Hard to Pray

Why is it that people who believe in God, believe He is as healer, believe he answers prayer, have difficulty in praying? You would think something as simple as prayer would be easy; as a discipline, as a part of one's life, it really isn't. You can take heart if you have difficulty because you are, emphatically, not alone.

There has been times in my life when I have been up and down, times when prayer seems to come easy, and times when prayer doesn't come easy at all. There is something, I think, in man that makes it hard to pray, but what is it? Why should anyone have difficulty in praying?

Is it because we think that God will not hear us? That's a possibility. I've heard people speak about getting on their knees to pray and having the feeling that their prayers were bouncing off the ceiling, going no higher than the ceiling, that nobody was hearing it but them. They don't think God is actually hearing what they are saying. And there could be many number of reasons why someone may feel that way.

They may feel that way because they feel unworthy, or because they feel God is down on them. They may feel that God has somehow shut them up and won't listen to them. They may not have a very strong belief in God in the first place.

Is it because we don't think it will change anything? And if that's the case, is it because we just don't believe? Or that we believe that God is going to do what He's going to do regardless of what we ask? “What's the point in praying about this? I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask God to do this, but God already knows what's best, and He's going to do what's best, and I'm going to say 'Thy will be done,' and what's the point in asking because His will is going to be done anyway?” Maybe we don't pray a lot because we think it isn't going to change anything. God will just do what he's going to do whether we ask Him to do it or not.

Is it because of pride? There are people who just can't bring themselves to ask for anything; it's lowering yourself to ask for anything from another man or woman. And that character trait within us, that pride, can get carried over to where we're too proud to ask God for something that we want.

Is it because we don't think that things that we're praying about are important enough? That we just don't want to bother God with out trivial little problems? "He's all concerned with the whole world, and with wars, and all these things, and there's no point in asking God to be concerned about this little problem of mine."

Is it because we are too lazy to pray? But then you have to ask, “how hard is prayer?” You know, I can see laziness causing you not to weed your garden because that involves work...but prayer? Is simply praying to God, bowing your head over your meal, or getting on your knees and opening the scripture, and praying to God…is this hard?

Is it shame? Is it just that we're ashamed to ask or ashamed of ourselves? Is it because we don't have time? “I don't have time to pray; I've got to get shaved, showered; I've got to get on the road; I'm going to be late for work. I've got to get this done, I've got my homework to do, my preparation I've got to do. This has got to be done, if I don't get this done by a certain time…” Is it the pressures of time that make it hard for us to pray? I dare say that one of the primary reasons why prayer is postponed, and often times continually postponed, is because of time. At least that's the way we express ourselves, or that's the way we excuse ourselves.

Is it the cares of this world? Is it the pressures of life? Is it just so much stuff going on around us that we become confused and disoriented, and then have trouble deciding what to do next? Sometimes you do next what “has to” be done, and since prayer doesn't “have to” be done, then prayer can get shoved off for another time.

Is it because we find prayer boring? Now, that could only be true if we find prayer ineffectual. Because there's no way that if you thought I was going to get down on my knees and ask God for something, and He was going to do it, there's no way that you would find that boring. That would be exciting.

Or is it, perhaps, the temptations in our lives, drawing us away? Are temptations turning us against prayer, or away from prayer? Is temptation why people put off prayer, or why they don't feel like praying, or really much want to pray on a given occasion?

Now, the chances are the problem is some or all of the above things, and it probably varies from person to person, and it may vary from day to day, depending upon what particular problem you face. But, at the same time, even thought the particulars of it may change, there is one constant. You don't pray! Prayer is not in your life. Or prayer, if it is there, is a toss away, throw away quickie, “let's get this out of the way so we can get on with something else” type of thing. It's a vast field of inquiry.

Today. I wanted to make a start in inquiring as to the reasons why people don't pray, or don't want to pray, or even have an antipathy to prayer.

Parable of the Sower and the Seed

In Matthew 13, Jesus explained how the sower went forth to sow his seed. Some fell on by the way side, some by thorny ground, some on stony ground, and some by good ground.

Matthew 13:18-23, "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Now, what I'm coming to see in this is God's Word is crucial to prayer; that if the Word of God is not in your heart and in your mind, prayer is going to be very difficult for you. One of the primary reasons why we find it difficult to pray is because we have not sown the Word of God in our hearts deeply, we have not given ourselves to the study of it, and therefore the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, tribulations, persecutions, all these things can prevent the Word of God from being fruitful in our lives. This may be the simplest answer to the question that we have raised.

For those of us living in the modern world, I believe the cares of this world are the number one influence that keeps us from study, from prayer, from growing close to God, from having spiritual things being important in our lives. This world will do everything in its power to crowd out the truly important things in your life. What could be more important than being able to talk to the God of the entire Universe, and be heard, and have Him respond? And yet, it is so easy for us to find things that are more important than that to us at the moment.

I'm not talking down to you in this regard. I firmly believe that this is a big factor in our lives. And if we don't get a hold of it and make a conscious decision, it's going to eat us up, until we have no time left for what is really important, and that's our relationship with God.

