Tag Archives: prayer

February 11
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Uncategorized Aside

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8, NLT)

A commentary on these verses in “The People’s New Testament” says this: “The terms are here used with reference to prayer, and these constitute a climax. Ask implies a simple petition. Seek indicates an earnest search. Knock shows perseverance in spite of hindrances. The three represent earnest prayer.”

Discerning sense from nonsense in the topic of prayer tries the patience of even the most stalwart of Christian disciples. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the topic; and some of these opinions appear contradictory. 

In every such instance, return to the simple words of our Christ: Ask. Seek.  Knock. 

God knows what we want before we ask, but He is delighted by the petitions of His children, in the manner of a shall child who always takes all of her joys, concerns, and hurts to her father’s ear, because, “My daddy can do anything!” – Luther

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January 28
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“‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.'” (Luke 22: 46, NIV)

The most compelling temptation is not the urge to do something that is wrong, but it is the urge to do something that is good but falls far short of excellent.  It is the urge to settle for the near-term tactical advantage at the expense of the strategic victory.

Sleeping is not a bad thing.  It is while we sleep that our bodies repair, refresh and regenerate.  However, in today’s scripture verse, something was happening that called for a response from the disciples that sleeping could never deliver.

To choose to pray is to aspire to see the world as God sees the world.  In prayer, we avoid temptations to settle for anything less than God’s will in the challenges we confront each day.  – Luther

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December 17
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“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” (1 Peter 4:7, NIV)

The end of all things is near, and the evidence is clear: Senseless violence, strife between brothers, the suspension of standards, the erosion of values, the loss of faith. It is about these things — and more — for which the disciple of Jesus prays.

Praying effectively requires alertness and sobriety of mind. The former means that we pay close attention to the things and the people around us; the latter means that we maintain a clear mind at all times.

Just because we do not know the hour or the day of the “end of all things,” does not mean that the end shall never come. We wait, as the rest of the world waits; but the faithful disciple of Jesus both waits and prays.  – Luther

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