Since I was a young adult life I have read bold and staggering passages
like Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:9-13 concerning prayer. I haven't found a more
direct promise than what Jesus made in Mark's gospel: All things for which you
pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted
you. As we seek after God, and as we knock, God will open the door before us.
All things that we ask for in prayer, believing, we will receive. I found the
original Greek conveying that something is already accomplished. Is it my habit
always to simply believe the answer has already been received, and that it will
be done as I pray or a short time after? Seldom.
It was reading bold promises like these that I have often
found myself struggling with, as did the central figure in Of Human Bondage, a
young boy, full of faith, who has a club foot and never recovers. When Philip
reads this verse from Mark about prayer, he is overjoyed. Now, he can be able
to play football with the other boys. The relentless teasing is going to cease,
and he won't have to hide his foot any longer when swimming with other kids. Yancy, in his book: Prayer: Does It Make Any
Difference; describes the event much better than I can when he says the young
boy immediately "prayed with all the power in his soul. No doubts assailed
him. He was confident in the Word of God. And the night before he was to go
back to school he went up to bed tremulous with excitement....he remembered at
once that this was the morning of the miracle. His heart was filled with joy
and gratitude. His first instinct was to put down his hand and feel the foot
which was whole now, but to do this seemed to doubt the goodness of God. He
knew that his foot was well. But at last, he made up his mind, and with the
toes of his right foot he just touched his left. Then he passed his hand over
it. He limped downstairs just as Mary Ann was going into the dining room for
prayers, and then he sat down to breakfast."
I confess there are times in my life when praying prayers of utter conviction are never answered I become a little off center in understanding the reason. I wonder about Maugham,
the author, who had a stutter, had prayed fervently for healing, but like his
character Philip, his prayer was answered with a resounding "no" and
his faith was never the same. I'm just thinking that, more than likely Jesus
implies in His teaching on prayer that, like his earthly dad, God longed to
give Him what was good in response to the asking, seeking, and knocking of
prayer. "What father, if asked by his son for a fish will give him a
snake? Or if his daughter asked for an egg, he would not give her a scorpion,
would he?" Yet for Maugham, how could he see his stuttering as a good
gift, when all it brought him was merciless teasing and misery?
I'll bet that 99% of the people in my sphere of personal
acquaintance have—religious or non-religious—experienced the pain of unanswered
prayer. Whether in the simple prayers of childhood, or in the fervent prayers
of the deeply faithful, I think it is an all too common human experience that
prayers seemingly go unanswered. Prayers for God's protection, God's healing,
and God's intervention are answered for some, but others suffer accidents,
injuries, illnesses, or death. Over the years there have been times when I have
been desperate to hear God's voice, and received only vast silence in return. I
admit there have been times when I've been tempted to give up praying all
together for certain issues. A few times, altogether. Emily Dickinson has
helped me in her poem, when she wrote about this same temptation to despair
over unanswered prayer:
"There comes an hour when begging stops,
When the long interceding lips
Perceive their prayer is vain."
In my experience, even when the if the divine answer seems
to be "wait," the months and years of waiting has stretched on
interminably making my patient intercessory being wonder what "good" gift
is given in this endless waiting. So what is the good gift promised by Jesus, I'm asking ?
In my study, I find Matthew and Luke presenting parallel
teachings on this promise of prayer except that what Matthew implies, Luke
makes explicit. In Matthew's account Jesus tells His disciples that the Father
will give what is good to those who ask Him. In Luke's account, Jesus defines what is good and tells that God will give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask. How am I to understand the Holy Spirit as God's
abundant answer to prayer—even those prayers that go unanswered or receive an
unwanted answer?
My first thought is that I believe the promise of
the Holy Spirit is a promise of God's presence with me through all my
experiences of life. The words of John 14 speak loudly to me that the Holy Spirit is
the Comforter, the one who comes alongside of me. The promise of God's presence
is meant to sustain, even when the answer appears to be "no" to my
specific requests. Moreover, I'm still learning that prayer is more than simply receiving
answers to requests. Yep, at seventy four, God's presence can be an answer to my prayers. I
remind myself, this morning, that pastor Craig Barnes explained in his book: When God
Interrupts, "To receive Jesus as Savior means recognizing him as our only
help. Not our only help for getting what we want. But our only true help."
In this way, I'm continuing to learn, understand and
practice God's good gift as the promise that He longs to be present, no matter
what life brings. Practicing the hope that God is with me—even in the storms
of my, soon to be, seventy fourth year life—which will bring reassurance in the face of
every unanswered prayer. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the depository of hope
that I can rise from the ashes of the any future crushing events and
circumstances, glimpsing what beauty remains.
Father, God, I know that You won't always answer my prayers
the way I would want You to answer them.
And I confess that sometimes I felt like I've been given a scorpion
instead of an egg, or a snake instead of a fish. Yet perhaps as I wrestle with
prayer, Your bold promise to send the Holy Spirit is the only answer I can hope
for: the precious gift of Your abiding presence, the power to live a
resurrected life, and the promise of Your creative work to make something
beautiful from the chaos of my life.
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