As we mentioned last time, our Lord’s disciples had asked Him to teach them to pray (v. 1). The request made by the disciples of our Lord should also be our request of Him, for prayer is the foundational disci¬pline of the Christian life. It is through prayer that we access the power of God, and without the power of God upon our lives, nothing we do will be fruitful or fulfilling. Therefore, this request should come before all others offered up to the throne by the child of God. As the hymn writer expressed it:
"Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray;
This is my heart-cry day unto day;
I want to know Thy will and thy way;
Teach me to pray, Lord, teach me to pray."
As part of our Lord’s response to his disciple’s request, He told them a parable. A parable designed to illustrate truths about prayer that every Christian needs to understand if we are to pray as we ought.
What kind of praying must we do?
Last time we said that from this parable we learn that it must be BOLD praying. Bold in size, bold in stubbornness, and bold in sacrifice. Today, I want us to consider a second truth we learn from this parable about prayer. What kind of praying must we do?
It must be DEFINITE PRAYING - v. 5
We notice that the man was very definite in making his request. He did not ask for "some loaves," but he specifically ask for "three loaves."
Likewise, God calls us to pray in a definite manner. He wants us to offer up specific requests to Him rather than pray in generalities.
"Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God." - Philippians 4:6 (Amplified)
The word translated "petition" here is the same word used in Ephesians 6:18, where Paul says:
"With all prayer and petition (definite requests) pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." - Ephesians 6:18 (NASB)
It is also the same word used by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1, where he says:
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions (definite requests) and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men." -1 Timothy 2:1 (NASB)
Again and again, the Scriptures tell us that our requests of God in prayer should be specific and definite. But why? That’s what I want us to explore today. I’d like to suggest two primary reasons why the praying we must do is definite praying.
1. Definite praying makes us aware of our need of God.
When we pray only in generalities, it is easy to ignore our need for God to be involved in every area of our lives. But when we commit ourselves to definite praying, that means we will consider each area of our life in prayer, lifting up specific requests for each area, whether it be my spiritual development, or my finances, my friendships, my marriage, my kids, my job, my school, my business, my investments, or whatever.
Through offering definite requests in prayer, we are forced to confront the fact, over and over again, that we need God to intervene by His power on our behalf in EVERY area of life. That what Jesus said is true, "apart from me you can do nothing" - John 15:5 (NIV)!
If any part of me is apart from Him, then my life will fall apart!
Now, there are two ways whereby I can realize my need of God. I can humble myself before the Lord or be humbled by Him.
"’God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you." - 1 Peter 5:5-7 (NLT)
We understand then, that one way I can come to understand my need of God is ...
A. The way of pride.
If I live my life thinking I can "go it alone," I will eventually be humbled by God, as I experience irritation, aggravation, and frustration in life.
A boy asked his father to explain the differences between irritation, aggravation and frustration.
The dad picked up the telephone and dialed a number at random. When someone answered he asked, "Can I speak to Alf please." "You have the wrong number. There’s no Alf here." The dad said, "That’s irritation."
Then the boy’s father hit "redial" and asked for Alf a second time. The voice on the other end said, "There’s no one named Alf here! If you call again I will call the police." The dad said, "Son, that’s aggra¬vation."
"Then what’s frustration?" asked the little boy. The dad picked up the phone, hit redial again and said, "Hi, this is Alf. Do I have any messages?"
"God sets Himself against the proud (the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)—[and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them]," – 1 Peter 5:5 (Amplified)
The fact is that I do not have to explain what irritation, aggravation, or frustration is to any of you who have lived any length of time, because all of us have experienced the truth Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:12:
"Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" - 1 Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV)
The question is, "what do I do when I have been humbled by God?" I need to get off the path of pride and choose to humble myself under the mighty power of God! How do I do that? What does Peter say?
While I can come to understand my need of God as a result of following the way of pride, it is far better and preferable that I cultivate the aware¬ness of my need of God by means of...
B. The way of prayer.
"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you." - 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
As I daily turn my "cares" into "prayers," through casting ALL my cares on the Lord, I will cultivate an awareness of my need of God, and as a result of walking humbly before Him in this way; I will find myself saying along with Paul, "I can do ALL things through Christ."
Definite praying makes me aware of my need of God.
2. Definite praying makes me aware of the power of God.
If I pray only in generalities, like "Lord, bless the missionaries," I do not know whether or not God is blessing in response to my prayers. I might derive some sense of joy as I hear that the missionaries are being blessed, but I do not know if it because God is answering my prayers.
There is a special level of joy, however, that is reserved for those who pray, offering specific requests. Certainly, when I have asked God to bless a certain missionary, in a certain place, in a certain way, and it hap¬pens, I can more readily recognize the power of God at work. I believe this part of what Jesus meant when He said:
"Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete." - John 16:24 (Amplified)
Years ago, when Donna and I were newlyweds, we found ourselves in need of $10 to pay our phone bill. We prayed about it and asked God to provide us with what we needed to pay that bill. The next morning, we went to the post office to check our mail before I left to go to school. In our mail box was a letter from her granny. On the envelope, was written, "Dave & Donna, Mesquite, New Mexico." In¬side, Granny had written a note, which said, "Dear Dave & Donna, I’m sorry, but I cannot remember your last name. Anyway, the Lord spoke to me and told me to send you this money. Maybe you can use it to pay a phone bill or something." Inside was a $10 bill!
You talk about our joy being full! Because we had asked specifically, we were able to clearly recognize God’s power at work when the answer came.
Conclusion:
Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered the grocery store she said to him, "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask."
She put him up in the cart & he sat in the little child’s seat while she wheeled down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. He saw the chocolate chip cookies & he stood up in the seat & said, "Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?" She said, "I told you not even to ask. You’re not going to get any at all." So he sat back down.
They continued down the aisles, but in their search for certain items they ended up back in the cookie aisle. "Mom, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?" She said, "I told you that you can’t have any. Now sit down & be quiet."
Finally, they were approaching the checkout lane. The little boy sensed that this may be his last chance. So just before they got to the line, he stood up on the seat of the cart & shouted in his loudest voice, "In the name of Jesus, may I have some chocolate chip cook¬ies?" And everybody round about just laughed. Some even applauded. And, according to Paul Harvey, due to the generosity of the other shoppers, the little boy & his mother left with 23 boxes of chocolate chip cookies.
Like the little boy, we need to learn to pray intelligently (in Jesus’ name), persistently, and specifically. As we do, like the little boy, we will be overwhelmed, not with cookies, but with an awareness of God’s power.
