Most of us don’t find it hard to imagine a better world – a safer, happier and fairer world. The question is, ‘How do we get there?’ Many see solutions in terms of politics or economics – change the leaders, fix the political and economic systems, the courts and the schools, the police and defense forces, and the world will be a far better place.
But will it? History is littered with the theories and experiences of various political and economic ideas. Capitalists and communists, monarchists and republicans, insist that their way is the means to a better world. But history shows that whatever the system, there’s still fraud, injustice, poverty, pillaging, sexual harassment, greed, violence and war. The systems may change, the faces may come and go, but the scene remains the same.
THE SELF
The real problem is us. What makes the world a valley of tears, is not the system, but human wickedness – people behaving in cruel, selfish, foolish, brutal ways. Each one of us, in varying ways and in varying degrees, contributes to the problem.
How then do we make the world a better place? In our mind’s eye we can see a better world and we ask, what can I do to make it better? Should I get active in politics, in economic theory, in industry, in education? Yes, by all means. But a better place to begin is with the circles of influence that are open to us all – church, our family or household, the work-place and the community. This is one of the implications of what Paul writes in Colossians 3:18-4:6.
So what should we do?
Pray. The first Christians were committed and enthusiastic in their prayers. It is one of the reasons for their terrific evangelistic success. They prayed. Thousands were converted.
It may have been that the Colossians Christians had become apathetic. No longer did they see the urgency or the essential nature of prayer, and that is why Paul insists, Continue steadfastly in prayer… ‘Never give up’, he is saying. ‘Your prayers may not be answered immediately. But don’t give up.’ The Bible tells us over and over again that it is God’s desire that people should come to him. It is one prayer we can be assured God will answer.
Blaise Pascal commented: ‘Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is just to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next, make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show them that it is.’
TIME AND OPPORTUNITY–BE READY
In Colossians 4:5 Paul writes: Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. He is saying that every one of us has opportunity. We may not feel we can do anything to change the world: we may feel economically weak, politically powerless, that we have no clout in society. But Paul would have us know that we do have opportunity in our everyday lives. ‘Use those opportunities,’ he says.
Testimony. Now people do not become Christians by simply observing and meeting Christians. Christianity is not something to be caught – like the flu! Furthermore, many people these days have formed their views of Christianity from society’s stereotypes promoted by the media. They don’t actually know any Christians.
We need to think about how we relate to and how we speak with others. In Colossians 4:6 Paul says that our speech should be gracious but seasoned with salt. Our words need to stir and challenge, making other people think about what it is that makes us tick, so they will react, wanting to ask us more.
And when they want to know more, be prepared so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Paul has in mind our response to people who are asking genuine questions. ‘Do what it takes,’ he says, ‘to be ready.
Create opportunities, pray for opportunities and use those opportunities. If you are unsure what you should say, think about your own experience of Christ and develop the story of how you came to faith in him.
With the many and varied changes in the culture around us – the pressures of secularization, the decline in church attendance, the changed attitudes to sexuality, the rise of militant Islam we might wonder about the future. We can feel powerless.
Too often we overlook the importance of prayer. CS Lewis in The Efficacy of Prayer asks: ‘Can we believe that God really ever modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? For infinite wisdom does not need telling what is best, and infinite goodness needs no urging to do it’.
GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYERS
Jesus teaches us that God can be trusted to both hear our prayers and answer them, giving us the good things we need. “And I tell you, ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you…,”he says. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:9-12)
Jesus is saying that if a violent thief can be kind to his son or the most mercenary minded father be generous to his daughter, ‘Will God be any less generous?’
Following the logic of Jesus’ words, we learn that to trust in God’s goodness is also to rely on his fatherly wisdom. If a son asks for a fish, will we give him a snake? But what if he asks for a snake, will we give him that? What if the son persists, ‘I want it, I need it, everyone else has one’? Will a good father yield? No. A truly good and loving father will give good gifts, but he’ll use his own discretion as to how he will act.
Jesus assures us that God will not exploit our prayer or act in some malicious way. The words, ‘Your will be done…’ in The Lord’s Prayer, are not those of a fatalist. Rather they are necessary in our conversation with a good and loving, all-powerful Father. We are not wise enough or good enough to get everything we ask for from someone who is all-powerful.
YOUR WILL BE DONE
People who find this difficult to grasp have often experienced an unhappy childhood— perhaps neglected or abused. What Jesus is saying is this: no matter our experiences in life now, we can trust the goodness of our Father in heaven.
God may not give us everything we want. He may delay his response. Furthermore, he may also want to test our seriousness in prayer—whether we will persist, as the widow did in another parable (The Parable of the Unjust Judge, Luke 18:1-8). He may want to test the reality of our relationship with him, the level of our trust in him.
There will also be times when God says, “No”. He did this when Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering might be taken away (Luke 22:42-44). We need to remember that if God says, “No”, it is because his plans are bigger than ours.