Energized Prayer

James 5:13, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray."

I've often pondered the fact that so many of us find that our prayer life is generally enriched by a lot of trouble. In other words, whenever things start really going bad, whenever our life (not just somebody else's life that's close to us) begins to go bad, when we're afraid, there's when your prayer life suddenly becomes very active and very intense. Right?

James 5:14-15, "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,"

God says the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Whose faith? Well, certainly the one who comes to pray for you must be someone of faith.

James 5:16, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

The words “effectual” and “ fervent” are actually only one word in Greek. It comes from Greek word #1754, energeo, from which we get the word “energy.” It's talking about the energized prayer. The energetic prayer of a righteous man availeth much. You know, the idea of an energetic prayer is kind of strange, isn't it? What's an energetic prayer? Well, I can imagine one, when Christ Jesus was in the garden and "...he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). I'd call that an energetic prayer!

What he's talking about here is heartfelt, energetic, involved prayer actually avails, it actually causes things to happen that would not happen without them. And I wonder if one of the reasons why we have difficulty in prayer is because we do not believe that, or because we can't muster up the belief in it, the faith in it, we can't feel it.

James tells us the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is going to change stuff out there. Then he gives us a concrete example:

James 5:17, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months."

Now, I would have thought that Elijah was told to do that, but that isn't necessarily so. Just suppose for a moment that Elijah, so impassioned by what he saw in this land, so furious with what he saw in the conduct of Ahab and Jezebel, with the way things were going, that he stood up and said, “As God the Lord lives for whom I stand, there shall not be dew not rain these years but according to my word,” and walked out the door and disappeared for three and a half years. And it didn't rain.

Did God tell him to do that? The implication of James is that Elijah did it.

James 5:18-20, "And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

I want everybody to understand that the energetic prayer of a righteous man gets results. We may have raised another reason why we find prayer difficult. Is it because we are timid? I think that we are afraid to approach God with real faith.

Two Parables

Now Jesus gives us two parables to make his point relative to believing faithful prayer.

Parable One:

Luke 11:1-2, "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say…"

Now, most people can, without reading their bible, can site what Jesus said about how you are to pray. So, Jesus gives what is called “the Lord's Prayer,” but he continues, he's not through teaching them how to pray! The “Lord's Prayer” is not all he said in response to the question, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Luke 11:5-7, "And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee."

Jesus' listeners would have considered the response of the man who was in bed absolutely unconscionable. They would have no sympathy for him whatsoever because he is violating a fundamental rule of middle eastern hospitality. The man who came to this friend of his on a journey was not merely the guest of his friend, he was the guest of the community. And the community had a responsibility to take care of this man and be hospitable to him.

Luke 11:8, "I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth."

What's going on here? Well the man's not going to go away! He's going to stay down there; he's going to keep on knocking on the door. He's going to say, “get up and get me some bread! I'm not going to let you sleep until you get up and come out here and give me three loaves of bread. I got company in the house!” He said he may not do it because he's his friend, but he will do it to get rid of him.

The word for “importunity” in the Greek literally means “shamelessness.” Without shame. I think that's absolutely fascinating, because a modest man would say, “Gee. I asked and he didn't give me any bread. Well, I guess I better go away now because I must be causing him a lot of inconvenience.” No, he is shameless!

I think one of the reasons why God created the affinity between man and dog is because a dog is the perfect illustration of shamelessness in asking for what they want. They don't even care if you're a visitor in the house. It's your obligation, as a visitor in the home, to pet this dog. You're not allowed to just sit there and ignore the dog and pretend the dog isn't here. The dog won't allow you to do it.

Is it possible that shame keeps us from praying in faith? In other words, we are not shameless enough. We're not like the dog who will keep scratching the door until you let him in. We're not like the dog who will come up to you and put his nose on your elbow and put your elbow up because you're ignoring him. And they'll do it, and they'll do it, until, finally, you give them what they ask for. You may not even realize you did it; you'll go over and pet the dog. I get up and let my dog in and out of the door without even knowing I did it! I'm on auto-pilot. I'm an automatic door opener for my dog. My wife asks me, “is she in or is she out?” I don't know which way she went last!

Why does this work? It works because the dog does not give up! And they are shameless. What Jesus expects us to do is to be shameless in our approach to God; to be bold in our approach to God; to not hesitate to keep on asking and asking and to be firm in what we ask for.

Luke 11:9-10, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

One thing you can say for sure is that a man who doesn't ask is not going to get it, a man who isn't looking for it isn't going to find it, and a man who doesn't knock on the door will never get it open.

Luke 11:11-13, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

You need to understand, the point that is being made here is not that God is a bad neighbor, the point is that if you expect to be heard of God you're going to have to knock and you're going to have to be persistent in what you do, and you are going to have to be shameless. Then comes the parable in Luke 18.

Parable Two:

Luke 18:1-8, "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily."

Here is a judge that was fearless, and would not avenge this widow's adversary. But she kept asking him over and over and the judge finally gave in to her requests, lest she weary him by her continual coming.

