The Pleasure Of Prayer Series

One of life's greatest pleasures is the pleasure of answered prayer.

But the pleasure of one can be the pain of another. Dick Van Dyke

tells some funny stories about children and answers to prayer. Five

year old Mark gave a loud whistle in the middle of the pastors sermon.

His grandmother was so embarrassed. She scolded him good, and

asked why on earth he would do such a thing? He said, "I've been

praying for a long time that God would teach me to whistle, and this

morning He did." It was a pleasure to him, but a pain for others.

Another little guy felt the pleasure of prayer when he prayed for a

storm, and sure enough, the fierce wind began to bend the oak trees in

his yard. He was full of glee at being a weather-maker. But as the day

wore on, and the branches of the tree kept knocking against his

bedroom window, he became bored with it all. He ran downstairs and

asked, "How long is one prayer good for?" He was afraid that he had

ruined the weather for good, and his pleasure had turned to pain.

Prayer is filled with mysteries, not just for children, but for

theologians, and the most mature of Christians. If there are no

mysteries for you, you obviously do not pray very much. There are

probably more books on prayer than any other subject, because it is

complex, and there are dozens of different aspects that authors seek to

explore. It you have some puzzling problems with prayer, don't feel

alone. The puzzles run through the Psalms, and all through history.

The cry of why is often heard. Why in the world does God not hear

my prayer and answer? Sometimes prayer even makes God angry.

We assume that prayer is always good, but not so. It is sometimes

offensive to God. In Psa. 80:4 we read, "O Lord God Almighty, how

long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?"

Whoever heard of praying that God would forgive us for our prayers?

The implication is, believer's can use prayer as a gimmick to get God

to help us achiever very self-centered goals that may have nothing to

do with His plan for our lives.

We can be life children in the toy store saying, "I want this mom,

get me this one dad, it's only twenty dollars." Like kids trying to get

all they can out of their parents, so we often come to God pleading for

one toy after another until prayer becomes a nuisance. How often have

you heard a mother scream, "This is the last time I ever bring you

shopping. If you don't stop that whining because you can't have

everything you want, you won't get anything." The poet Longfellow

had good reasons for his sharp comment on prayer. He said, "What

discord should we bring into the world if our prayers were all

answered! Then we should govern the world, and not God. And do

you think we should govern it better? It gives me only pain when I

hear the long, wearisome petitions of men asking for what they know

not."

Keep in mind that some of the old time preachers in early America

use to pray in the pulpit for anywhere from a half an hour to two

hours. It would be easy in that length of time to pray some stupid

things. But we can still be foolish in a lot less time by asking God for

what we do not understand. The disciples were praying that Jesus

would not let Himself be taken captive, and be taken to the cross. They

were praying that the whole mission of Christ would be aborted, and

the plan of salvation be averted. They felt this was the best thing, but

they were totally blind to the will of God. Fortunately for them, us,

and the whole world, God does not answer all prayer. One of the first

lessons we need to learn about prayer is, don't let unanswered prayer

stop you from praying.

It did not stop the author of Psa. 84. His prayer to be able to

worship God in the beauty of His house in Jerusalem was not yet

answered. He looked with envy on the birds who could be there when

he was still far off in exile. It was not fair that birds could be there and

not him. Things are not always to his liking. Even if he gets there he

has to pass through the valley of Baca, a dry barren desert. Life is just

one challenge after another, but this pilgrim does not give up and

throw in the towel. He pleads for God to hear his prayer in verse 8.