A short study on prayer

 

I urge you (parakaleō), believers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join together with me in your prayers (proseuchē) to God in my behalf.  --Romans 15:30 (Amplified Bible)

In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, protagonist Jean Valjean is paroled from prison with no money, no job, and no hope.  He is welcomed in by the Bishop of Digne, who shows Valjean compassion by giving him a meal and a bed for a night.  Valjean steals the bishop's silverware and silver plates.  When Valjean is confronted by the police and brought back to the rectory, the bishop shows mercy and grace to Valjean, "admonishing" him on having forgotten the silver candlesticks, which were a "gift" along with the tableware.  The bishop reminds Valjean of his "promise" to become a better man.  This act of mercy changes Valjean, who lives out his days in the light of that redemptive act, notwithstanding his having to run from his past.

I love that story.  Every time I see it, it brings tears to my eyes.

I mention this particular scene because it illustrates the two Greek words translated "prayer" in the New Testament.  The bishop is called from his prayers to God (proseuchē) to come alongside Valjean (parakaleō) and to urge him to do the right thing.  I'm sure the bishop entreated the Lord on Valjean's behalf often thereafter, beseeching God to guide the former thief.

The same Greek word for comfort and exhortation, coming alongside one to encourage or strengthen (which, by the way, describes the work of the Holy Spirit) is also used of a type or form of prayer. The word parakaleō not only means come alongside for encouragement and exhortation; it also means to beg, to entreat, to beseech.  Think of it as a different way to approach God.  

We usually think of prayers as acts of worship, praise, adoration.  This is what was meant by Jesus when he gave us the Lord's Prayer as a template or example.  When Jesus said, "Pray this way," He used the Greek word proseuchē.  But when we want to really entreat God, to come alongside Him and intercede for ourselves or others, that would be the Greek word parakaleō.  

This word parakaleō is used nine times in the book of Mark, a book which I have been studying in my daily Bible readings for the last two weeks.  Seven times it was used to describe requests that people made to Jesus during His earthly ministry, and twice it was used by demons speaking to Jesus.  Each time it is translated beg in the ESV (the translation I use for study).

In Mark 1:40 a leper came to Jesus and begged that He make him clean.  In 5:23 a ruler of the synagogue named Jairus begged Jesus to heal his daughter.  In 6:56 the crowds that followed Jesus from town to town begged Him to touch them and heal their diseases.  In 7:32 a deaf man was brought to Him, and He was begged to touch the man so that he could hear.  In 8:32 a blind man was brought to Jesus, and they begged Him to restore sight to the man.  In each of these examples, the entreaties or prayers to Jesus were answered in the affirmative.  

I want to point to the passage that shows the anomolies.  In the fifth chapter of Mark we read about when Jesus healed the man known as the Gerasene Demoniac.  Jesus went by boat to meet this man who lived in a graveyard because he had been possessed by an evil spirit.  The demons had given him superhuman strength, because the people of the area had been unable to restrain the man, even with shackles and chains.  The man was ostracized by the villagers, and spent his time crying out with a loud voice and cutting himself.  He was in bad shape.  This is the only time in Scripture where I can find that Jesus listened to the prayer of a demon.  And it is one of just a few instances of Jesus answering a prayer in the negative.

Jesus' encounter with the demons

When Jesus approached him, the man ran to Jesus and fell down before him.  However, when the man opened his mouth, the demons spoke for him.

And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I adjure You by God, do not torment me."  For He was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"  And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"  He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."  And he begged Him earnestly not to send him out of the country.  Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged Him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them."  So He gave them permission.  And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. (Mark 5:7-13)

Twice the spirits asked Jesus, begged Jesus, not to send them into the abyss, but rather to send them into the herd of swine.  The demons approached Jesus, and engaged Jesus in conversation, and begged not to be destroyed.  Jesus answered their prayers.  He did not destroy them; He allowed them to enter into the pigs, and the pigs were then destroyed, but the spirits were shown to be in subjection to Jesus because they acknowledged Him as Son of the Most High God.  Does that mean they were saved?  No, of course not.  Knowledge alone will not save.  Confession without contrition will not save.  Without repentance, redemption is not possible. 

Jesus' encounter with the townspeople

Next we see a prayer of unrepentant people.

The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country.  And people came to see what it was that had happened.  And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.  And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.  And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. --Mark 5:14-17

These people saw the change in this man whom Jesus had set free.  There was a radical change in him, for he was seated, speaking in normal tones.  He was wearing clothes, in contrast to his usual state of undress.  He appeared to be in control of himself, thinking and speaking clearly.  But instead of praising God for delivering this man from his torment, they were afraid.  Instead of asking Jesus to radically change them, they trembled.  Then somebody noticed the lack of livestock.