UNTOLD BLESSINGS
When we begin a prayer relationship with God the Father, we open a door to untold blessings. That’s why Jesus is speaking with such unqualified confidence when he says: Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Once we start listening to God through his Word, we will want to talk with him. We will long to honor and glorify his name. Indeed, as we come to know God better we will also want to ask him questions, express our feelings, even our doubts, as we make our requests.
God is our Father who loves us and delights to give us the very best in life. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”Jesus says (Luke 11:13).
Why does Jesus speak of the Holy Spirit here? He is anticipating the great gift of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit who will open our minds to hear the voice of God through his Word; the Spirit who will open our hearts to God and enable us to call him ‘Father’; the Spirit who will open our lives to God, and empower us to trust God and live with God.
Prayer is a precious privilege. It brings us into the very presence of the God who is at the heart of the universe. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we often do?
Sometimes I am asked: ‘Can I trust God to hear my prayers and answer them? It is all very well to say we can call God, Father, but we know that parents are often preoccupied with other matters and do not hear us, let alone respond. And given the millions who must be praying at any one time, can we be sure our prayers will be heard?
Jesus anticipates our questions. Consider what he promises: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9-10).
On either side of these verses, Jesus answers two questions about prayer: God always listens to us (Luke 11:5-8) and, God always has our very best interests at heart (Luke 11:11-13). This week I will consider the first of his two answers.
A PARABLE
Luke 11:5-8 is sometimes called, ‘The Parable of the Friend at Midnight’. In recent times some commentators have noted that the parable falls into the category of sayings that have an underlying, unspoken question: ‘Can you imagine…?’ With this parable Jesus asks, ‘Can you imagine a man talking like this to a friend in need?’
The key to understanding the parable is in the words in verse 8 usually translated, ‘the man’s boldness’ or ‘importunity’. I want to suggest that this is one place where most of our English translations are unhelpful. According to Dr. Kenneth Bailey who lived in the Middle-East for many years and who has written extensively from his careful research on literary and cultural matters, our translations reflect an understanding that only goes back to the 12th century. The true meaning of the parable is lost, Bailey points out, because of a misunderstanding of the meaning of an important word in verse 8.
The word translated boldness in verse 8 is better translated sense of honor or blamelessness – with reference to the man who is in bed, not the one knocking at the door.
In the original (Greek) text the word has a negative meaning indicating that a significant shift is required to translate the word with a positive meaning – such as boldness or persistence. Bailey has shown that a better translation of the word is avoidance of shame, a positive meaning.
Furthermore, we need to look carefully at the words in verses 7 and 8. In the original text the noun, man’s does not appear: it is the personal pronoun his.The flow of the syntax and the narrative impact of the story, focus on the sleeper in bed, not the man who is knocking on the door.
In this story God is represented as the one who is in bed, seemingly shut in for the night. The unwritten laws of mid-eastern hospitality, which are an important sub-text of the parable, required a man to get up and help his neighbor in need. If he didn’t he would be shamed and would bring dishonor to the whole community.
‘Can you imagine,’ Jesus was asking, ‘anyone saying to a neighbor in need, even at midnight – ‘Don’t disturb me’? or, ‘Get lost’?
TAKING ACTION
So it is with God. His very nature, and the honor of his name, will demand that he get up and act. Otherwise he will bring shame to his name. Because of his honor, his integrity, his name – something for which Jesus tells us we are to pray (Father, hallowed, honored, be your name) – God will hear and act. God will no more ignore the prayers of his people than a mother will ignore her crying baby.
‘God is a God of integrity,’ Jesus is telling us. He can be trusted to hear our requests, no matter how great or small, no matter what time of day or night. He is on call 24/7.
Understanding the nature and importance of prayer Martin Luther once observed: “I find that I am so busy that I now need to pray three hours a day”. The busier he was, the more time he needed to spend with God— not less. Furthermore, he was assured that God, for the honor of his name, would not only hear his prayers but answer them.
In Sydney, Australia, churches have the opportunity to have representatives teach the Christian faith in schools. There’s a story of a boy who came home from school one day and told his mother that the Scripture Teacher had asked each the class quietly to pray to God. Knowing that she had never taught her children to pray, never taught them about God, let alone prayed in their presence, she asked him what he did. ‘I didn’t know what to say,’ he said, ‘so I told God a joke.’
“When you pray”, Jesus said, “Say, ‘Father …” (Luke 11:2).
In his book, Knowing God, Dr. JI Packer asks, ‘What is a Christian?’ Answering his own question he says, ‘…the richest answer I know is one who has God as his/her Father’.
‘Not everyone can say this,’ he points out – only ‘those who, knowing themselves to be sinners, put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their divine sin-bearer and master,…’ No one comes to the Father except by me, Jesus says. In other words, Packer writes, no one is acknowledged by God as a son/daughter, except by the supernatural work of God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus gives us this model prayer showing us that we can confidently express our privileged, personal relationship with God: we can call him, ‘Father’. Indeed, what makes our prayer, prayer, is the fact that we speak to the living, personal God. He is not some distant deity, nor the impersonal force of Star Wars. We can be bold and call him ‘Father’. It is a personal prayer.
