How Important Is Persistence In Praying About A Matter?

I used to believe that it increased the likelihood of having my prayers answered if I prayed constantly about the thing that concerned me. I thought the longer I stayed on my knees about it the better off the outcome would be. I don't believe that anymore. God doesn't need me to convince Him to act on my behalf. Jesus once told a story that illustrates the heart of the Father toward us:

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly (Luke 18:1-8).

Isn’t Jesus telling us all that we need to keep praying and praying and praying without giving up on the Father answering our prayer? I think this view misses the point. Jesus is using an unrighteous man as His example in this story. Jesus stresses twice that this judge “did not fear God nor respect man.” He wasn’t a loving, caring man at all. He was indifferent to the needs of the supplicant and had to be worn down by persistent begging.

The truth Jesus wants us to see is that we are not to think of God that way! In this story Jesus was doing what He did so many other times, and that is to make an argument through contrast. We are missing the point if we think God is like that judge, unconcerned with people’s needs and only responding if we badger Him into it. No, Jesus’ point is, “If even an unrighteous, uncaring judge can be persuaded to act for you, how much more will the perfectly loving and good God respond to our heartfelt cries!” He isn’t telling us that we have to pray tremendous lengths of time to persuade our Father. What He is saying is that anytime and every time you pray, you can have confidence that He hears and will answer. All the time you can pray knowing that He loves you and isn’t holding out on you until you prove your sincerity by time and effort in prayer. God isn’t a Judge who needs to be persuaded. He is a Father is eager to answer you and to show you His love!

We reverse it in our minds sometimes, and believe that God doesn’t care. We think, “If we can just get enough people praying, and can log enough time in prayer, then maybe we can cause God to do something He really isn’t interested in doing. If He’s not now on our side, maybe we can win Him over through sheer effort and persistence.”

But the truth of grace is just the opposite. We don’t have to persuade a reluctant, unconcerned God. It’s the other way around. God is the seeker. He is the primary lover. God is always the initiator, so in reality the way it works is this: When the Lord gets ready to do something, He often moves the hearts of His people to pray. He moves us to pray, and we might be moved to invite others to join us in prayer. Then they can share in the process and become a part of the answer as well. When we become involved in prayer, God allows us to participate in what He’s doing in this world.

Back to the story Jesus told of the unrighteous judge: It’s important to note that in the story he told, Jesus had the supplicant appealing to a judge for help. He wanted us to see that our Father isn’t like the person depicted in this story. The judge was reluctant to answer, but our Father isn’t.

How we view God has everything to do with what expectations (faith) we have when we come to Him in prayer. I’ve already said that Jesus was using contrast to show the difference between our situation when we ask God for something and the situation of the widow in His story. There can be a difference in our expectation and approach when we come to Him because of the difference in the identities of the one the widow was beseeching and the One we are asking for help.

She was talking to a Judge. You aren’t. You are talking to your Father. That difference cannot be overstated. God isn’t a Judge who is sitting in heaven with a judicial mindset toward you that causes you to have to appeal to Him as you would ask a human judge to show you mercy and to grant your petition to the court.

Our God’s relationship to you isn’t judicial. It is relational. He is your Father and He delights in responding to our heartfelt requests. You can approach Him with the full knowledge that He doesn’t have to be persuaded to act in your best interest. His role in your life is based on His loving character. That fact gives you reason to know that you don’t have to beg Him. You don’t have to get enough people to convince Him the way somebody might show up in court with a petition signed by a multitude of people to convince the judge to rule in their behalf. Your Father is already on your side and is eager to bless you in every way. The story of the widow and the judge doesn't teach the lesson many of us have been told. In fact, it teaches just the opposite.

Radically Better Conference in Atlanta

Thanks to Paul for putting this together, to Joel for recording it and to those who contributed by being recorded. It was really good for us all to be together!

Interview "Grace on Trial"

http://www.ptm.org/av/audio/Interviews/Steve%20McVey%20Intv.wma

Check out this interview I recently did with my friend, Greg Albrecht, of Plain Truth Ministries. The theme is "Grace On Trial." Greg's a great grace guy who I really respect a lot.

Radio Interview

Here's a radio interview I did this week with Neil Boron on WDCX in Buffalo, New York.

When You're Afraid About A Decision You Have To Make

“Please pray for us that we will know the right decision to make,” Larry asked the small group who met in his home. “We believe that taking the job I’ve been offered in Dallas is the right thing, but we want to make doubly sure we aren’t missing God’s will. You know how deceptive the devil can be. I don’t want to be misled by him. The way he deceives us sometimes is so insidious. I don’t want to be fooled. We know he is cunning and we really want to hear from God on this situation.”

As Larry talked, it began to sound like this time had been set aside to honor Satan himself. More was said about the devil’s ability to mislead us than was said about anything else. Of course, there is no doubt that Larry’s sincere desire was to know and do God’s will, but listening to the way he talked, you’d think that the ability of the enemy to deceive us is greater than God’s ability to keep us in His will.

