St. John Studies

To be at one with Jesus Christ.

Bingham Hunter quotes Samuel Chadwick [author of The Path of Prayer]: “To pray in the Name of Christ . . . is to pray as one who is at one with Christ, whose mind is the mind of Christ, whose desires are the desires of Christ, and whose purpose is one with that of Christ.”

I think Chadwick is saying strive to that level of life and you will receive bounteous blessings.

What do we have to do to reach that level?

First, one should pray for the glorification of God. John 14:13 says “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” This is a departure for many Christians who pray with certain goals in mind. Many pray with their own petitions as their main concern when God should be uppermost. We should be engrossed with God’s glory but maybe this goes against our selfish nature.

Secondly, to be at one with Jesus Christ means that our prayer should be made “only on the merits or basis of Jesus’ work, not our own.” As we approach this Easter season, we need to acknowledge the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We can focus on so many aspects of this act of love of God and Son for man but for the sake of prayer, it is the basis of our communication with God.   Ephesians 3:12 states “In Him and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”   Jesus is the one and only true living way to communicate with God.

Thirdly, being one with Christ should result in us being true disciples. Jesus claims He did His work on behalf of His Father. Likewise, as we pray, we should be engaged in the work of The Lord. Jesus said “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” [John 8:31].   “If you love me, you will obey what I command” [John 14:15]. If we are not working for God, we have no claim to represent Him. If we are not representing God, our prayers may be very weak indeed.

Finally, to be one with Christ is to seek to pray as Jesus would have prayed in the same situation. Hunter bases this idea on the way the Bible uses the word “name” as we pray “in Jesus’ name.”  In Scripture, name means what an individual is and what an individual does. One can read Scripture and note that a person’s name is so important throughout the Old and New Testament. “Generations ago someone’s name not only designated who the person was, but suggested the traits of the person. Knowing someone’s name carried with it a familiar aspect that implied that not only did you know who the person was, but that you had some power over the person. For instance, in the New Testament, Jesus asked a demon what his name was and the demon was compelled to answer, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many’” (Mark 5.9) [HCNA Website, 2017]. When we “pray in the name of Jesus” we are really praying and saying we are petitioning God as Jesus would have in this situation—prayer from the mind of Christ is always according to God’s will and it will be heard. “True disciples would not desire to ask anything which is outside the will of their Heavenly Father” [Hunter, 199]. He further states that “All distinctly Christian prayer is offered in Jesus’ name.”

As we close our comments on The God Who Hears Hunter feels he has come full circle—coming back to where he started his book. “Prayer is a means God uses to give us what He wants.”

What does God hear? He hears those who pray and live to glorify Him.

The key to all Hunter’s thoughts about prayer is the degree that we desire God. If we desire Him, He will honor our petitions. His absolute closing words are also mine: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” [Hunter, 199].

Exegesis and grammatical analysis.

Probably two things that will put the normal person to sleep. Yet doing exegesis and analyzing grammar are what W. Bingham Hunter does in the final chapter of his book The God Who Hears.

Exegesis is the critical interpretation of scripture.

Grammatical analysis is breaking down sentences into parts. When I was younger, we did something in English class that teachers don’t do anymore; we diagrammed sentences. Finding verbs, subjects, objects, phrases and dependent clauses was not a popular activity for most students.

But zeroing in on John 14-16 is important for Hunter because he wants to explore the meaning of praying in the name of Jesus or God.

As people of prayer, it is important for us to feel we can ask for Divine Help and receive Divine Help. John 15:7 says “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.”

I am not going to bore you with detailed exegesis or grammatical analysis but when I really think about the sentence I quoted above, the part “ask whatever you wish…”, it sounds awfully good…until you look at the first part of the sentence.

There is the catch.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you.”

What does this word abide mean?   When you see the word “if” it means that something will happen “if” something else happens first. If implies a condition.

What do we have to do to get the prayer results we want?

Hunter says it means we have to obey the teachings of Jesus and Hunter says it is “volitional.” At the risk of getting too analytical, volitional means that we make a thoughtful choice to commit to a particular course of action. We want to obey the teachings of Jesus; we want to obey the commandments of The Lord. This is not coerced. It is our desire.

