DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Luke 11:9-13 (10/26-11/8) Wednesday of the
Twenty-third Week after Pentecost
Persisting in Prayer: Saint Luke 11:9-13, especially vs.
13: “If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” We
do struggle to persist in prayer!
Saint Makarios of Egypt says, “A veil of
darkness - the fire of the worldly spirit - surrounds the heart
preventing...the soul from praying, believing and loving the Lord as it desires
to do.” Mercifully, Christ
aids our labor in prayer, pierces the worldly veil, and cleanses our souls to
believe in Him and to love Him.
Christ, our “...King and God” offers us three
verbs: “ask, seek, and knock” (vs. 9). He presents these as commands to be
obeyed. We need to read them as
on-going or continuous required actions: asking, seeking and knocking, for this
approach emphasizes persistence. We
are to keep praying, or, as Saint Paul says, to
“...pray without ceasing...” (I Th. 5:17).
The Lord Jesus directs us to continuous prayer because He
knows that quick, easy results, offering convenience and effortless
fulfillment, tempt us. In the
flesh, being sinners, we prefer to ask once and receive immediately -
‘conveniently.’ The
indulgent-self prefers methods without struggle. However, if we receive easily we are
likely to remain flabby in relationship to God.
There are other, darker, evasive desires that keep us from
staying with prayer. Actually, we
want to keep God ‘at bay,’ and involve Him only when we want
something. Thus, we avoid
investment! Truly easy answers to
prayer are ways to dodge God’s will and His purposes.
The Lord Jesus commands prayer because He knows there are
many hindrances facing those who pray.
Consider the three verbs that He applies to prayer. Begin with ‘ask.’ Our prayers may return to us empty, even
when we make some effort in asking.
We wonder: does God not hear or care?” Our Lord flatly rejects such thoughts as
these (see Lk. 10:11-13).
What, then, causes delay? There are obvious possibilities: I ask
for wrong things. I ask contrary to
His will. I ask for that which is
not good for me. I ask without
willingness to invest myself. I am
impatient, not wanting to wait for God.
However, God wills that we gain patience.
There are more reasons. If we are obedient and persist in asking
only to find no response, then God may be preparing us for His second command -
to ‘seek.’ God waits
for us to search into His silence.
He is inviting us to look for Him in Sacred Scripture and in the Holy
Fathers to search for His will in our ‘necessity.’ He presses us to look into our motives,
test our willingness to be involved.
Learn to pray. “If I
have not been asking rightly, Master, show me Your
highest and best.” He trains
us to listen when we ask.
“Wait on the Lord...” (Ps. 26:16).
Finally, there is the matter of
‘knocking.’ Learn to
stand outside the heavenly door, like the man at the door of his neighbor (Lk. 11:5-8).
Ask, seek, and then discover that it is God shaking us, waking us to
invest ourselves in that for which we pray. Consider ascetic works with prayer. We may add fasting, make prostrations,
give alms, stand before the Holy Icons, confess our sins, seek Godly counsel,
be attentive at worship, request the intercession of
the Theotokos and all the Saints. God delays so that we may absolutely
stop treating Him like a butler and rather come before Him in fear and
trembling as Creator and Judge.
Lord have mercy!
Our greatest need is to reframe our vision of prayer! The Lord desires that we learn to pray
as a labor, as an arduous journey into the mystery of His Person, as a
discovery of our sinfulness and our need.
Since we are sin-ridden, prayer heals our relationship with God and
becomes unending growth. Such
Christ encourages. Discover how to
pray, to do God’s will, and to persevere before Him; for He is
‘infinitely’ good and cares deeply for us (vs. 13).
Direct my will, teach me to pray, and pray Thou Thyself in me, O good One.
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