071021 Luke 18:1-8 Steadfast Prayer

Last Wednesday night was the beginning of a journey in steadfast prayer called the “Walk to Emmaus.” I am still experiencing a great deal of prayer – both personally in prayer with God and receiving the benefits of intercessory prayer. There were many more people “behind the scenes” praying and serving than the ones I was actually aware of. I’ve been “prayed up” and I know it for real.
If you are still looking for ways to experience prayer without ceasing, then let me make a few suggestions with some examples: Try Stop, Look and Listen as a motto for prayer.
1. Stop! Now this may seem strange, when I we are thinking about not stopping and “activity we call prayer.” But that’s part of our problem. Many people around the world “practice prayer” with prayer wheels, prayer mats, positions, and potions – as if we are the magician and that by praying we somehow concoct a special formula for prayer that makes God do what God might not want to do – anyway. The widow in this parable keeps saying “vindicate me against my adversary.” She doesn’t identify what, how, or why the unrighteous judge should grant her prayer. In fact – the purpose of vindication is to “free someone from blame.” In other words, the widow had some kind of shame or disgrace. Her rival had blamed her for saying or doing something and she felt guilty for it. She does not claim to be without fault or that she did not do what her adversary opposes her with. She just wants to be free from blame – forgiven – maybe in spite of her sin, in spite of her guilt and shame. Like her we can stop trying to justify ourselves before God. Stop trying to pretend that you haven’t done whatever the accuser in your life says you have done. Don’t trying to defend yourself. Ask your great advocate Jesus Christ to plead your case before the judgment seat in heaven. And realize that He is not only your lawyer, but He is your final judge as well. Jesus sits on the judgment seat of heaven in the final day of reckoning. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
2. Look for examples of how to breathe with prayer.
Michael W. Smith’s song describes the ebb and flow of unceasing prayer: “This is the air I breath, your Holy Spirit, living in me. And I, I’m desperate for you; and I, I’m lost without you.
I was reading where Lesli Anderson was training dolphins in the Minnesota Zoo and how she discovered that she could take very long breaths like those mammals and stay under water while swimming. The miracle was not that she could hold her breath for such a long time. She realized that she breathed “like them.” I experienced that on Wednesday night and mistakenly thought that when the power came back on in my dorm room that it was time to get up. So I went outside with my journal and Bible and started praying, reading and writing for up to 2 hours waiting for the sun to rise. We were told to be without clocks and watches and not to speak. So I had to rely on what God was breathing into my life instead of following the timed breath of the world with minutes and hours. Just as God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul, I was letting God breath into me His timing and His messages that were more about His beautiful creation and my part in it. I could pay attention to the pine beetle crawling near my crossed legs under the halogen park light of the retreat facility.
You can do the same thing right now. You can do it anytime. How much time do you need to breath one breath with God? (This much, this much or this much – by using your fingers instead of a watch to tell you.)
3. Listen more to God than speak. That’s a preacher speaking who is preaching to those listening. So I am not privileged to listen the way you are listening right now. But we can still hear our own thoughts before we speak and then hear our words as they are spoken.
Jesus teaches us to Stop, Look and Listen in today’s lesson. Stop blaming yourself and stop letting others blame you for what you have or have not done. Jesus is ready to forgive you. Can you forgive yourself?
Look within yourself and look with your eye that sees God’s will in your life. Look beyond the times when you thing God hasn’t answered your prayers. Look to the hope of your salvation in Jesus Christ.
Listen for God’s answer. And when God answers Stop, Look and Listen for the next part of your story. Frodo in Tolkien’s Ring epic says: “what sort of story we have fallen into.” Frodo could not be a hero unless he was born into a story with many chapters written by God. Your story will play out according to God’s unceasing plan and goodness. Would you like to know what God has written for you? Then read the Bible and Pray. Stop, look and listen to His story He has for you. Breath with Him.
Dear Heavenly Faith, thank you for Your story of unceasing unending love. Thank You for Christ Jesus whose story is ours and we are His, in His name and for His story of our life, Amen.