When Jesus says that His words abide in us, He is really saying we have made a commitment to being connected with our Holy Father. John Stott is quoted in Hunter as saying “It is only when Christ’s words abide in us that our prayers will be answered. Then we can ask what we will and it shall be done, because we shall will only what He wills.”

In the previous months of discussion on prayer, I have commented on Hunter’s idea that an effective petitioner is one who understands that God’s will be done, not our own. What Stott is saying is that the more we are connected to God, the more we will understand what to pray. We literally begin to think thoughts that are more acceptable to God because we begin to understand how to relate to our Holy Father.

It is all about obedience.

Look at John 15:16. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.”

This verse makes the bearing of “fruit” something that you must do before your prayers are answered.

One can turn to Galatians 5:22 and read that the fruit that we must bear is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.” When Jesus talks about fruit, He is talking about something that is created through obedience to God.   God is the vine; we are the branches. We can bear fruit, but it does not happen just because we are branches. We have to be connected to the life-giving support of the vine. In short, we are dependent on the God vine for our ability.

With a little “exegesis” and a little “grammatical analysis” it becomes clear that to get what we want in prayer, it takes a connection.   Digging a little deeper, that connection depends on our obedience to God. Taking it further, connection is a choice; it is what we desire.

My next post will be centered on obedience, the prayer-obedience relationship which is central to our ability to pray to our Father.

As I wrap up W. Bingham Hunter’s “The God Who Hears”, the next book that will be considered will be Bill Hybel’s  “Holy Discontent”. 

“Well my daddy left home when I was three and he didn’t leave much to Ma and me. Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze. Now, I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid but the meanest thing that he ever did was before he left, he went and named me ‘Sue.’   Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke and it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk. It seems I had to fight my whole life through. Some gal would giggle and I’d get red. And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head. I tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named ‘Sue.’”

These lyrics from Johnny Cash’s song “A Boy Named Sue” point to the importance of a name. Obviously a boy would prefer not to be named Sue.

Bingham Hunter dedicates his last chapter to the phrase that I often use when I pray in public. I often say “In Jesus name I pray” as I get ready to close my prayer.

Is it important to invoke the name of Jesus when we pray?

Some seem to think so. Hunter was told when he was a young Christian that the phrase “In Jesus name” was essential for God to hear our prayers.   Leave off the phrase and your prayers would not get through.   He encountered folks who prayed “In Jesus name” with drawn out words and emotional intonation.   Others seem to think that invoking Jesus name has direct power of its own.   You don’t even have to attach it to prayer.   And Hunter relates that he encountered a zealot who explained that praying “in Jesus name” would force The Father to give whatever he asked.

Where do people get this idea?

John 14-16.

Peppered throughout these three chapters are these statements. “ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.”

Some may see this as merely the idea that Jesus is our advocate. If we pray to Him, He will be our intermediary with God, The Father.   But the second verse seems to indicate that praying directly to Jesus is the way to go.

Whatever the Bible is saying about praying with Jesus as advocate or Jesus as recipient, one thing is clear. The phrase “In Jesus name” is not just an afterthought we tack on to the end of a prayer.   It truly means something.

Hunter says the phrase “somehow conditions prayer offered to both The Father and the Lord Jesus.   It also apparently applies in some way to the answer as well.”

In upcoming concluding posts, we will explore other evidence in John that will help us understand the meaning of the phrase.

When Johnny Cash sang about being called “Sue,” he bemoaned the complexity of his life caused by the gender-bending name.

When we pray using the name of Jesus, there may be a different result, a good result…

Maybe communication with our Lord and Savior will be facilitated.

Who would not want that?

I don’t know about you, but I want it.

Sometimes it does a body good to just pause.

Not too long ago, I was forced to sit, literally sit for almost three months. Walking was tough because I had to avoid pressure on my right foot.   I had to use a walker to move. I could not drive; doctor’s orders.

I found that I had plenty of time to think. I day-dreamed about driving, cooking my own food, mowing the yard, cleaning up the garage, even going to get my own coffee in the kitchen. A lot was taken away from me but a lot was also given.

I had a simple life. That was what was given. More than that; that was the gift.

