I’m sure you
have heard the saying about prayer, “Be careful what you ask for. You might
just get it!” There is this other one, however, “God doesn’t give us what we
ask for. He gives us what we expect.” The risk in praying is not so much in
getting that for which we ask as it is in realizing that all we are getting is
what we expected, and that is far less than our request or what God wanted to
give us.
We often
pray believing God is all-powerful, but at the same time believe his power will
not be revealed in answering our requests. We ask for great things, but are not
surprised when nothing much happens. On the other hand we are astounded when
our prayers are answered and act as if an unexpected miracle has occurred.
One of my
favorite authors on prayer is Andrew Murray, and one of my favorite books by
him is With Christ in the School of
Prayer. Murray takes his reader deep into the questions we raise about
prayer: appropriate topics, perseverance, faith for answered prayers, response
to unanswered prayers, requirements for answered prayer. He speaks to the
question of risking prayer that reveals the depth of our faith as he says, “We
do not live close enough to God to be capable of the confidence that He will
answer…Let us pray for a life in union with Christ, so that His compassion
streams into us and His Spirit assures that our prayer is heard.” (Chapter 9)
The 18th
chapter of Luke focuses upon prayer and the perseverance that is often needed.
It also includes tips on the kind of prayer that gets God’s attention and
brings about results. There is risk involved, however, in those two initial
parables Jesus uses to teach on prayer. In the first the risk is in making the
faith-filled commitment to continue praying even when the answer is silence.
Perseverance is a statement of faith. I believe even when I see nothing
happening.
The Pharisee
in the second parable knows little of the faith being exercised by the tax
collector. He finds no risk in expounding upon his self-righteousness. He prays
only to himself. The sinner off in the corner alone is risking everything by
being honest in confession before God.
The leper
who met Jesus as recorded in the opening verses of Matthew, chapter 8, dares to
place his faith in Christ on the line when he said, “Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean.” Such a statement revealed trust in power but uncertainty in
desire. The leper uttered a prayer of faith in the power of God, but he uttered
no confident assurance that God would respond. He risked his perception of a
compassionate God in that simple request.
For prayer
to have power, a risk must be taken. Faith without risk is not faith. Prayer without
faith cannot have power. We pray to a God we cannot control. We pray to a God
whose ultimate will trumps our own. We pray to a God whom we can only
understand through his revelation in Jesus Christ. We pray to the One we are
told we should see as our Father, the Father who will give us what we need. We
pray to the One who knows what we need better than we ourselves. Our prayers
consist of the risk of throwing ourselves before him and believing he will do
what is best.
Prayer that has
substance involves the risk of giving up our own will in surrender to the
divine will. Jesus understood this well. (Matthew 26:36-46) The Pharisee of
Matthew 18 didn’t learn this. Too many people today who say they pray still
have not learned it. The honest prayer of faith brings power, but it involves
risk. (James 5:16) Such prayer also says you had better be ready to respond
according to God’s answer.
