Thoughts on Prayer

In Luke 11 the disciples want to learn to pray like Jesus. So they ask Him to teach them. Their asking is answered. The prayer as given here is similar to the prayer in the sermon on the mount, but not identical. I counted seven differences. Does this indicate Jesus was not trying to given us a rote prayer to be used in all circumstances, but rather a prayer-guide to help us know how to pray, not just what to pray?  After giving us the prayer, Jesus gives us a story to illustrate how prayer works. There are some interesting truths contained in this story.

The gist of the story is there are neighbors, one of which has gone to bed with his children late at night, and the other who has a visitor show up at his door. He has nothing to set before this way-weary guest, and he goes next door, knocks on the door of his neighbor, seeks entrance and asks for three loaves of bread. The sleepy neighbor resists but the knocking does not stop. Eventually he gets up and gives the bread, not because of their friendship, but because of his friend's persistence. So is God a reluctant neighbor who will only answer our prayers if we bug him enough? This is not Jesus' point. I took a risk of checking out the tense of the verbs used in Jesus' explanation, Ask-receive, seek-find, knock-opened. Here is what I discovered. The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are continued actions, but the actions of receiving, finding and being opened are one time occurrences. We in prayer beat and beat and beat on the door, and God answers once in response. Think about this.

Who pursues first? Is it not God who asks, seeks, and knocks first? Isn't He the one pursuing us? He calls us long before we hear. He is the "hound of heaven" on our trail. He comes after us from heaven to knock on our hearts. He is the one who offers salvation. He is the one who extends the invitation, not just once, but over and over again. He is the one who is involved in the continuous action of building a relationship with us. But, as in any relationship He wants at some point to know that we are as enthusiastic as He. A man who pursues a woman may make a fool of himself in trying to win her love, but at some point if it is to work the woman must turn and chase him. The chaser must be chased. In prayer we chase God. It is not just about a transaction like going to the grocery store. We have a need so we go to the store and conduct business. No, prayer is not business, it is relationship. It is the way we chase God in the same way He chases us. It is too easy for us to think of prayer as placing an order at the drive through, and swinging around and picking it up at the window. God wants to pursue Him with the same persistence with which He pursues us. He calls, He writes, He sends flowers, He texts, He carves our names in a tree. He can't wait to see us and talk to us and share life with us. And, though we need Him more than He needs us, He seems to be doing the most to create and sustain the relationship. We need to show a little more passion for Him. Prayer is one of the ways we do that.