As we close the chapter entitled “Christ: Our Example”, we conclude by considering Jesus Christ’s lifestyle as our example for prayer and we have to admit that He had a simpler life than we have today.  Bingham Hunter states that “part of the reason Jesus had time and energy to pray the way He did was the simplicity of His life” [Hunter, 190].

Jesus owned next to nothing.   I have joked with my wife about the awful prospect of her preceding me in death.   It is not funny but I try to lighten up the subject by saying I would enroll as a monk in the monastery. My conception of monastic life is that it would be simple and the focus would be on the relationship between the monk and God.*

Jesus spent most of His time on earth with people.   He taught them. He was a wonderful role model leader. He spent most of His time passing along ideas about God and right living. He was involved in conversations with people [a favorite teaching technique]. In short, He valued relationships over material possessions.   He valued people over accomplishing a lot of business in His daily life.

Jesus was not success-driven as many people are in our culture today. Jesus touted the value of the weak, the meek, the down-trodden.   Jesus declared that the way to right relationship with God was to avoid the trappings of distracting wealth and the heady elixir of power over people. In our world today that worships material success and influence over others, His lifestyle would not be the norm.

Jesus thought that His daily work was the work of God the Father and it was. He saw prayer as vital to His ministry and He says it is essential to accomplishing God’s will. Mattew 6:10 “ your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Mark 14:36   “Abba, Father,” ‘He said’, “everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus prayed a long time before selecting His disciples. He prayed before His miracles. When He exorcised demons, He said “this kind can come out only by prayer” [Mark 9:29]. He praised God for His disciples’success. He prayed for His disciples in times of failure and trouble. When He was in tense times, He prayed [for example in Gethsemane].   He prayed before making important decisions; one time He prayed all night before a decision [Luke 6:12].

Hunter indicts our lifestyle today in the words “most of us are too busy coping with existence to see prayer as vital or essential. But life could be simple.” Drive an older car. Wear less trendy clothes. Instead of replacing furniture, consider reupholstering. Eat less meat and more vegetables. If we took a simple approach to life, we would have less need for so much income.   We would have more time for prayer.

Then Hunter really drives home the point about what is really important to us. “Who are you really in love with? Is it God? Your spouse? Your children? Friends? Success? Your image? Where is your treasure? There your heart is also. Prayer is basically a matter of priorities, isn’t it?” [190].

Today it is hard to choose simplicity over complexity. It is so difficult to value people over possessions. It is so counter-intuitive to choose meekness over power.

But maybe Christ our Example is asking us to choose. He did.

Can we?

*Susan just laughs and says I would never be able to commit to the “vow of silence.”

First Corinthians 13:11: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

In the context of First Corinthians, Paul is probably exhorting us to grow as Christians, to be more mature.   Instead of always taking “milk” as our nourishment, grow in our faith to the point that we can eat “meat”.

That is a commendable goal, one we should all strive for. But in my previous post I mentioned three things that can help us in our prayer life: three examples from Jesus that can aid our prayers.

The first of those was pray as a child of God. Jesus and His Father had a child-God relationship. We should have that too.

Most of us are familiar with the term Abba, an Aramaic word for father, used by Jesus to address God in a relation of personal intimacy. There was little doubt that Jesus had no trouble getting His Father’s attention. There was little doubt that God loved His Son. There was little doubt that God cared for His Son and helped His Son.

There was never a hint of arrogance as Jesus addressed His Father and there was never a tone of disrespect.

What is the upshot for us as petitioners of The Lord?

We need to be secure in our identity as children of God. He will take care of us, for we need Him. We are to fear Him, which means He deserves our respect. Even though He has promised to love us, He is not Santa Claus, giving us our hearts’ desire. Not all of life will be easy, but He will be there to help us through hard times, those times when we can draw near to Him and feel an emboldened faith. He knows we are sinners, born into sin from birth but He extends forgiveness to those who accept His gift of grace. He offers salvation to those who accept His gift of love.

Secondly, we need to acknowledge that Jesus prayed in an obedient manner. Jesus was humble and submissive and we should be too as we approach the Lord in prayer.