Moses

Consider Moses as an illustration from the scripture.

Exodus 32:9-10, "And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation."

Some people think the whole timeline of history is already laid out and God knew what Moses was going to do, but I find that very difficult, because that puts God in a position of running a bluff on Moses, and I don't believe God ever bluffs. I think when God said, “Let me alone,” He meant what He said. When He said, “I will make of thee a great nation” and start this whole thing over with Moses, God could have done that. Does anybody have any question that God could have done that; that he could have wiped out the whole nation of Israel at the foot of that mountain and start it all over again with Moses in the place of Abraham? I don't. He could have done it, and he said right here, “I'm going to do it!”

Exodus 32:11-12, "And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people."

Now, which one of you people has the nerve to speak in the imperative mood to God? The imperative mood is when we usually give commands. That's what we use when we tell the dog, “Sit!” That's the imperative mood. Moses said, “Turn! Repent!” I mean, which one of you is bold enough to call upon God to repent? That's faith. It's the bold persistence. It's the nerve sometimes needed to be able to go to God and stand up and be counted.

Exodus 32:13-14, "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."

This was not an idle gesture on God's part. He actually thought to destroy these people. And Moses persuaded him not to do it, and I wonder how many of us are alive today because he did.

Your Faith Saves You

Example One:

Luke 7:37-50, "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet (Giving water for ones feet was one of the most fundamental, basic element of middle eastern hospitality; a guest comes to a house, you give them water for their feet. He didn't even do that!): but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

How much boldness, how much brass, how much shamelessness did this woman have to exhibit in order to make her way into the house, to make her way to Jesus' feet, to wash his feet with tears and wipe them with her hair, anoint him with ointment?! How she had to humble herself to do this! Jesus said her bold, persistent, aggressive faith has saved her, because if she hadn't gotten in there and made those moves, she would have never came into the presence of Jesus, and Jesus would not have looked into her eyes and said, “Thy sins are forgiven.”

The examples in scripture are almost endless. My question is, "Why is it we are so timid about prayer and faith, when we have example after example in scripture to tell us all about these things?"

Example Two:

Luke 18:35-39, "And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace…"

They rebuked him. They told him to shut up and be quiet! To stay out of the way.

Luke 18:39, "...but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."

What happens to this man if he shuts up? He's not healed. Yet, there were people there who were trying to talk him out of it, telling him to hush. He didn't hush, he kept yelling. He cried out!

Luke 18:40-43, "And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."

What's faith? Is it a feeling? Is it a mood? An emotion? Faith is a persistence, a boldness. It was his boldness and persistence that got this man his eyesight. It's not a mood, it's not a feeling. Think about it. Jesus said his bold, persistent, aggressive faith has saved him!

Example Three:

Matthew 15:22, "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."

This is a Gentile woman, and Jesus did not answer her a word. Didn't say a thing to her, just ignored her! Actually, strange women weren't supposed to be talking to strange men like this. Jesus' manners may seem rude to you, but they were the norm for this time.

Matthew 15:23-26, "But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

First he ignores her, and then he insults her! “This is not for you, you dog! This is for the children. You Gentiles are not in that category of God's children.

Matthew 15:27, "And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

This is similar to what happened to a man named Jacob when he wrestled, physically, with God, and who put God in a hold and said, "...I will not let thee go, except thou bless me" (Genesis 32:24-30). He wrestled all night long and said he would not let him go until he blesses him! God even put the hollow of Jacob's thigh out of joint, and he still wouldn't let him go! These people would stand up to God, believe it or not.

This woman continued to persist in the argument. And what happened?

Matthew 15:28, "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

What's he talking about? He's talking about her boldness, her persistence, her drive, her energy, her willingness to hang in there and not give up on her daughter's sake. Sometimes we can find more faith for our children than we can for ourselves. This woman certainly did. Notice Jesus' response when he saw this kind of faith, this kind of persistent boldness. He said, “I'll give you anything you want!” And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And Jesus told her that her bold, persistent, aggressive faith has saved her daughter.

Conclusion

Now, are there any of us that think that we don't have the option of being bold? That it's just either the way we are or it's the way we're not? Is this a choice we can make or is it just something we're stuck with? Do we have to sit around and wait for the gift of boldness from God? Reading the scripture, it doesn't seem to work that way. Reading the scripture, it seems to be that something that somehow you've got to reach down inside of yourself and find the persistence, the boldness, to be persistent in going to God about the things that you want and demanding them.

To strong a word for you? It wasn't for Moses. It wasn't too strong for Jacob. It wasn't too strong in these parables that Jesus is talking about here. So, why is it then that we are so timid about prayer and about faith, when we have witness after witness, the testimony of Jesus, the examples throughout scripture, showing these bold approaches to God?

Well, the scriptural doctrine of faith is an active, persistent, bold approach to God. We seem to think that faith is a passive virtue; that it's a set of beliefs or a way of thinking, whereas in scripture it's a way of acting!

That's where, possibly, the difference may come in.