Lord Teach Us How To Pray

Lord, teach us to pray! Those are words of Jesus’ disciple. They resonate with us because most of the time, we don’t know how to pray. However, when circumstances in our lives are extreme, we are forced to come out of our shell in desperation and pray. I am sure you have heard the words: We cannot know the strength of our faith until it is tested. It’s a nightmare that parents of victims of Tx floods know something about. I know it’s awful: War came to our door and reality hit. I prayed like I have never prayed before. I saw portraits of courage emerging for the sake of others: People saving other people, going to great length beyond capacity to save others. We also saw people run away from their own families to save themselves. That’s what hit me in today’s Scriptures! I saw what was drawing God’s interest: It is that portrait of courage for the sake of others. Abraham was not advocating for himself; he was passionately advocating for the righteous people of Sodom and Gomorrah. We are all incredibly drawn to selfishness; it’s in our human DNA! Sometimes this selfishness prevents us to see the bigger picture because when we are inwardly focused, we miss what is happening around us which actually end up affecting us! Jesus tells a story of a man pleading for help to feed his friend late in the night. I realized that all of these petitions were for the sake of others, and as it turns out, God is seriously interested. His own son was sent to suffer for the sake of others. That’s in God’s DNA. It can be a battle for us to relinquish our powerful selfishness nature/DNA, in order to acquire divine DNA because we were meant for it, we were created in God’s likeness. God seriously appreciates this portrait of courage for the sake of others. Christ was always in prayer mode. He prayed everywhere, in homes, in the wilderness, on the mountain; he demonstrated faith in prayer and insisted we pray as well. [“Ask, it will be given to you… if you then (with selfishness DNA) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more, will your heavenly Father give the HS to those who ask him?”] The key in Jesus’ story is “Persist” we should always pray and not get tired of it. The denial didn’t cut it: “I tell you, because of his persistence, he will get up and get him whatever he needs.” The Gk. Word used for ‘persistence’ is {anaideia} transl. as bold tenacity/ shamelessness! Be courageous in asking… Dare to ask for the sake of others… Be shameless calling on God for the sake of others! Don’t be shy! I guarantee you: God is already on it! The Hebr. word used in Gen 18 is {Za’achaa} a cry of distress. Do you remember When God told Moses: I have heard the cry of distress of my people in Egypt? Ex 3:7 God did move mightily. Same word: {Za’achaa} has reached my ears! But this particular cry was for the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. They were all about to perish with the wicked. Abraham took a bold step by drawing near God’s presence! This is huge! I am paraphrasing: [Lord, allow me to be bold and ask]: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if I find 50 righteous in the city?” God replied: “I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” [Lord, allow me to be bold and ask one more time] He ended up negotiating down to 10 righteous people! Be bold in asking! Our human way of thinking may push us to doubt and reason ourselves out of persistence, but no, be bold rather, use the divine way of thinking: Pray at all times, without ceasing! Write down your prayer requests if you need to! Connect deeply with God through the Lord’s prayer: Go to God for your bread, (that’s depending on God rather than the hustle (for your living needs); Go to God for the sake of others (that’s intercession) Become an agent of forgiveness! God promises us to give us what we ask of him. God is our Father. Be hopeful, ask for the Holy Spirit to position you better, so you can see and be aware of His vision and purpose for your life. Let your prayers reflect Za’achaa (the cry of distress) for the sake of others, even sometimes forgetting your own pain because God’s heart is sensitive to such cry! Solomon did not ask riches for himself; he asked for divine wisdom to rule the people with justice! God’s heart became fully engaged! Pray and ask God to intervene, cry out {Za’achaa} to God for those in distress; for nations with calamities, hunger, for the poor and the sufferer… Lord Have Mercy! Amen.

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