In our culture, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to bring about our will. For example Psychologist Lindsey Myers states that the self-help book sales for 2016 topped 10 billion dollars.* But the Christian’s self-help book is full of phrases spoken by Jesus which amount to Him asking that His Father’s will be done. Luke 22:42 states “Yet not my will, but Your will be done.” In John 4:34, He says “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.” Despite all of Jesus’s capabilities, He knew by Himself, He could do nothing.

It is so easy for us to forget that. When things go right through some effort on our part, we love to claim the credit. We forget that what we receive is what is given to us from God.

When we hear Jesus say in John “By myself I can do nothing” it should be very significant for all of us Christians.   If Jesus refused to take credit, why should we think we should?

Thirdly, Jesus’ prayer life was informed by God’s Word.

Repeatedly, in situation after situation, Jesus revealed that He had knowledge of God’s word. In a normal first-century Jewish household, He would have been exposed to Scripture at home and at synagogue school. As an adult, He attended the synagogue in Nazareth where He heard the reading and explanation of the Scriptures” [186].

As Christians, the more we can read God’s word, the more we can learn from the model of Jesus as Petitioner of God. Bible reading will influence how we pray as we slip Biblical phrases into our prayers.

There are catches to all of this. Reading the Bible, studying the Bible and meditating on the Bible takes time. We have to make it a priority. Approaching The Lord in a humble, submissive manner takes an attitude that is not often valued in our culture. Taking on the identity of a child is difficult for someone who prides themselves on being an adult with total control.

But without some commitment on our part, what can we expect from God?

Knowing God takes time and effort. As Hunter says so well, “Do you expect God to hear you if you don’t hear him?”

I don’t think so…

*from Myers “Brain Blogger” Blog…

**The author of The God Who Hears

As we have worked through the book The God Who Hears*, it has been a pretty thorough examination of all aspects of prayer and ideas related to prayer. However, the book has yet to focus directly on the personage of Jesus Christ and the prayers He prayed.

What can we learn from a careful examination of Jesus’ prayer experience?   Can we read of His life and examine His prayers and learn something that would help our prayer lives?

Christians are not united on this topic, believe it or not. Some cite that Jesus’ experience is just too different from ours to be applicable. Others feel that the personal nature of Jesus’ prayers are just too private for inquiry.

Let’s address those concerns.

First, let’s look at the argument that Jesus was God’s Son and His experience was unique and His taking on humanity hardly makes His life relatable. The reason some say this is a problem is Jesus is the Shepherd and we are the sheep. W. Bingham Hunter says “He was divine and sinless, we are neither.” This attitude is motivated by a desire to declare the divine nature of Jesus and that is not a bad thing. Yet in declaring His divinity, we don’t need to deny that He was also human. Hebrews 2: 14-18 “He had to be made like His brothers in every way . . .that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

Since Jesus in the fullness of His divinity took on our humanity, we should not fear that following the example of His humanity will demean His divine nature in any way. Maybe the best way to look at this is the major difference between Jesus as human and us as humans is that Jesus faced the same temptations as we do and yet He remained sinless. Otherwise, His humanity was no different than ours and His prayers can definitely be instructive.

The second objection is that His religious experience was so personal that we can glean little from the prayers of Jesus. W. Bingham Hunter says prayer is prayer. Words are words. Human nature today has not changed much from Jesus’ day, so when one talks with the “immutable God” what is said is still relevant, no matter how long ago the prayer took place.   His contention is that we can definitely learn from how Jesus prayed and we can seek to make His words our own. Jesus intended to instruct with His prayer words: see the Lord’s Prayer.

So with the two objections met and overruled, what can we learn from the prayers of Jesus?

One thing is Jesus prayed to God as Father. Jesus prayed as a child of God and we should have the same child-God relationship.

Secondly, we need to acknowledge that Jesus prayed in an obedient manner. Jesus was humble and submissive and we should be too as we approach the Lord in prayer.

Thirdly, Jesus’ prayer life was informed by God’s Word. In situation after situation, Jesus proved He knew Holy Scripture. The “bottom line” for us today is we will have more Christ-like prayers if we spend more time in the Bible, reading and studying.**

After mentioning the two objections to the study of Christ’s prayers, we have seen that His prayer is worth emulating.

