Bold beggars

Luke 11:5-8…

Jesus is telling the disciples a story about the value of pleading. This illustration would have been very well understood by the audience of the day, as visitors were well treated (Genesis 18:1-8 / Hebrews 13:2). To tell a visitor that you have nothing to give was like having a wedding where the wine ran out (cf. John 2:1-11).

The man was stirred in the middle of the night, and he went and stirred his neighbor, and we get stirred to pray. But that is training for life because life hits us hard when we least expect it and we have to go to God, many times on the behalf of others.

God isn’t like the man who is asleep, that is the point Jesus is making. If the man who slept would act, how much more so will God be stirred by our prayers?  In order to really get to know God we have to keep seeking Him in prayer. Jesus doesn’t want us to give up (Luke 18:1-8).

Most of us haven’t actually reached the end of our rope yet. It’s not that we give up; it’s that we don’t even get up. We fail to realize that our need is greater than this man who doesn’t have what he needs to help. We don’t actually realize how vulnerable our situation really is. The truth is that we don’t get down to praying with passion until we have to have it. He becomes all we need when He’s all we’ve got. Jesus is telling us to develop this thing right now in our lives. It starts when we start listening to God tug our heart strings for someone else.

God is not like a friend who doesn’t want to get up, He is wide awake and Jesus is trying to wake us all up. You are like that friend that has nothing to give the visitor unless your friend gives you something to give. We won’t have any daily bread unless He gives it to us. Pleading prayer is the means to the manna of mercy. Are you a bold beggar or a proud prayer? 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

More prayer please

Luke 11:1-4…

Jesus had already taught the disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:5-15). But as they began to really understand how important prayer was to Jesus’ own life, and how it kept Him in contact with God (Luke 9:28-31), they were stirred up to ask Him about it once again.

Jesus basically repeated what He had said to them before, providing a framework for prayer with an understanding of Providence. Yet this wasn’t a clinical lesson on technique. We must avoid taking this pattern and using it in a hypocritical or superstitious way. The phrases point to the frame, the concepts, which are more than mere words. It is not about simply repeating the phrases, or just believing that if we cover the concepts God will make our lives just right.  

The proof of that is that they already knew these phrases, but when they asked Him again, He repeats the same basic phraseology. Then Jesus goes on to tell them a story about persistence (Luke 11:5-8). You see, it is not the words themselves, but the concepts. Even then, it is more than that; the heart relationship behind them is what God is after. Repeating phrases can be helpful, but only if they are heartfelt. The concepts must be met with conviction.

The subject of prayer is vast and vital, and it can yield a rich dimension to our spirituality and daily lives in a way nothing else can. Don’t be overwhelmed by the subject of prayer; instead, consider it an inexhaustible treasure. Keep doing it; God likes it, and so will you. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Anxiety and necessity

Luke 10:38-42…

Sometimes it can be too easy to work too hard in doing too much. We can turn a wonderful opportunity for joy, celebration, learning, and love, into an obstacle to those very things, and we may even put the wall up for others as well. Our guests always have to be guarded around us. Instead of the event being the focus, we become the not so star attraction by our need for attention to detail. 

This is not only about “special events”. This mentality manifests itself in our daily existence. It is a formula for misery. We try and seize the day and it seizes us up with stress. Like Martha, our cares become too cumbersome (distracted with much serving), and we become complainers (Lord, do you not care), critical (my sister has left me), and commanding (Tell her then to help me).  We create deadlines that aren’t there, fail to meet them, and then feel like we’re dead.

Yes, certain things must be done. Our Lord is not teaching us to be lazy. He is teaching us about values.  The truth is that we are not to let everyday concern, even labor and time intensive work and duty, keep us from paying attention to what is truly important, our daily relationship with Christ. This is the one thing that is necessary.

We have to watch out for this, even as, and especially as, committed believers. To try and control every situation is to be controlled by every situation. Sometimes you have to sit down, calm down, and slow down, so you can pay attention to Jesus. If you don’t do that, the Lord has to do it providentially.

We want to serve Jesus well, but we must remember that we are to be served by Him in order to be able to serve for Him. Our main problem is not that we don’t try hard enough to be good, but that we haven’t believed the gospel and received its finished reality into all parts of our life. No fresh gospel gas in the tank means a life run on empty energy.  

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©