it in some way. We don’t have to be “prayer heroes”. We don’t have to be super eloquent and quote Ephesians 1 and say all of the right things. We just need to talk to Him.
I know some people who are always scared to death to pray. More in front of people than anything, but just scared. Say we would be sitting down to eat and I would ask one of them to pray. It wasn’t happening. And it’s not just these people. For whatever reason we are scared to pray. We think that we need to say everything right and that we need to have structure. God will hear your prayers no matter how big or small. Whether it be, “O God…. help me pass this test I didn’t study for” or “God, I pray that you bless this food”, He looks down and hears that. He hears the smallest prayers, because He is a God who looks at us and says, “I want to know you,” and so because of that every prayer is heard. “I want to know you”.
So I want to encourage anyone, no matter where you are in your relationship with God, to pray. Always.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Praying,
Morgan