"What happened to the pigs?" one might have asked.  The eye-witnesses explained that the pigs had run off a cliff into the sea, and that apparently the legion of demons that had inhabited the man were cast out of the man and into the swine.  The owners of the herd had suffered an economic loss, for sure, but this behavior was not in the pigs' nature.  I am told pigs are fairly intelligent creatures, and prone to self-preservation.  They would not naturally commit mass suicide (sooey-cide?) like this.  (Sorry, could not resist the dad joke there).

As a result the people asked Jesus to leave.  They begged Him to depart, entreating Him to go back the way He came.  Again, Jesus answered their prayers.  

Jesus' encounter with the newly converted disciple

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged Him that he might be with Him.  And He did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you."  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.  --Mark 5:18-20

The prayer of the man who had been delivered from evil is an anomaly, because his prayer was not answered in the affirmative like all the others.  Jesus had said yes to the leper, and had healed him.  He said yes to the ruler of the synagogue and raised his daughter from the dead.  He said yes to the crowds who begged him for healing.  He said yes to the deaf man who wanted to hear.  He said yes to the blind person who wanted their sight.

What about this man?  He had been delivered from demons.  He no longer wanted to live among the tombs.  He did not want to spend his time cutting himself and crying out.  What did he want? What was his prayer?  He begged Jesus to be a disciple, a close follower.  He wanted to get on the boat with Jesus and go back with Him to Galilee.  He wanted to sit at Jesus' feet, to hear His words, to learn from Him.

All of these were reasonable requests.  Nevertheless, Jesus said no.  Jesus would not allow the man to get into His boat.  He would not let the man walk beside Him, to be physically present with Him.  Instead, Jesus asked the man to become a missionary for Him to the Decapolis.  He was to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus to his friends and family there where he lived.

Applications

Jesus hears our prayers, and He answers them.  Sometimes, the answer is no, not because He does not hear us, but because He wants us to go a different direction.  In Genesis 18:16-33, Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, but God destroyed those cities anyway.  Did Abraham stop praying to God when that happened? No, of course not.  We know that God is faithful, even if our prayers are not answered in the way we want them to be. Elizabeth Elliot wrote, "Sometimes we want things we were not meant to have.  Because He loves us, the Father says no.  Faith trusts that no.  Faith is willing not to have what God is not willing to give.  Furthermore, faith does not insist upon an explanation.  It is enough to know His promises to give what is good--He knows so much more about us than we do."

We cannot get discouraged in our prayers.  Sometimes it may seem like everyone else's prayers are answered but not ours.  We see people whom we would think are unspiritual, or whose theology is different, or who seem to have no spirituality at all.  Why are they blessed and not us? Why would it appear that God is answering their prayers but not ours?  We must remember that Jesus gave permission to the demons for their requests to be answered, but that eventually they will be cast into hell (Matthew 25:41).  Not everyone who refers to Jesus as Lord will enter into heaven (Matthew 7:21).  We must remain faithful, and pray that His will be done in all things.

God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).  When I was having trouble at work last year, I prayed earnestly that I would improve, and that I could continue in my job.  As time went on and it became apparent that my performance was still not meeting expectations, I begged God to let me keep my job.  Unfortunately, I was let go.  Fortunately, by God's grace, I was given a generous severance package.  I urgently prayed that I could find a new job within a few weeks, and that the surplus severance pay could be used to pay down debt or pad my savings.  When I finally was hired, my start date was delayed, and I continued to have to draw money from the severance.  Even though my prayers were not answered in the way that I thought was best, I knew that God was providing for me.  He knows my needs; I only need to trust Him.

 

How does your garden grow?

 

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.  --English proverb

Spring is here.  Yesterday my wife and I fired up the lawnmower for the first time this season.  Soon, we may clean out the flower boxes, and take a hoe to the flower beds around our house.  We may even plant some new flowers, or try our hand at growing vegetables.

We don't normally have time or patience to have a beautiful garden.  We haven't had much luck growing our own vegetables, either; it is too time consuming and labor intensive.  We are grateful for neighbors who are able to grow beautiful flower gardens, and for farmers who are able to successfully grow vegetables.

Many of the people that Jesus came in contact with were farmers.  There was a greater connection to the land in the hills of Judea than we see in our cities today.  That's why many of the parables of Jesus dealt with sowing and growing, with feed and seed, with bearing good and bad fruit.  We see this clearly in two passages in Matthew chapter 13.  I would like for us to take a closer look at them today.

The first is called the Parable of the Sower, found in verses 3 through 9.

A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, were they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched.  And since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear.  --Matthew 13:3b-9

The first and best commentary we read on the meaning of this parable is from Jesus Himself.  The disciples asked Him to explain.  In His explanation, Jesus discusses four types of soil, which can be said to describe the hearts of those who hear the Word.

