Why I Think God Loves Importunity In Prayer

Luke 11:5-10, “And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

I used to wonder often why Jesus taught men to pray at length sometimes. Our blessed Lord taught us in Matthew 6:7-8, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Son here we are taught by Jesus NOT to pray long needless prayers, because God cares about us as His children and already knows what we have need of.

But then Jesus tells the story of The Friend At Midnight, who came to his neighbour begging for bread on his long journey. Jesus had just taught The Lord's Prayer in Luke 11:1-5, and is now expounded further, teaching the disciples that God loves when we pray at length. We should pray, and keep praying to God, in certain situations. That is very interesting. In Matthew 6:7-8 Jesus teaches His disciples not to pray long prayers; but now in Luke 11:5-10 He is teaching that they should pray long prayers. Did the Lord take leave of Himself? Is this a blatant contradiction, which atheists love to use in an attempt to disprove the Holy Bible? What in the world is going on here friends? I think I have figured it out by God's grace.

But first, I'd like to also make mention of the story of The Unjust Judge in Luke 18:1-8. Jesus tells us that the judge couldn't have cared less about the widow who pleaded to be avenged of the person who wronged her, but the judge ignored her. Yet, she kept bothering him, day after day, until he finally gave her what she wanted, just to get rid of her. The Bible teaches that God is pleased by our persistence, our importunity in prayer. Why is this? Does God enjoy seeing us squirm, beg and agonize in hopes that He might answer our request? Dear friend, our great God is not that kind of God. God is lovingly, fair and reasonable.

So why then did Jesus teach us in Matthew 7:6:7-8 not to spend much time in prayer for our daily personal needs, but then in multiple places in the New Testament He teaches us to persevere in prayer at length? The answer is very simple friend. In fact, I can answer it with just one word... OTHERS! Next to getting saved, the greatest advice I could ever give to you dear reader is to: GET OUT OF THE SELF LIFE!!!

This is exactly what the Scripture means in Philippians 2:4-5, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” What is the mind of Christ that we should have in us? The Answer is found in Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” God wants us to be concerned about OTHERS!!!

When the thousands of delegates met, the moderator announced that General William Booth (1829-1912) would not be able to be present, because of failing health and eyesight. Gloom and pessimism swept across the floor of the convention. A little light dispelled some of the darkness when the moderator announced that General Booth had sent a message to be read, with the opening of the first session. He opened the message and began to read the following:

Dear Delegates of the 'Salvation Army' Convention: 

OTHERS! 

Signed, General Booth.

Lord, let me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Others, Lord, yes, others;
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others
That I may live like Thee.

You recognized awhile ago the words of our Lord. No one ever exemplified the "others" life as did our Savior. He never typified His life for others quite so beautifully and so clearly as He did when He was on the cross. 

Our Lord in dying on the cross, suffered as no man has ever suffered. Jesus agonized as no man has ever agonized. Jesus felt alone on the cross as no man has felt loneliness. I cannot explain it, I just know it. Hebrews 4:15 teaches that Jesus was tempted in ALL POINTS LIKE AS WE ARE, yet without sin. Jesus was a perfect man, yet He was despised and rejected of men. Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Jesus hurt as no man ever hurt. Jesus' heavenly Father turned His back on Him while on the cross. Christ's own people (the Jews) had crucified Him. His own city (Jerusalem) hated Him. The Jews compelled the Roman leaders to crucify Him.

Yet when our dear Lord opened His mouth on Mount Calvary, the first statement He made had nothing to do with His own pain or suffering; but rather, He said: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). He did not speak of His own suffering.

I love something that the preacher John Wesley said:

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ―John Wesley (1703-1791)

I read a great and helpful quote today in our Sunday morning church bulletin:

“The more we know of God, the more unreservedly we will trust Him; the greater our progress in theology, the simpler and more childlike will be our faith.” —J.G. Machen

As I grow older in the Lord, and get to personally know my down to earth and friendly Savior, the more the Holy Bible makes sense to me, and I understand things. Such is the case with importunity in prayer. God wants us to think about OTHERS. When we are praying at length for OTHERS, we are thinking about them instead of ourselves. I believe this is why Jesus told us to KEEP ON KEEPING ON in our prayers, but then don't spend a lot of time praying for ourselves (because God already knows our needs before we ask). God just wants us to depend upon Him, which is faith. ...

Others, Lord, yes, others;
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others
That I may live like Thee.