Sword & Trowel 2018: Issue 1
LONG-TERM PRAYING W
‘Men ought always to pray, and not to faint’ (Luke 18.1). ‘Continue in prayer’ (Colossians 4.2). ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5.17).
E constantly need the help of God in different situa- tions, and we continually
pray for individuals, but why does the Lord cause us to have to pray for some things repeatedly, often over a long period of time? Frequently, it is true, the Lord hears and answers relatively instantly, especially in times of emergency, but equally every pray- ing Christian experiences long waits in prayer, extending even to many years.
Sometimes we wonder whether it is appropriate to pray for a person or situation repeatedly, but it must be because Colossians 4.2 says so – ‘con- tinue in prayer.’ But why? What is God’s purpose in this? We would not treat one another in this way, waiting until people had asked us for some- thing many times before responding. A number of answers are suggested here.
Five Reasons for God’s Delay 1
God surely keeps us asking in order to keep our perspectives rightly tuned. He will not allow us to turn him into a mere servant, constantly at our beck and call. If he did, we would soon be demanding, not asking. If he answered all our prayers instantly, our tendency would be to see our- selves as master, and the Lord as a servant existing for our convenience.
page 12 Long-Term Praying – the Editor –
We would forget to honour him as supreme and sovereign God. He therefore keeps us waiting and perse- vering in humble prayer, so that we remember who he is, and who we are – unworthy creatures saved by grace alone. It is because of our fallen hearts that prayer must frequently be persistent.
2
Then again, God may delay his answers to our prayers to keep another reality firmly in our
minds. When we are obliged to ask for things repeatedly, it impresses upon our minds the fact that the desired outcome is not a simple mat- ter, and that no human agency could bring it about. Our protracted asking will highlight the greatness of the answer, when it comes. If we prayed just once for a sin- ner to be saved, and the next day he was saved, we would probably cease to believe in the doctrine of total depravity, and reject the idea that the human heart is rebellious, determined and obdurate in its resistance to God. We would believe instead that human beings are really very reasonable, per- suadable, open and ready to respond to the Gospel. So the Lord holds us in sound doctrine by keeping us waiting, thereby confirming the teaching of the Word and providing a deep under- standing of the difficulty, humanly, of the thing asked for.
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