A life filled with prayer - 26 November 2024
By Ewald Schmidt
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
NgokukaMathewu 7
Prayer remains one of the most important spiritual disciplines promoting our growth as disciples of Jesus. Young believers have many questions about prayer. How often must I pray? How long should a prayer last? We have seen in the Sermon on the Mount that prayer is intimately linked to the relationship we have with God. We do not need to use an abundance of words when we pray. But how many times may I ask something of God in prayer? Some of us grew up in homes where we only dared to ask once for what we wanted and then, we had to deal with the answer we received.
When Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock, how many times are we allowed to do this? This is where the original Greek language helps us a lot. In English, it could be interpreted as only once, but this is written in the future continuous tense. We may be asking, seeking, knocking continuously, until we receive an answer, until we find what we are looking for or the door is opened for us.
Jesus brings our experience of prayer back to the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. He says a human father would not give a stone when his child asks for bread, neither will he give a snake when the child asks for fish. A human father has the discernment to give his child good gifts. Jesus reminded us that our Father in heaven is aware of every need we may have, yet we are reminded to ask daily for our bread.
In our walk of faith, prayer is a continuous conversation with God. A life of prayer becomes a lifestyle. Paul gave the command in just one word in Greek, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “pray continually”. Pray without stopping. When we are hungry, pray. The Lord has probably provided food in our pantry, thank him for it. When we need an answer in life, keep on asking. When the doors are locked in front of us on the path of life, keep on knocking until the right door opens.
Prayer is a life-long conversation with God. He is interested in our whole being, in all the facets of it. When we pray about our needs, we confess our dependency of God. When we receive, we declare our gratitude for his providence. Today, Jesus invites us to a life of prayer. We are always welcome at our Father’s house. We are always welcome to ask, to seek and to knock …
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are always just a prayer away from me! Thank you that I am always welcome at your table. Teach me to persevere in a life of prayer, whilst I trust in you for all I need. Amen
