Mark 11 - Prayer

The atmosphere is electric as Jesus rides into Jerusalem… people are cheering, waving palm branches shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Jesus strides into the temple where moneychangers and merchants are selling their wares. He overthrows the tables and chases them out shouting, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people!”

He elaborates on prayer the next day with his disciples. Five elements stand out. Have faith in God. Do not doubt in your heart. Believe. Forgive others so God will forgive you. Receive answers.

Remember, Mark’s premise in 1:1 was that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God. So look again at this picture.

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. At least one astute Pharisee should have had a bell ringing in his head because that was a messianic prophecy from Zechariah. The shouts coming from the people were a direct quote of Psalm 118. He goes into the temple like he owns it, throws out those who did not belong there and announces God’s purpose for his house…. prayer, not an open air market.

Acts like he’s God Himself doesn’t He.

He then begins teaching them about prayer with the statement, “Have faith in God.” If you were to use two words to describe the heart of God’s message to man throughout history I personally believe it is “trust me.” Just trust me. Have faith in me. A thesaurus defines faith as confidence, trust, reliance, assurance, conviction. This is not one foot in and one foot out. If a guide says, “I can take you safely down the Chattooga (which has Class IV-VI rapids) in a raft,” to hop in, you have to have faith that he can and will. You can’t go down the river with one foot in the raft and one on shore. What helps is if he has taken you or someone you know, safely down that river 20 times in the past in all kinds of weather, in the worst of conditions. If his record is stellar.

The difference is in whom I’m placing my trust. I have faith in you, I trust you, God, because I believe you are God and as God know the beginning from the end, have a plan, have the power to execute that plan, know me intimately, loved me enough to die for me so I can be in relationship with you. This means we talk, we communicate. On that basis…I trust you, my faith is in you. I cash in all my chips, both feet are in the raft. Eyes on you.

The second is I believe. And not only in my head but in my heart. We all parrot knowledge lodged in our heads from years of indoctrination. But when you have to get in a raft….that’s another thing.

Wrapped up in belief is being convinced God has a plan, a will and it’s the best course of action regardless if it makes sense to me or not.

I don’t know about you, but with most dilemmas, mine or someone else’s, give me a couple of minutes and I can come up with a plan. In detail. And I think it’s usually pretty good. So God’s biggest hurdle is to get me to abandon my plan, turn completely around, look at his and then embrace his. Sorry to say, that usually takes time. I go from 0 to 60 very slowly. My goal is for him to say, “No, this is my plan,” and I immediately drop everything, turn completely around, embrace his plan and sprint in the direction he points me in. Because….I believe him, I trust him.

Since I don’t know the big scope of things, I sometimes run through 1 John 5:13-15. You never camp on one verse. You always look at the whole counsel of God…all that he says about a subject, and this verse is a great start.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked for.”

If I ask anything…according to his will, he hears and grants the request. Key is … according to his will.

Over the years, there have been times that I have been absolutely SURE that what I was asking was dead center what he wanted too but as time went by, my thoughts and my feelings began to shift. I began to question whether it was such a good idea or not, if it was the right time, the right place, if it was the right person. Given time I might change my mind completely. I began to line up with him.

Prayer draws me into God’s perfect will. The time you spend with him, lines you up with the way he is thinking. We can always confidently say….he hears us. He has not missed one word. But as I begin to listen, I hear him, his will, his way.

One huge thing I’ve learned is that God is not on my time schedule. I pray at 6, expect a total change by 9. Same day. He moves slowly. But when he acts, it is with lightening speed.

Jesus last admonition was forgiveness. We are to forgive others. This is unqualified. It’s not forgive unless….unless they hurt your feelings, raped your daughter, ran off with your husband, took all your money. It’s forgive, period. So that your Father who is in heaven, may forgive you of your sins. If you want the lines to be open, communication to flow freely, confession of your sins must precede this prayer. Active or passive. Attitudes or actions. And then forgive those who have wronged you.

“Have faith in God,” he began. Critical to that kind of faith, is a relationship.