Why would God listen to prayer?

(from Maurice Sendak's "In the Night Kitchen", with thanks to Ellen Duthie at wereaditlikethis.blogspot.co.uk)

When I go for periods of time when I don't let God into my affections - allowing his Word and his Spirit through the church to remind me of his love for me and to teach me more about him - I start to think of him as a kind of 'maxi-me': a more powerful version of me. but still with my limitations.

When it comes to answering prayer, this way of thinking leads me to conclude that, as I can't handle the many calls on my time, God - with all the millions of people around the world praying to him - must surely struggle too, so I mustn't worry too much if my prayers aren't answered straight away ... in fact, it wouldn't be all that surprising if most of them weren't answered at all!"

Thank God ... he isn't me!

But what about when prayers do seem to go unanswered?  Why is that?  Is it me?  Something I'm not doing or saying right?  Is it my standing, or 'righteousness', before God at the time?

And is there a contradiction, then, between John 14-16 and Luke 16?  ... Between "whatever you ask in My name, that I will do" and "‘Lord, Lord, open for us’ ... but He will say, ‘Depart from Me’"?

In Luke 11, Jesus' disciples ask him to 'teach' them to pray.  Jesus gives them a little insight into his own conversation with his Father ('The Lord's Prayer') ... but then, insightful and loving as ever, he addresses their real concern, their hidden question: "...Lord, teach us to pray in such a way as to persuade the Father to answer our prayers!"

Isn't that what we all want to know?

When we're not close to God in love, we don't necessarily stop believing in him, but we think differently about him.  We trust in his supernatural power (he is 'God', after all) and we trust in his love for us (he did die / send his Son to die to stop us being eternally separated from him, after all), but we don't walk with him in active enjoyment of the love between us ... so he just becomes a 'Father Christmas' figure: we ask him for what we want and, if we've been good enough, he will deliver what we've asked for.

To answer their deeper question, then, Jesus goes on: "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread: an old friend traveling through just showed up and I don't have a thing on hand.'

"The friend answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked; my children are all down for the night; I can't get up to give you anything.'

"I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs."

This story speaks a lot about friendship.  Everyone seems to be friends - there are friends everywhere - it's a beautiful thing!

... But I bet the fellah who had been tucked up in bed for the night is not feeling very friendly at this particular point in time.  And, left to respond purely on his feelings, he clearly isn't about to act on the request: look at where the 'yet' is in Jesus' reply!  He will not rise because he is his friend, yet he will rise because of his friend's importunity.

Impor-what?

What convinces him?  His friend's 'importunity'...

No, I had no idea what this means either!  I thought it meant something along the lines of 'bold (to the point of obnoxious) persistence', and this certainly chimes with a rather scant reading of Luke 18, where a 'persistent widow' harangues a local judge for justice such that eventually, because of her persistence, he answers her.

But, wait!  Is this how we are to think about God, our loving Father whose Son loved us literally to death and whose Spirit has made his very home in our hearts?  Do we really have to wear him down as if his default setting is a general reluctance to get involved in our lives in any way?

Yes of course that idea is ridiculous!  And if we read the story in context, it's clear that this judge, described as "unjust", is the polar opposite to God who judges perfectly with eternal love.  The point of this passage is to show that, if even someone 'unjust' will eventually respond to your desires when their motive is simply to shut you up, how much more willingly will God respond when his motive is his passionate love for you?

So I'm not convinced that the dweller of the house in this story (... the father of the secure children ... the giver of the bread ...) is going to respond because of 'bold persistence'.

What's it all about then?  What is this 'importunity' that seems to be the reason for the request being granted?

Getting into the Greek word, here translated as 'importunity' - with help from Dr. James Strong et al, it literally means 'not bashful/modest'. 

But the word origin for 'bashful/modest' is actually, literally 'not seeing/knowing', which makes the word 'importunity', in this case, mean, literally, 'not not-seeing'!

Not-not-seeing!

So who is that referring to?  Who is the friend asking for bread designed to represent?  Who are those who are 'not not-seeing'?

Luke 8:10 describes those who are 'not-seeing': "... Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

Those who 'seeing, might not see' are those who do not understand The Word of God.  Now, if there existed, as reported, people who do not understand The Word of God even when he is standing right there in front of them, what hope is there for any of us?  Who can understand?

There is only one who can make all these things clear: the Spirit of truth.  Jesus would later say of him: "he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."

Elsewhere described as "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord", this one is able to make one "of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord", such that later Christians can boldly ask "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, (to) give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him".

This holy Spirit of God is the one who can give knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God and his mysterious Word - so who are they to whom he chooses to give this understanding?

"The mystery (is) revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" - he gives understanding to all who are set apart for God ("holy apostles") and to all who affirm / make known his thoughts ("prophets").  In other words, everyone who ever has been or who ever will be offered the Spirit and, in accepting him, are eternally enjoined with him.

So, backtracking, those 'not-seeing' are those who don't know the Word of God, whilst those 'not not-seeing' are those who have been sealed with the holy Spirit because they have accepted the offered Spirit of Jesus ... and the father of the house gives his bread to his friend purely on account of his friend's having the holy Spirit.

In all things...

So, basically, our prayers are answered NOT because we are in a state of friendship or active affection before God but simply because we are 'saved'!

... So, pray when you're content, pray when you're not, pray when you are angry with Him, when you're ashamed before Him, pray when you've been turning your back on Him ... our loving Father, Son, and Spirit will still answer, and will still give his very good gifts in abundance.  Thank God!

Guest blog...