Yes, the prayers of Christ are divine prayers but they are also the prayer of a man, living on earth. They are intended to express human ideas to a Divine Father and studying them and modeling them is worthwhile. Yes, the prayers of Christ are “personal.” My prayers are personal too. If one listens to me pray and they understand English, they should be able to understand what I am saying.

I can’t imagine anyone wanting to mimic my prayers but as I read the prayers of Jesus from the first century, I certainly think His personal communication to God is interesting and definitely worth copying.

Certainly Jesus can be our example as a man of prayer.

For Christians, He is the best example that any of us can find.

*by W. Bingham Hunter

** Another upcoming post will elaborate on these three things that we can learn.

Doubt.

As Christians, we don’t want to admit that we ever have it. We believe in the Bible and we declare it is a book of truth and honesty.

Yet there are examples of people who have doubt within the Word of God.

Habakkuk cries out “How long, O Lord must I call for help but you do not listen?” Asaph in the Psalms says “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure…all day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.” Job is a well-known doubter as evidenced by the words “Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?”   David exclaims in the Psalms “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? …I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer; and by night, I have no rest.”

Bingham Hunter* examines the four examples and draws some conclusions from these four doubters. First of all, not one of them doubts that God exists.  When we often think of doubt, what comes to mind? Some may think that we are questioning God’s existence. However the expressions of these four doubters are directed to a God who can act but He has chosen not to. The four are being honest about their anger and frustration. They have been hurt and they expect God to acknowledge their steadfast faith and act on their behalf.   They also believe in God’s promises: that He will protect His own, He will honor righteousness, He will avenge wrong and He will display justice. These four are asking an omnipotent God to display His strength.

These doubters are wondering if God is going to act but they are not skeptics.   These utterances are not irreligious. They are not disobedient, lawless or rebellious.

As believers, what can we glean from these examples?

First of all, it is better to be honest about doubt. We all have it from time to time. I worship in a church and one of the most frustrating things about church is the façade that Christians try to present at all times.   It is tantamount to receiving excommunication to admit that God can frustrate us from time to time. We can’t question His motives. We all want to act like we “have it all together” when in fact many of us don’t. Express hurt, frustration and impatience. God knows you are feeling it anyhow.   After all, He knows all.

Secondly, when we are feeling these doubts, there is no reason to withdraw from worship. Confess your feelings, ask for restoration and renewed fellowship with God. Don’t feel self-pity and turn away from God or church.

Thirdly, know that a period of doubt is just that; a period of time that will pass. Even though we may be feeling that spiritual darkness is upon us, know that it will not last.

Examine the words of Romans 8: 37-39 as Paul comments “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

From time to time, everyone wrestles with uncertainty.   It is a very impossible goal to live a life of faith without a doubt from time to time.

The key is to realize that there is no reason to question your true belief.

Everyone has their share of questions, frustrations and times of impatience.

The fact that you can have these moments and live through them can actually strengthen your faith. Go to your Bible and explore the aforementioned four doubters and see that they came through their period of doubt.

God committed Himself to Habakkuk, Asaph, Job and David and He has committed Himself to you. Hunter sums up the long-term view in these words: “God has committed to us in Christ, and the knowledge that His commitment is always and in everything characterized by love.”

What a peace we can have as we bask in the love of God, even in our moments of doubt.

*author of  The God Who Hears…

Fasting…

I am not well-acquainted with this topic but in W. Bingham Hunter’s chapter on “Persisting” he covers the subject of fasting.

Today, we hear of people fasting for various reasons, weight loss, cleansing of toxins from the body and yes some Christians do practice fasting.

Why?

John Piper* defines fasting as “a temporary renunciation of something that is in itself good, like food, in order to intensify our expression of need for something greater; namely, God and His work in our lives.”

Hunter says that “fasting helps many to think more clearly (because the head does not have to compete with the digestive organs for blood), and it can give anybody additional time in which to pray.”

Hunter is quick to say that a faster does not get “piety points” for the activity, nor does a hunger-strike pressure God to answer prayer.   The problem that many of us have in life is that we begin to take the gifts of life for granted. We forget that all we have in life is a gift from God. Abstinence is like an extended vacation [if you will]. When you leave your home and work for a period of time, you can look at your life in your normal environment and you can be more objective about it. You long to return home and participate in the things that make your life meaningful.

