Message #13 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"The Deeper Life of Prayer"

by Kaye Johns

Jesus taught His disciples to be thoughtful and bold in prayer, through the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18. The widow kept coming to the judge for justice, and repeatedly he turned her down. Finally he said, "I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!" [Luke 18:2-5]

This parable reminds me of a verse from Isaiah: "‘Present your case,’ says the Lord. ‘Set forth your arguments....’" [Isaiah 41:21] And of this from Job, "If only I knew where to find [the Lord], I would go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him....’" [Job 23:3-4]

Does that describe our prayer lives? Do we present our case before the Lord? Set forth our arguments? It isn’t difficult to do. We examine our lives to make certain there is no hindrance to our prayers, and we remind the Lord that we come in the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask for something in line with His character and His nature. We acknowledge that it would be in agreement with His revealed will, and we hold up a promise that will be fulfilled. We remind the Lord of the times He has answered a similar prayer in the past, and we ask Him to do it again.

Jesus was emphasizing a dimension of prayer that is open to all His disciples. But it is not for the faint-hearted, or the ill-prepared.

Pray with me now -- Lord, teach us how to present our case before You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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