Stay off the beaten path

"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.  This is what was sown along the path." (Matthew 13:19).  Sadly, this describes most of the world today.  Matthew 7:13 says, "Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy (some manuscripts read "For the way is wide and easy") that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many."

In his commentary entitled Four Sowings and One Ripening, Alexander MacLaren wrote, "It represents the case of men whose insensibility to the word is caused by outward things having made a thoroughfare of their natures, and trodden them into incapacity to receive the message of Christ's love."  The external pressures of daily life, pleasure seeking, and even false religion have made the heart unreceptive to the Gospel.  

This verse does not only apply to the atheist and the pagan.  It can also describe a Christian whose heart has become hardened by the world.  Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you."  Sometimes God may have to plow up our lives to make us more receptive to His word.  This process of turning over the topsoil on our lives could be painful, but the results might make us more fruitful.

On an emotional level

"As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for awhile, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away." (Matthew 13:20-21).  When the topsoil is shallow, barely covering the bedrock beneath, there is no room for growth as there is no root.

We all know people whose shallow personality will allow them to latch on to any new teaching.  They seem to embrace the message of the day, but under the light of scrutiny the message dies.  MacLaren writes, "The persons meant are those of excitable temperament, whose feelings lie on the surface, and can be got at without first passing through the understanding or the conscience. Such people are easily played on by the epidemic influence of any prevalent enthusiasm or emotion, as every revival of religion shows."

True repentance is met with sorrow, not joy.  2 Corinthians 7:9-10 says, "And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (Berean Standard Bible)

Don't choke when life gets in the way

"As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."  (Matthew 13:22).   By faith Peter was able to walk on the waves (see Matthew 14:22-33), but when he saw the wind he began to sink.  Many people who sincerely believe the word and follow Christ are ineffective in their walk because of the cares of the world.

The man has strong roots, but no fruit.  MacLaren writes, "This man is, as James calls him, a 'double-minded man.' He is trying to grow both corn and thorn on the same soil. He has some religion, but not enough to make thorough work of it. He is endeavouring to ride on two horses at once. Religion says 'either—or'; he is trying 'both—and.' The human heart has only a limited amount of love and trust to give, and Christ must have it all. It has enough for one—that is, for Him; but not enough for two,—that is, for Him and the world."

As soon as Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower, He immediately told another parable to drive home the point.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  And the servants of the master of the house said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?" He said to them, "An enemy has done this." So the servants said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?" But he said, "No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'."  --Matthew 13:24-30

The second parable expands upon the first.  Jesus first speaks of the heart of man being receptive to the word of God, but being ineffective because of the nature of the "soil", that is, the internal man.  Then He zooms out with His divine camera, showing the entire field being infiltrated from external enemies who sow the weeds of distraction and discouragement.  It is the same weed--the same cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches--but this time it is introduced into the life of the poor Christian from sources outside of himself.

MacLaren writes, "He very likely does not know that the seed is choked, and that he has become unfruitful. But he is a stunted, useless Christian, with all the sap and nourishment of his soul given to his worldly position, and his religion is a poor pining growth, with blanched leaves and abortive fruit. How much of Christ's field is filled with plants of that sort!"  Whether the weeds are sown by our own wickedness or by the Devil and his demons, the effect is the same: stunted growth and diminished fruit.

The best case scenario

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in on case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matthew 13:23).  What makes the soil "good"?  It is loose soil, perhaps plowed.  It has depth, with the rocks removed, i.e. the heart softened, the stone rolled away.  And a concerted effort is made to remove weeds, as described as the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.  No quarter is given to workers of iniquity who would plant doubts or raise roadblocks.

Luke 17:1-2 says, "And he said to his disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin'."   MacLaren writes, "The result of that reception into the depths of the spirit is that he 'verily beareth fruit.' The man who receives the word is identified with the plant that springs from the seed which he receives. The life of a Christian is the result of the growth in him of a supernatural seed. He bears fruit, yet the fruit comes not from him, but from the seed sown. 'I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' Fruitfulness is the aim of the sower, and the test of the reception of the seed. If there is not fruit, manifestly there has been no real understanding of the word."

How can we apply this to our lives?  I mentioned in the beginning that many of my neighbors have prettier flower gardens than I do.  They spend more time tending to the soil, pulling weeds and keeping critters away.  I have bird feeders in my garden, which attract both birds and squirrels.  When the demon squirrels are done, there is more birdseed on the ground than in the feeders.  If left unattended, the seed that falls from the feeders sprout into weeds in my garden.  If I wanted to make my garden more beautiful, I would pull the weeds, and remove the feeders so that the squirrels would not spread bad seed among my flowers.  In the same way, if I want my life to bear more fruit and be more attractive to the unsaved, then I would feed exclusively on the Word of God; I would remove any impediments to growth that may choke out the Word; and I would not allow outside influences to introduce foreign seed into my garden.