When one fasts, attention is given to God as one pulls away from the enjoyment of our blessings. God is seen as the foremost source of that joy.

Piper states “fasting is not explicitly commanded in the Bible for Christians. Fasting doesn’t have the same place in Christianity that it does, for example, in Islam. The fasting that Muslims do during the month of Ramadan in Islam is a requirement of every real Muslim. You can’t really claim to be a Muslim if you say, ‘I am just not going to do Ramadan.’ Fasting doesn’t have that kind of place in Christianity. But even though there is no command to fast in the New Testament, nevertheless there are indications that it was normal and that Jesus expected it would happen among his followers.”

In Matthew 6:16–18, Jesus says, “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

In looking at this Scripture, it states when you fast. Note that it does not say if you fast.   The implication is that Jesus is expecting fasting to occur. Also note that He says do not disfigure your face so others will see you are fasting.   He expects the fasting to be known by God and not the public.   Pharisees may want others to see their dedication but Jesus does not want His followers to fall into that hypocritical trap. The Father will see you in secret and reward you.   He implies that fasting can strengthen a person’s connection with God.

Fasting is a Christian’s way of exhibiting faith in our Lord. Piper describes it as “a Christian handmaid of faith. Fasting is not a replacement for faith in Jesus. It is a servant of faith in Jesus.” A Christian who sincerely needs and wants the Lord may fast to show how much he hungers for our Lord. The fasting Christian is saying with his or her stomach that the hunger for God is more important than food.   The person who fasts is saying that Jesus is more important than food.

One need only to look at our society today to see that many struggle with too much nutrition. Food like so many other aspects of life is a gift from God. Many love the gift so much that we overindulge and lose sight of what food is—a means to fuel the body.   Eating is not a bad activity; falling in love with food can lead to problems.   The opposite can be a problem too.   Fasting becomes a problem when we think we have the discipline or willpower to do it and we forget that God is our source of power, not our prideful willpower.

Feasting is not a problem because our food is a gift from God. Fasting is not a problem if we have the right attitude. “ It is simply a heartfelt, body felt exclamation point at the end of the sentence: I love you, God. I need you more than I need food, more than I need life” [Piper].

*from John Piper the “Desiring God” website

Persistence: “firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.”

If readers would excuse me, I would like to make a cultural judgement. Persistence is not a very popular activity today. We live in a microwave world, with instant credit, instant replay and instant coffee. We all have cellphones with instant answers to our questions.   Log on to your browser, type in a question and you will get an answer.   I was recently at a friend’s house and he had just purchased a new instant answer toy, an Alexa. Just ask Alexa a question and she will give you an answer. This “intelligent personal assistant” is voice activated and when you ask “her” a question, she talks back.

This is all well and good, but what happens when we don’t get an instant answer?

What does God expect of us when we pray and we don’t get an answer?

He expects us to persist in our prayer…

That unpopular word…

Bingham Hunter cites two reasons why persisting in prayer is not popular today. One reason is “there isn’t time to do it.”   One of the most popular expressions we hear today is “moving on.”   We are always moving on or “putting something in the rearview mirror.” It is not desirable to stay in a particular condition for very long.   We want to change; the sooner the better.

This sounds bad, but who today can wait for God to get around to responding to a prayer?   To trust God to answer a prayer that is repeated over a long period of time, most of us will have to change our orientation to life.   Persistent prayer necessitates that we slow down. Repetition of prayer is called for. Patience is needed. Faith that God will act in His time is necessary.

This is a big change for most of us. We love those instant answers.

Secondly, persisting can lead to misunderstanding. Hunter says “persistence [is] … not a method we adopt to convince a reluctant God that we are serious.”   The discipline that it takes to persist in prayer can be for our benefit, even though impatient Christians may struggle with praying the same prayer over and over. Yes, learning self-discipline can be a good thing. We can use the time of waiting to examine our motives and that is always good if we do an honest examination. Stopping and thinking about why we do what we do can be very fruitful and can result in mid-course corrections that are very helpful. We can also seek the counsel of other Christians as we wait for an answer.   That can grow our faith. If we persist in prayer, we can affirm our complete dependency on God for all aspects of our life. This humbling is good for us and can lead to an increase of faith.

