Hardest

"Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray" (Anonymous)

One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

^2-4 So he said, “When you pray, say,

Father,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.”

^5-6 Then he said, “Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand.’

⁷ “The friend answers from his bed, ‘Don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything.’

⁸ “But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need.

⁹ “Here’s what I’m saying:

Ask and you’ll get;
Seek and you’ll find;
Knock and the door will open.

^10-13 “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing—you’re at least decent to your own children. And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?” (Luke 11:1-13, MSG)

1.   Pray through the need.

¹⁴ Since we have this confidence, we can also have great boldness before him, for if we present any request agreeable to his will, he will hear us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have obtained the requests we ask of him. (1 John 5:14-15 TPT)

·        See Luke 11:5-6 above

2.     Pray through the “no.”

⁷ But I must not be too proud of the wonderful things that were shown to me. So a painful problem was given to me—an angel from Satan, sent to make me suffer, so that I would not think that I am better than anyone else. ⁸ I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. ⁹ But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. ¹⁰ Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, ERV)

·        See Luke 11:7-8 above

3.     Pray through the night.

A few days later, Jesus went out to a mountain to pray. He stayed there all night praying to God.  (Luke 6:12, ERV)

·        See Luke 11:5-6 above

“You may be in a tough time, but the enemy always fights you the hardest when he knows God has something great in store for you.” (Joel Olsteen)[i]

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “Pray Through: ASK-Ask Seek Knock, “(installment two) Sunday August 25, 2019, Pastor Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.