Pray always

Brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Today we read Psalm 86, A prayer of David – a man who God esteemed.
The Bible tells us, “This is the one I esteem, he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my Word.” Isaiah 66:2b.
What does a Biblical prayer culture look like?
The basis of prayer is true faith.
It was not so long ago, and indeed in some churches today, there exists almost a Pagan prayer culture.
Some people do not pray because they have no true faith.
Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow to deal with this issue.
Some think they are praying but they don’t understand the true nature of prayer.
Jesus also told the parable of the Pharisee & the tax-collector to illustrate what true prayer looks like.
In the first Jesus tells a parable with a twist.
Widows don’t normally go to court.
She is in the right.

She goes to an unjust judge, one who accepts bribes. Yet she does not give up. She is like a constant drip giving him a headache.

It is as if she is jabbing him just under the eye again and again and again. This word used is also used in boxing.
If we want to see what persistence looks like, consider Jacob – Genesis 32:22-30
The believers response to fear is to pray. Jacob feared the anger of his brother Esau so he prayed that the Lord would save him.

In some ways prayer is wrestling with God –
“I will not let you go until you bless me.”
If this is the attitude we ought to have, we can be confident in approaching, not an unjust judge, but a heavenly Father who loves to give good things to his children when they ask. This raises the question:

How are we right with God?
By faith alone in Christ alone.

Righteousness is a gift of God received through faith in the promised One of God – the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the children of the reformation in that we, by the grace of God, have come to understand the truth: We are right with God by faith – not works. There is nothing we can do to earn or merit our salvation.
Not even praying 10 hours a day makes us right with God.
Not even doing twice as much as everyone else in terms of keeping the law will get us into heaven. If this is the case, why pray and why strive to keep God’s Law?

Prayer and keeping the law seem a waste of time if righteousness is a gift.
Whoever receives the gift is happy – those who don’t can weep. Whatever will be will be and then we can’t do anything about it.
At times we may wonder whether God hears our prayers.

Sometimes we may wonder if it helps to pray.
Does prayer really make a difference?
Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow to show the disciples that they should always pray and never give up. However, there are times when prayers are not answered and the reason that God does not hear them is explained by Jesus in the parable immediately following the parable of the persistent widow.
In a sense this parable is not so much about PRAYER; IT IS ABOUT PEOPLE.
Both are very religious people.
Jesus begins the parable,
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee and the other a tax-collector.”
It was a common practice for people to pray during the temple service. When the incense (special smoke) was going up into the sky from the sacrifice of atonement
(the offering for the sins of the people) the people would offer their prayers to God asking for the forgiveness of their sins.
It must have come to that part of the service for Jesus tells us that, ‘a Pharisee stood by himself and prayed.’

His prayer was not a prayer, it was a speech praising himself. He distanced himself from the other members of the congregation. The reasons for him doing this are:

1. He considers himself righteous. But he despises the others.
2. He does not want to touch even the clothes of the wicked, so he separates himself from them.

This is in line with the thinking of the time.
“For Pharisees the clothes of the “sinners” count as suffering Midras – uncleanness.
The Pharisee stands aloof having judged the rest of the congregation to be less righteous than himself.
Do we sometimes act like the Pharisee?
How do we view the “sinners” of this world?
Do we see them as people to be despised, avoided?
Or is our attitude the same as Jesus and our Father God?
Having compassion, wanting to love them and acting in such a way that they may grow spiritually and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?
“The Pharisee stood by himself praying,
“God, I thank you that I am not like all other
men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
It was the practice in the temple during the time of the incense going up to pray out loud so there is nothing out of the ordinary in this.
The tax collector prayed out loud also.
The nature of the Pharisee’s prayer was not a prayer at all.
It was a sermon for the benefit of the “LESS FORTUNATE UNWASHED” around him.
It was a speech so that others might want to become like him – Not swindlers or rouges – this was what the tax collectors were called – or adulterers (this term thrown in for good measure) Then he uses a specific illustration “or even like this tax collector.” The reason why the pharisee has such a big head – why he thinks he is righteous in God’s sight is given.
He boasts, “I fast twice a week.”
The normal practice for the very religious was to fast once a week.
This man thought he was twice as good – fasting twice a week.
“I give a tenth of all I get.”
This too was more than was normal in that there were some things that were exempt from tithing. ie. celery and other agricultural products.
Amos 4:4 had some sharp words for this sort of religion.
“Bring your sacrifices every morning (Not morning and
evening) your tithes every 3 years (not every year).”
The point was that in the time of Amos the people prided themselves and boasted about how religious they were but forgot about the needs of the poor and oppressed. God was not happy with the people – even though they thought God was happy with their works. But the tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’ This beating of ones chest is still done in the Middle East when someone is experiencing extreme anguish or intense anger.

Women beat their chests at funerals.
Perhaps this beating of ones chest was done in recognition of the fact that it is from the heart that all evil finds its root.
“Have mercy on me, a sinner”
Better translated – “Make atonement for me.”
This fits in with the incense from the atonement sacrifice.
The tax collector is pleading that he might stand with the righteous.
He cries out in repentance and hope, “O God let it – the atonement be for me – Make an atonement for me, a sinner. Because the tax collector does this we know that his name is written in the book of life.
This God has done in and through the person and work of Jesus.
Jesus died to make atonement.
He paid the price of sin for the sinner.
Jesus said, “I came to heal the sick.”
The healthy have no need of a doctor.
The pharisee did not go home cleansed from his sin because he did not believe he had any sin. He put his trust in his own righteousness.
However the tax-collector went home justified before God.
Remember the experience of Isaiah –
Read Isaiah 6:1-7
What a tremendous comfort for us.
We need to be honest before God.
Admit and ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus and you will be cleansed.

This prayer the Lord will certainly hear.
He who humbles himself will be exalted – lifted up from the ash heap.
This has the sense of – being redeemed, saved, delivered.
He who exalts himself will be humbled.
We must not pride ourselves on our right doctrine.
There is the tendency to take pride in one’s self.
We can be guilty of looking down on those who don’t have the same understanding as us. We might be very surprised at the people we find in heaven with us.
Let us not stand aloof, rather let our light shine so that the good news that God justifies sinners might radiate to the world.
What attitude should we have IN PRAYER?
Humility, thankfulness, and the commitment to make sure that we are in tune with God’s will. What is the most important act of our gratitude to God?
To pray always.
We can pray when we are driving the car – just keep your eyes open.
We pray when lying on our bed or doing the gardening.
What might a Christian doctor be praying as they see the next patient?
A builder may pray? “Lord bless the work of my hands.”
Let us pray for our children and grand-children
– “Lord I will not let you go until you bless them. Please write their names into your book of life because I want to see them in heaven.”

When we pray we can expect one of three answers from the Lord in whom we trust. Yes, wait or no.
God always hears and answers our prayers.
As his children we always need to add, ‘Lord, not my will but your will be done.’

Amen.