Furthermore, the prayer is a simple prayer. There are no complex sentence structures or difficult language. It suggests God is not impressed by complicated words or ideas. He appreciates simplicity. It is also a restrained prayer: there are no wild extravagances. It’s coherent: it makes sense, and is rather matter-of-fact. It serves as a warning to anyone who feels they need to work themselves up into a frenzy, calling out, thinking that God will hear all the better because of it. God is not distant. He’s not even hard of hearing.
It is also a balanced prayer. The first three statements focus on God. Our first concern in prayer should not be ourselves, but God. Like Moses and Daniel in their prayers, we are to be concerned for the honour of God’s name, the triumph of his cause. It looks to the great day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is a big, exciting prayer.
But there is also the recognition that we have needs now. So the next statements concern us – food for our physical bodies each day and food for our spiritual needs. We also need the food of God’s Word. There are also sins to be owned up to and forgiveness sought; linked with this petition is our need to forgive those who have wronged us. As we read in Matthew 6, how can we expect God to forgive us if we ourselves are unwilling to hold out forgiveness to those who have sinned against us? And, there is also a petition to overcome the temptations that inevitably come our way.
Prayer is conversation with God. It makes sense that when we pray we let God begin the conversation. As we noted last Wednesday, we need to listen to God’s voice found in his Word. This way we need to get to know who he is, what he is like, how he thinks, and what he expects of us. Once we start listening we will want to talk with God, ask him questions, and make requests.
Prayer is a precious privilege. It brings us into the very presence of the God who is at the heart of the universe. Yet so often our prayer life is dead. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we do?
We are privileged to address God as ‘Father’: he is a person to be known, a Father to be honored. Our prayers should be simple. We should pray for the victory of God. We can pray for big things and for the little things— our fears and joys, our personal sins and the temptations we face.
The starting point is knowing God as Father. The question is, do we really know him as our ‘Father’?
What do you think of prayer? Do you pray regularly, and if your answer is ‘Yes’, do you pray with confidence? Blaise Pascal, the 17th French philosopher and mathematician wrote in his Pensées: God instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.
Pascal understood that the Bible tells us that in making us in his image (Genesis 1:26), God has given us extraordinary privileges. And prayer is one of them.
Yet how often we forget this, especially in those times when God does not seem to be answering our prayers – for work, for a sick loved one or child, for a significant other, or for a place to live.
A good starting point is to think of prayer as a conversation that starts with God. It’s an amazing thought that God who has the creative intelligence and power to put the vast, majestic and complex universe into place, would deign to speak with us. Yet the way Jesus, the Son of God, related to people around him, and what he teaches about prayer, tells us so much about God. Jesus’ actions and his words assure us that God, despite his awesome majesty, delights in speaking with us and having us speak with him.
A LESSON FROM MARTHA AND MARY
Consider, for example, the flow of Luke’s narrative, from Jesus’ words to Martha (Luke 10:38-42) to his words to his disciples specifically about prayer (Luke 11:1-13). Today we’ll look at the first scene.
In Luke 10:38-42 we find two sisters enjoying the company of guests – Jesus and his disciples. But the women were very different. Martha was a focused, active, responsible hostess, busy ensuring everything was done in preparation for the meal. Mary, on the other hand, was more content to be curled up on a lounge, chatting with the guests.
Suddenly Martha’s frustration at her sister’s lack of assistance bubbled over. Bursting in to where Jesus and the others were she blurted out, ‘Lord, when will you tell my sister to help me?’
Jesus’ response is unexpected. We might think he’d gently suggest to Mary that she should be in the kitchen. But he doesn’t. This is surprising, not just because of the culture, but because in the previous scene of Luke’s narrative Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, setting out the meaning of neighbor love.
‘Martha, Martha,’ Jesus chides, ‘You’re too focused on working. Mary has chosen the better portion.’
Jesus wants us to know there are moments in life when the demands of people and the command to love our neighbor pale into insignificance when compared with the prior claim to be with God. The first command is, ‘Love the Lord your God…’. ‘Love your neighbor’, is second.
Important though other things may be, we must not let the pressures of work, study, hospitality, or even ministry be the excuse which prevents us from obeying the first claim of a loving God.
SO, WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT?
Amid the frantic round of activities, we need to carve out time to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen.
It is significant that this little scene occurs immediately before Jesus teaches his followers how to pray. This suggests that when we come to the subject of prayer the first thing we need to do is put aside our busy-ness so we can listen first to God.
How do we do this? Not by simply emptying our minds of any thought but by opening the Bible and reading it.
Over the years I have found the Book of Psalms to be a great starting point for my Bible reading and prayer. Indeed, the Psalms form a helpful prayer book for they are ruthlessly honest as they explore what it means to trust and follow God in a confused and messed up world. The Psalms also give me the freedom to ask questions of God and to learn from him. Indeed, I find ‘a Psalm a day keeps the devil at bay and prompts me to pray.’ More than that, I find God uses the Psalms to start his conversation with me each day.
