Preparing Sunday sermons can be a varied and interesting process. There are times when I am sitting at my desk that a phrase will come into my mind. Usually it is a fully formed thought that dawns on me, and I write it down or type it on my computer keyboard. This happened to me a few days ago when I was preparing for last Sunday’s sermon on anxiety.
This past week it was the phrase, “It’s legal to pray for something more than once.” Very quickly I felt the weight of the phrase and imagined that this might be a breakthrough word of truth for someone listening. I put the phrase on a slide with a picture of some books to the left and went on planning the rest of the sermon.
When I shared this phrase on Sunday, I paused and then repeated the phrase, again feeling the importance of the concept and the moment. As I continued sharing the message, I didn’t have a sense for whether others found it powerful also, but I just kept sharing.
Yesterday, I heard about a conversation between two younger people after the sermon. It centered on that phrase. One student said to the other, “I didn’t think it was okay to pray more than once for things. The pastor in my last church said that if you prayed more than once you weren’t really trusting God.”
Yikes! I wonder how many other people were believing that until this past Sunday?
What does God’s Word say?
How can I be sure that I’m right about this concept?
The verses I was unpacking on Sunday, Philippians 4:6-9, make it clear by using the present tense of the Greek verb that we are to habitually and constantly make our requests known to God.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. – Philippians 4:5 (NASB)
1 Thessalonians 5:17 simply commands us to, “Pray continually.”
Jesus, in Matthew 7 says,
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. – Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
Jesus is teaching about prayer in this context. In the original language the verbs for ask, seek and knock are all present active imperative commands. “Keep asking, Keep seeking, Keep knocking…” This is the most clear example where we see Jesus showing us to persevere in prayer.
The Apostle Paul uses the present active command in his letter to the Christians in Colossae. Literally translated: “keep continually devoting yourself to prayer.”
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. – Colossians 4:2 (NIV)
Jesus also models persistence in prayer in Mark 8. He doesn’t give up after his first attempt didn’t achieve full sight for a blind man.
The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. – Mark 8:22-25 (NIV)
So, Jesus takes another run at healing the man fully – not because He failed the first time, but because the Heavenly Father had some divine plan, timing, and other reasons known only to Him. Can you imagine if Jesus stopped working with the man after he only received blurry vision? I can’t imagine saying, “Well darn, we almost got you to 20/20 vision, but I guess it’s not your lucky day – be glad you can see anything at all!”
Jesus still Heals in these Current Times.
I prayed for a woman a few years ago who had a stomach issue. She came forward for prayer and I prayed for her once and then asked her if the pain was still there. She responded, “Yes, I still feel a burning in my stomach.” So then I told her that we were going to pray and ask God again for a miracle. After praying the second time, she said she “felt a little better.” I asked her if I could pray one more time and she agreed. The third time I prayed she exclaimed, “Oh, the pain, it’s gone!”
She started jumping up and down and we both joyfully began laughing. I prayed one last time a prayer of thanksgiving to God and for her to remain in a place of giving Jesus full credit for what He had done for her.
The next Sunday the same woman approached me at the front of the church for prayer again. She was happy to report that for the first time in years she had no pain. This time this young mother brought her two young children to me to receive prayer. She was filled with faith, and I believe her life was changed by the power of God. The testimony was clearly seen and heard by her children.
I’m so glad I didn’t believe that it is illegal to pray more than once!
Let us persevere in prayer, in great faith, believing our Great God is good, powerful and wants to move and encounter us!
