We shall look at different prayers in the Bible in order to learn how to pray in order to get our prayers answered. This series may not follow through non-stop, but will, most likely, be 'interrupted' with other sermons on different issues. So, keep visiting our blog in order to read our teachings and news.
God is the Lord of the Harvest - not the Lord of the Rings - and we need to pray for Him to send out workers into His Harvest (Mt 9:35-39). The 'harvest' here does, of course, not refer to crops and fruit, but to people who are in desperate need of God, healing, health, and shalom (well-being, wholeness). Jesus had a deep compassion for all the suffering - and still has - and wants this divine compassion to be established in those workers He can send out. The importance of prayer cannot be overemphasised - so let's get right into it...
Prayer (Part 1): The Prayer of Desperation and Dedication
There are three prayers we want to look at, and all three have at least two elements in common: desperation and dedication. When hard times come to people, there are usually two different responses: some curse God, accuse Him for their trouble, and start to hate Him, while others humble themselves in child-like trust, cry to Him in desperation, and as they dedicate their lives and the answer to their prayer to God, He acts on their behalf in an amazing way - a way impossible for humans to act.
- Jacob (Genesis 28; 32)
Jacob is a very interesting character, but space does, unfortunately, not allow us to cover his whole story. What is perhaps the most interesting in his life's development is that God changed him in an instructive process. He became a man of humility and one who would endure suffering a wrong innocently. It was as he was 'tricked' himself that he realised that what he had done to his brother was rather tricky. The story is complex and we can't explain all matters, but what is evident in his prayer-encounter with the Angel of God is that he was desperate. His own brother sought to kill him (although it was primarily Esau's, not Jacob's (!), fault that the older had lost his birth right (because he sold it, not valuing it for what it was). The situation is tense: Esau is seeking to kill Jacob. This was for real, and Jacob knew it. What did he do? Well, he prayed in desperation and God saved his life through a miraculous change of heart in Esau. What is also important to observe is that Jacob had dedicated his life and 10% of all his wealth and income unto God (28:20-22). Hence, it was a prayer of desperation and dedication. He had fully given himself to God and His purposes for his life, and once he prayed in a desperate situation, God did miracles for him! That is the power of such a prayer.
- Hannah (1 Samuel 1)
A similar pattern is seen in Hannah's prayer. He was barren, which was, of course, a big shame in the culture of the day (as it is in many cultures today). The other wife of her husband would provoke her in no soft manners; Hannah's heart was broken and her soul crushed. Her husband's material gifts would not make up for the child she so desperately wanted. What did she do? Accuse God? No way; that would be outrageous! It would also be foolish, because only God can make a barren woman have a child! There are seven barren women in Scripture; six of them prayed to God (or were prayed for) and God have them children. Prayer does work! My wife and I ourselves had prayed for four barren women in Bulgaria, and all of them have a child now (or perhaps more...!?) We prayed to the God of the Bible, the God of gods and Lord of life, who can do miracles beyond human powers or imagination.
Hannah was desperate, but what is equally important, she dedicated her son - if God was to give her one - unto the Lord. It was a prayer of dedication, and that is key in this passage: her prayer was one according to the will of God, one of humility, one of selflessness. She did not ask great things for herself, but wanted God's purposes to flourish. If we remember Solomon's initial prayer, we find similar elements: he didn't want the riches, but rather the wisdom to fulfill his leadership role on behalf of the people. It is this kind of heart that God responds to and rewards. Hannah's son became such an important figure, notably because he anointed Israel's greatest king - David.
- Jesus (Mt 26:36-46)
We cannot omitt Jesus' prayer of dedication in his greatest hour of prayer-struggle: He knew He would be executed in the most brutal manner, yet still He didn't ask God to take Him out of suffering and trouble, but empower Him to go through it, and come out victorious. In fact, all that mattered for Jesus was the will of God. Previously He had stated that it was even His food (nourishment) to do the will of God (Jn 4:34). This is amazing - He lived only to do God's will! At the cross, in His hours of greatest suffering, He even prayed for the forgiveness of those who mistreated Him - only a humble, all-loving being can do that. Martin Luther King Jr. followed in Jesus' footseps and achieved amazing things. Jesus achieved the greates thing ever: an eternal salvation for human beings who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ and what He had accomplished at the cross.
This is the good news: Jesus Christ died in order to save sinners. There is no person too sinful for God not to accept him, forgive him, and restore him to a life of health, holiness, and purpose. God is a good God who loves people and seeks to answer their prayers. As we come to Him in humility and faith, as we pray in desperation (if that is our situation) and dedication (which we should always do), God will respond and act.
This Sunday we shall continue with this theme and look at prayer according to the will of God - such prayers are never denied!
God bless you as you seek Him and prayer to Him!
Shalom,
Gordon
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