Ceaseless Prayer
Dr. John K. Mathew
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a man of prayer!
He prayed at His baptism, before He chose the twelve, when the crowd increased, and at His Transfiguration. His disciples knew that He often prayed alone.If Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, had to depend on prayer, during the days of His flesh, then how much more do you and I need to pray.
It is a fact that John's disciples used to pray. So Jesus' disciples wanted to learn better how to pray. They did not ask the Master to teach them how to preach or do great signs; they asked Him to teach them to pray. They knew that effective prayer is the key to every need and the solution for every problem. The Bible recommends ceaseless prayer. Apostle Paul writes, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" ( 1 Thess.5:16) Our Lord Jesus Christ said, " 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 (Luke 11:9, 10).
In "Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan graphically pictures, Christina, ( the hero's wife) and children knocking on the Wicker Gate. They knock and knock, but no one answers. Meanwhile, a ferocious dog comes and begins to bark, making the woman and children very afraid.
They simply do not know what to do. If they continue to knock, they must fear the dog. If they turn away, they fear the gatekeeper will be offended.
They determined to knock again, ever so fervently. Finally, they hear the voice of the gatekeeper asking, "Who is there"? And the dog ceases barking.
Exactly, the same thing happens in our life. Jesus revealed this truth through the parable of the persistent woman. It reads in the Gospel of Luke, " In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought, And there was a widow in the town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary' For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, 'even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this woman keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me' (18; 2-5)
Yes, consistency is required in prayer. Keep praying. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.
