Advent 2---Prayer

[HKHaugan]

The real context of Advent is the return of Jesus so let me say this right off the bat. He could return in ‘any next moment.’ Keeping that in mind we want to approach the subject of prayer as God’s way of readying us for that moment. Our ‘every next moment’ is in this world. This world is a training ground for letting God in right where we are. One way to look at it is this. Jesus is returning whenever we give Him our mind, heart and spirit in any moment, which prepares us for His final coming. That’s why I’d suggest we look at Jesus’ basic idea of being constant and persistent in prayer.

“Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, “There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!'
"He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'"
Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns (Lk.18:1-8 The Message Bible)?"

The bottom line is the last verse where Jesus asks what prayer is really all about and that is being faithful. Faith is the key. Do we come before God in faith? It is about consistent faith. If we are being consistent in faith, prayer just happens. You are always conscious of the Lord’s presence. That’s what initiates prayer. It’s ‘the every-next-moment’ thing.

Every day we have three adversaries working against us in our ‘every next moment’---the devil, the world’s pressures and our sin. All of them are unjust. The first one is sneaky, always hiding in the darkness, manipulating circumstances and agitating our weaknesses. The second confronts us with the spirits of fear, pride, lust, conformity and control that play on our temptations. As the prince of this world the devil has other back-ups and sends them depending on his assessment of where we are in our personal faith. The third one is where we know we are at any given moment. The self-protecting and self-securing reaction is immediate and calls for help. It’s always pleading ‘I can handle it, I can do it, it’s all about me.’

Prayer is to be aware the Lord is nudging you to care in a world that’s unfair where every moment brings a snare but you declare Him present and dare to lay yourself bare to let His Spirit share and pare the moment right there.

Prayer is seizing the immediate moment to process it with Scripture, repentance, releasing control of the moment to the Holy Spirit and building a platform of consistent conscious releasing of ‘every next moment.’ That is what faith is all about. Prayer is the natural automatic response of faith ‘seeking first the Kingdom of God (Mt.6:33)’ in every next moment. Prayer is the consistent faith in Jesus’ promise, “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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Mt.7:7-8 NIV).”

My humble suggestion is that we pray the words of Scripture as we read them. That is practicing the moment in the Spirit. A word, a phrase, a paragraph, a story, a parable, a prophecy, a psalm; these may invoke a momentary insight. Thank the Lord for it, praise Him that He is a caring and personal God and ask for the power to engage every next moment in His Spirit that He receives the glory and the honor due His Name. “Those who honor me I will honor (1Sam.2:30 NIV).”