Larry isn’t different from many Christians today who live a life filled with fear that they’re going to do the wrong thing. They tip toe through this world like a scared little girl in a haunted house. I meet them all the time. They say, “Steve, pray for me. Pray that I won’t miss the will of God.” Or, “Satan is so powerful and so deceptive. Pray for me. I don’t want to miss the will of God.” Or, “I want to stay in the center of God’s perfect will. I can be deceived and can make a mess of my life if I go out there apart from God’s will.” They go on and on about the ability of the enemy to deceive them. They’re so scared that they’re going to miss God’s will, that when they do make decisions, they’re always timid and tentative and unsure.

When it comes to making decisions regarding God’s will, many seem to abandon faith altogether. Instead, they express great fear that they’re going to miss it. Their fear so handicaps them, that they sometimes do practically nothing of any real spiritual significance. They’d rather do nothing than take the risk of making a mistake.

Don’t be paralyzed by analysis paralysis. Don’t come to the place of no further progress in your grace walk because of your fear you might make a wrong choice. Do you want to know and do God’s will? Then trust Jesus Christ. Appropriate Jesus Christ as your life, and then … decide! And move forward in faith — not in apprehension and fear, but in faith — saying, “Lord God, thank you that you are my life, and I will trust you to live through me.”

Make your decisions on faith, not fear, and rush into them with confidence that Jesus will enable you to

A Legalist's Guide To Worship: Basic Mechanics 101

When The Lights Go Out

When my four children were small, occasionally the electricity would go off in our home at night. If they were still awake, I would hear a unified chorus cry out, “Daddy!” Melanie and I would walk through the dark rooms and collect them one by one and bring them back to our bed, where we would lie down with them. With all six of us in one bed, we would put our arms around the children and assure them that we were with them. Without fail, in a short time they would all fall asleep, secure in the fact that we were there, holding them in the dark.

Your Heavenly Father is always there for you when the lights go out in life. He has you in His arms. He is with you when you are in the dark. When you are afraid, you can feel His love and know that He cares for you. (See 1 Peter 5:7) You may be assured that, although it might be pitch black around you, the sun will shine again. Until then, just rest in Abba’s arms, knowing that He will never let you go.

When you standing in the middle of troubling and confusing circumstances, choose to continuously think about the reality of the love of Christ for you. Through the eyes of faith, envision Jesus wrapping His arms around you. He hugs you and softly whispers to you, “It’s okay. I’m here. I love you and promise you that everything is going to be okay. Just stay here in my arms. I’ll take care of you.” Nothing in life provides a greater sense of peace in the face of personal sorrow than knowing that we are being held in a never-ending heavenly hug. In his arms, we find a “peace that passes understanding.”

Do you believe that your Father is for you and that He will deliver you through your trials safely to the other side of the circumstance? When you embrace the truth that He does deeply love you, in spite of any painful things that may come into your life, you will find yourself moving further along the road toward deeper intimacy. If you doubt your Father’s love because of painful events you have experienced, renew your mind with verses from the Bible that assure you of His great love. For instance, the Apostle Paul wrote:

For I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor …… shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:38-40).

Look at that passage again and note the things listed that have threatened your awareness of the love of God. Knowing His love is the only thing that will sustain you through the crisis of life.

In a hymn he wrote in 1876, George Robinson said:

Things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms, pillowed on the loving breast.
O to lie forever here, doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine.
While He whispers in my ear, I am His and He is mine.

Don't beat yourself up if you aren't moving through your personal crisis in the best possible way. Many great Christians have gone through trials without keeping their head held high and their feelings staying strong all the way.

Look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:8-9 about how he went through the trials he faced when he was in Macedonia:

"We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us." (The Message)

Does it sound like he was sailing through his troubles with a conscious and constant sense of victory? We always have victory but we don't always feel that way.

If you had been able to talk to the Apostle Paul, what would you have told him? Would your advice have been for him to give up faith? To shame him for thinking and feeling like he did? I suspect that your answer to him would have been to show him grace, to encourage him by reminding him that it would all be okay in the end. You wouldn't put him down for having normal human emotions in the circumstances he had to face.

Now, here is a big step that you can take to help yourself. Treat yourself the same way. That's right -- show yourself the same grace you would show to somebody else. It's amazing how gracious we can be with other people when they go through hard times and express negative thoughts or feelings. Then we turn right around and don't cut ourselves one ounce of slack when we are in similar situations. Don't do that to yourself.

Your Father is a gracious God to all His children. It's okay if you don't handle your situation perfectly at every instant. Look to Him and give yourself grace when you don't move through your situation with exact perfection.

(This article is an excerpt from my book, Journey Into Intimacy. For more information on the book, click here: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=525