I understand, sir, that you are really interested in learning about the religion of the Christians, and that you are making an accurate and careful investigation of the subject.  You want to know, for instance, what God they believe in and how they worship him, while at the same time they disregard the world and look down on death, and how it is that they do not treat (other) "divinities" ... as gods at all, although on the other hand they do not follow ... superstition ... You would also like to know the source of the loving affection that they have for each other ... I certainly welcome this keen interest on your part and I ask God, who gives us the power to speak and the power to listen, to let me speak in such a way that you may derive the greatest possible benefit from listening, and to enable you to listen to such good effect that I may never have a reason for regretting what I have said.

... Look at the things that you proclaim and think of as gods ... the things you serve.  (You) adore these things, and in the end you become like them.  That is why you hate the Christians, because they do not believe that these objects are gods ... Christians are not the slaves of gods like these.

... For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs.  They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life.  This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do.  Yet, although they live in (eastern and western) cities alike, as each man's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth.  They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners.  Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land.  They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring.  They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed.  It is true that they are "in the flesh," but they do not live "according to the flesh."  They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.  They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require.  They love all men, and by all men are persecuted.  They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life.  They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance.  They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated.  They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect.  When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life.  They are treated ... as foreigners and enemies, and are hunted down ... and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their enmity.

To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world.  The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world.  The soul dwells in the body, but does not belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the world.  The soul, which is invisible, is kept under guard in the visible body; in the same way, Christians are recognised when they are in the world, but their religion remains unseen.  The flesh hates the soul and treats it as an enemy, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from enjoying its pleasures; so too the world hates Christians, even though it suffers no wrong at their hands, because they range themselves against its pleasures.  The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; in the same way, Christians love those who hate them.  The soul is shut up in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; while Christians are restrained in the world as in a prison, and yet themselves hold the world together.  The soul, which is immortal, is housed in a mortal dwelling; while Christians are settled among corruptible things, to wait for the incorruptibility that will be theirs in heaven.  The soul, when faring badly as to food and drink, grows better; so too Christians, when punished, day by day increase more and more.  It is to no less a post than this that God has ordered them, and they must not try to evade it.

As I have indicated, it is not an earthly discovery that was committed to them; it is not a mortal thought that they think of as worth guarding with such care, nor have they been entrusted with the stewardship of merely human mysteries.  On the contrary, it was really the Ruler of all, the Creator of all, the invisible God himself, who from heaven established the truth and the holy, incomprehensible word among men, and fixed it firmly in their hearts.  Nor, as one might suppose, did he do this by sending to men some subordinate - an angel, or principality, or one of those who administer earthly affairs, or perhaps one of those to whom the government of things in heaven is entrusted.  Rather, he sent the Designer and Maker of the universe himself, by whom he created the heavens and confined the sea within its own bounds - him whose hidden purposes all the elements of the world faithfully carry out, him from whom the sun has received the measure of the daily rounds that it must keep, him whom the moon obeys when he commands her to shine by night, and whom the stars obey as they follow the course of the moon.  He sent him by whom all things have been set in order and distinguished and placed in subjection - the heavens and the things that are in the heavens, the earth and the things in the earth, the sea and the things in the sea, fire, air, the unfathomed pit, the things in the heights and in the depths and in the realm between; God sent him to men.

Now, did he send him, as a human mind might assume, to rule by tyranny, fear, and terror?  Far from it!  He sent him out of kindness and gentleness, like a king sending his son who is himself a king.  He sent him as God; he sent him as man to men. He willed to save man by persuasion, not by compulsion, for compulsion is not God's way of working.  In sending him, God called men, but did not pursue them; he sent him in love, not in judgment.  Yet he will indeed send him someday as our Judge, and who shall stand when he appears?

... For God, the Master and Maker of the universe, who made all things and determined the proper place of each, showed himself to be long-suffering, as well as a true friend of man.  But in fact he always was and is and will be just this - kind and good and slow to anger and true; indeed, he alone is good.

...And so, when he had planned everything by himself in union with his Child, he still allowed us, through the former time, to be carried away by undisciplined impulses, captivated by pleasures and lusts, just as we pleased.  That does not mean that he took any delight in our sins, but only that he showed patience.  He did not approve at all of that season of wickedness, but ... when we had shown ourselves incapable of entering the Kingdom of God by our own efforts, we might be made capable of doing so by the power of God.  And so, when our unrighteousness had come to its full term, and it had become perfectly plain that its recompense of punishment and death had to be expected, then the season arrived in which God had determined to show at last his goodness and power.  O the overflowing kindness and love of God toward man!  God did not hate us, or drive us away, or bear us ill will.  Rather, he was long-suffering and forbearing.  In his mercy, he took up the burden of our sins. He himself gave up his own Son as a ransom for us - the holy one for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the righteous one for the unrighteous, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.  For what else could cover our sins except his righteousness?  In whom could we, lawless and impious as we were, be made righteous except in the Son of God alone?  O sweetest exchange!  O unfathomable work of God!  O blessings beyond all expectation!  The sinfulness of many is hidden in the Righteous One, while the righteousness of the One justifies the many that are sinners.  In the former time he had proved to us our nature's inability to gain life; now he showed the Saviour's power to save even the powerless, with the intention that on both counts we should have faith in his goodness, and look on him as Nurse, Father, Teacher, Counselor, Healer, Mind, Light, Honor, Glory, Might, Life - and that we should not be anxious about clothing and food.

If you too yearn for this faith, then first of all you must acquire full knowledge of the Father ... that he sent his only-begotten Son, and to them that he promised the Kingdom in heaven which he will give to those who love him.  And when you have acquired this knowledge, think with what joy you will be filled!  Think how you will love him, who first loved you so!

To him be glory forevermore.  Amen.


... edited from www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.x.i.ii.html ... also see (hear!) http://www.theologynetwork.org/the-breeze/2011-05/the-breeze-004--the-letter-to-diognetus