Quite often when people are asked, “How does God answer prayer?” Many people respond with the answer that God answers prayer in one of three ways: “Yes”, “No”, or “Not Yet.”
However, there is another element to be considered that I want to offer to you to think about. This idea has to do with our passion, urgency, and the power that could be employed in our prayers at specific times.
Consider this verse from Hebrews chapter 5 verse 7: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
When you think of Jesus, praying like this – loud cries and tears – probably doesn’t come to mind but rather a picture of quiet solitude. There were times when Jesus attacked prayer and sought God deeply with energy and urgency. When we look at Moses interceding before God he took the same posture. When the Prophet Elijah received the word from God that rain would come after a three year drought, he prayed in a crouched position signifying his effort and deep request – repeating his prayer 7 times until he saw the result of his requests.
What does this verse mean that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:11-13? “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has forcefully advanced, and the strong take it by force.”
Is it possible that Jesus was describing the posture we must take at particular times when we seek God in heaven?
Consider the scenario from Daniel chapter 10. Daniel had received a vision from the Lord and began to fast and pray for 21 days that God would give him understanding about the vision. On the 21st day an angel appeared to Daniel. He explained to Daniel that on the first day Daniel began to pray, this angel was sent from heaven to give the answer. However, this mighty angel, whose presence caused Daniel to faint, explained that he was caught up in warfare with the “Prince of the Persian kingdom.” Here is the discourse from Daniel 10: “Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand this and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is yet for many days.”
This incredible angel was letting this prophet of God know, that there were dark forces in the heavenly places that resisted Daniel’s prayer by resisting the angel who came to deliver the answer. Amazingly, as Daniel pursued prayer for 21 days in a humble place before God by fasting, Michael, who scripture shows us as the angel who oversees the armies of God, was dispatched to help the first angel break through to Daniel. Do you understand the implications here? Let me shed further light on the impact we can have by praying with passion and energy.
In Luke 11 Jesus’s disciples come to him and asked him how they should pray. Jesus’s answer was to teach them what we know as, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus taught them what to pray. Jesus added to that how to pray in the next verses. “Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”
What does, “shameless audacity” look like? Jesus emphasized this as the way to go after an important request. I consider shameless audacity as reckless abandon, and using effort and energy to seek, to ask, and to continue to knock. What did the neighbor have to do at the door to get his friend to get out of bed and give him what he requested? I’m sure the power with which he used to knock on the door, the loudness and the consistency, embarrassed his friend and got him out of bed last to answer this audacious request. Remember, this is Jesus explaining. HOW to pray.
This is probably not the type of prayer one would use at dinner time. However, when Jesus said that we should go into our prayer closet and seek God perhaps there is the place to practice praying with shameless audacity.
Let me ask you, when was the last time you cried out in prayer so long and with such deep urgency that you wept? Do you struggle to pray and to see answers that you have longed for? So do I. Perhaps it is time to go after heaven with passion and energy, knowing that there are dark forces working against our prayers. Perhaps it is time to use our hearts and our guts to cry out as Jesus did on so many occasions. Perhaps it is time to go beyond quiet prayers and whispers, and to shake the heavens, seeking God with shameless audacity. I don’t know when our prayers ultimately get answered, but at least it is shown to us that we should not let down. Perhaps breakthrough is not that far away. Godspeed beloved. Continue to pray.