Pray Always & Do Not Lose Heart

By Pastor George Antonakos

Years ago, in another congregation, a church leader engaged me in a conversation about prayer. Actually, it was less a conversation and more a statement about a conclusion she had come to concerning prayer. Her statement of belief went something like this: "I have stopped praying for people and situations because God is going to do what God is going to do. I simply pray that God's will be done and leave it at that." I listened politely and shared a pastoral rebuttal but the whole time I felt an inner uneasiness, not simply because of the viewpoint expressed, but because it was coming from someone who had been around the church a long time. In some ways the elder's conclusion was understandable. We have all wondered why God allows some difficult situations to persist and yet miraculously answers others. However, even though the perspective expressed may sound plausible it is simply not biblical. The elder's conclusion had a sophisticated ring to it and yet reflected a basic spiritual immaturity.

One particular story that Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8 was about a persistent widow who was stuck in a certain life situation. In her case, opposition came in the form of an uncaring judge and a total absence of clout. Yet, she persisted in her complaint and gave the judge no rest. Finally, he relented and granted her request. To all of this, Jesus stated, "...will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them." There are many times when we may question the "quickly" aspect of answered prayer but there is nothing here or anywhere else in the scriptures that supports a fatalistic attitude about prayer. Of course, it is also a problem when we have orthodox, biblical views and beliefs about prayer and still don't exercise the gift of talking with God as a friend speaks with a friend.

Jesus encouraged us to come to God as a loving, caring parent (Matthew 6:6-8) and specifically taught us to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), but the most telling aspect of the importance of prayer is that Jesus spent a great deal of time praying. He clearly demonstrated that for all its mysteries, prayer was essential to living life as God intended.

Over the next four weeks, the sermon series on prayer will remind us of the centrality of prayer to us all. And we need it because there is no way we can take the corporate steps in our immediate collective future on our own strength. We also need to learn or be reminded of the importance of praying together. This is a challenge for many, so by way of "equipping" I invite you to stop by the Welcome Center and pick up a copy of the classic brochure, "Aids to Conversational Prayer" by Rosalind Rinker. It is especially helpful for learning to pray in groups.

No matter how new or seasoned you are in developing an attitude of dependence in prayer, we would all do well to remember why Jesus taught the parable in Luke 18:1 about the persistent widow, in the first place, "Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not lose heart."