It is in this space of submission to God that I want to camp for a bit. You see, it is in our daily exercise of submitting that we flex our spiritual muscles to persevere, to be steadfast, in our walk to be light and salt in service to God. What I have noticed is that we have many ways to be steadfast: in prayer, in service, in our actions, in humility, and in our walk of faith. The way I would like to highlight in this post is being steadfast in prayer. Recently, I resumed reading "The Joshua Code" by O.S. Hawkins (2012) in an effort to memorize key scriptures to help build my faith and to write the words of God on my heart. I was struck deeply with the exhortation found in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you", in which believers are told to continue asking, seeking, and knocking. Allow me to share what I gleaned from this simple instruction to persevere in prayer. The hardest part of prayer is going beyond the presenting of the petition (asking) to God. We often mistakenly think that asking is all there is in prayer life. Truth is, we also must press and persist in our prayer life (the seeking and knocking). Following are the lessons I have learned from my reading of "The Joshua Code" about persevering in prayer.
In Ephesians 6:16 we are told that "[i]n every
situation (to) take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" - which just supports
how important prayer is in preparing us, but also strengthening us for the
battles we encounter. Hawkins (2012) explains that having a vibrant and
virtuous prayer life, along with Scripture memorization and meditation, are
vital to having a victorious Christian life. We know that the Father talks to
us through the Word and we speak to Him by way of our "prayers of praise,
petition, and intercession" (Hawkins, p. 50). In addition, Hawkins
explains that the effective prayer is framed, or encased, in His will for our
lives. What I took from this first level of prayer of presenting our petitions
is that we do have the promise of receiving from God, without a question or
doubt. Because we know His will in a situation, we can come boldly to the
throne of grace, and have assurance of heart (confidence) that we will receive
(Philippians 4:6; 1 Kings 8:45). The hiccup is that we are, as humans, often
too proud or rely on our own strength to ever humble ourselves to ask for help
- whether from another person or *gasp* God (which is utterly ridiculous since
God provides for all our needs). I remember a time when I was too proud to ask
for help with the daunting task of yard upkeep after my divorce. I had this
feeling that I would be judged harshly if I asked for help - and I certainly
did not want to be judged for a failed marriage must less the fact that yard
work had gotten to be more than I could tackle on my own. Simply stated, by my
own resistance to lay aside my pride, I was allowing my flesh to win and, as a
result, was selfish. Nobody likes a selfish person, nor do we set out to be
selfish, but that is what being too proud produces. We all know that pride goes
before a fall - so it must be dealt with through submitting to God and His
will. Personally, I strive to always be in line with and found in God's will.
The second part of Matthew 7:7 speaks to seeking - or as
Hawkins (2012) says "pressing a petition". This is the kind of prayer
where a believer does not know the will of the Father in a situation/struggle
and seeks until he or she finds it. In essence, a deeper form of prayer that
comes from a level of maturity as it sets self aside and is propelled by the
deep yearning to know God's will as it pertains to the situation or struggle
being faced. This pressing consists of an intense search for the heart of
God in addition with consistent, habitual Bible reading. The result of pressing
a petition is the promise that the believer will find
God's perfect will for his or her life - just do not give up in this pursuit.
Nothing of God will be returned void to those who have faith in His perfect
plan for them. I am reminded of the times I wonder what my purpose on this side
of Heaven is when the Holy Spirit will snap me back and bring to mind the fact
that God created me for a purpose - His purpose. I may not have conscious
knowledge of that divine purpose (His will), but I can rest knowing that He
will not allow it to be unfulfilled (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalms 40:5).
The third part in Matthew 7:7 speaks about persisting with
a petition (knocking). If you have ever gone to someone's home and their
doorbell was broken, you have knocked on a door. You also realize that this
requires much endurance since you could be knocking for a LONG TIME! Maybe even
found yourself muttering under your breath "where in the world is my
friend? Why won't he answer the door?". Hmmm - have you ever wondering if
Jesus would have said that of us when He stood at our door and knocked
(Revelation 3:20)? Beloved friends, our Father sent His Son so that none of us
would perish but have eternal life - Christ came down from Heaven to gather His
sheep who had wandered astray and bring us back into the flock - His Flock! He
chased after us - not the other way around. Let that sink in. If God did that
for us, then how can we not take all our worries boldly to the throne of grace
and lay our petitions before Him? Now, the idea of persisting could look a lot
like pestering or nagging God - right? But, it is not that at all. In my
reading, Hawkins illustrated this level of prayer as being much like raising
children. When a child is small, parents teach them to ask for things like
juice, toys, or snacks. As they grow up, parents teach them how to seek after
or pursue their desires such as exceptional grades, college education, a
career, or something they are passionate about. But because parents do know
what is best for their children, they will encourage them to exhibit a level of
endurance or real earnestness to do so until doors are opened for them. In
other words, parents continue to encourage their children to not give up. This
thought comes back to me - "If at first you don't succeed try, try
again". My parents have always offered supportive encouragement to their
three kids - and that has continued with their grandchildren as well. It is the
ever-present exhortation to keep moving forward, even against great adversity,
until the object of pursuit has been obtained. However, there are times when,
even with the greatest of steadfastness, the pursuit ends with disappointment.
Hawkins (2012) explains that because God always answers
prayer that we must understand the 4 Ds of prayer: direct, denied, delayed, and
different. Sometimes our prayers are answered almost as quickly as they are
lifted in the way we requested. Every now and then, prayers are denied -
because He knows what is best. Yet, other times, the answer does not come
quickly (is delayed) and we can get discouraged. But be of courage because God
does hear and responds. Lastly, some prayers are answered differently than how
we would expect - again because God knows what is best for His children.
One last nugget I would leave is this: perseverance builds
our character traits of patience, gratitude, respect, and appreciation. The
first two traits stand out to me like neon! We must have patience with prayer
because the answers are not always immediate. We must also have a heart of
gratitude (thankfulness) when it comes to our walk of faith - especially in our
prayer life.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing ~
W
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