Hunter cites the Canaanite woman who cries out to Jesus in Matthew “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! … Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”   Jesus declared that this woman had great faith and He granted her request. Peter says “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s almighty hand, the He may lift you up in due time.   Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” [1 Peter, 5:5-7].

To be humble in today’s world is difficult. So many people love to brag and “trash talk” as they espouse the power they have to take powerful action alone.   They don’t need God.

Truth be told, we all need God to get things done.   We all depend on Him like the Canaanite woman.

Study the words of Jesus in Matthew 7: 7-8: He says that we should keep on asking because God exists. He says that we should keep on seeking because God is all powerful and sovereign.   He says that we should keep on knocking because God is wise and good and will give us what we need.

He will give us what we need, when He feels we need it.

So persist…

It is not a waste of time.

I try to post every other day, but due to travel, I am getting this post written late.   My apologies…

“One of the profound tragedies of modern Christianity is that so many believers know almost nothing about the saints of God in other denominations and communions or in ages other than their own.”

Why should we concern ourselves with how other people pray? What can the faithful of other generations and other denominations teach us? W. Bingham Hunter states that it is “arrogant” to think that the Holy Spirit can teach us nothing through the counsel and experience of others, especially others who are considered the church’s “heroes of faith” [Hunter, 163].

Hunter names thirty-four heroes but chooses to focus on one: George Muller. What makes Muller so special? Muller was a 19^th Century Evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down Orphanage where he cared for 10,024 orphans in his lifetime.   He also established 117 schools which offered Christian education to over 120,000 children, many of them being orphans.

The commitment to caring for orphans began in 1836 with the use of his own rented home. Muller and his wife configured their home to care for thirty girls. Soon after they started, growth began with more homes opening to accommodate more children.

Through all the growth, “Müller never made requests for financial support, nor did he go into debt, even though the five homes cost over £100,000 to build. Many times, he received unsolicited food donations only hours before they were needed to feed the children, further strengthening his faith in God. For example, on one well-documented occasion, they prayed for breakfast when all the children were sitting at the table, even though there was nothing to eat in the house. As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with sufficient fresh bread to feed everyone, and the milkman gave them plenty of fresh milk because his cart broke down in front of the orphanage.”*

He never asked any person (only God) for anything. Muller regarded his life as a demonstration of what God might do through the prayers of the ordinary Christian. Muller regarded faith as a gift from God rather than something he could generate on his own. Time after time, Muller found himself asking God for help and thinking that help would arrive in accordance with His will.

This is in line with 1 John 5 and the words “This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him” [verses 14-15].

Muller did not give thanks in advance for prayers not yet granted. Hunter believes that thanking God in advance is akin to psychological leverage which demands that God deliver. Muller had a habit of saying after prayer “God will surely send help.” That was all.

How many Christians today would have such great faith? How many Christians today would put themselves and others at risk? Hunter says “how often are we unwilling to follow God’s will into situations which are neither safe, comfortable, familiar, regulated, scheduled nor routine?”

What you lose if you turn down these opportunities is you lose your chance to increase your faith.   When the Holy Spirit calls out that this is what you should do, do it; it may be risky business but it is business that is worth doing. Dire conditions like poverty, persecution, suffering and imprisonment seem to accelerate the growth of faith because we are so dependent on God to get us out of those circumstances but we need to realize that God also acts in the comfort of our everyday lives. Taking a risk in those ordinary times is needed because growing our faith takes time and the time that God uses the most is the ordinary times of every day.

“Müller’s faith in God strengthened day by day and he spent hours in daily prayer and Bible reading. Indeed, it was his practice in later years, to read through the entire Bible four times a year….After his life, his work was continued by The George Müller Foundation, which was renamed The George Müller Charitable Trust on 1 March 2009. The Trust maintains the key principle of seeking money through prayer alone – it actively shuns fund-raising activities.”*

He prayed, he knew his Bible and God worked through him—his prayers and his actions.

*Wikipedia “George Muller”