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Burden God with Prayer
Burden God with Prayer
Asking for help is usually always associated with the negative feeling of being a burden. This mental process causes us to avoid asking someone’s aid and leaves us isolated with our problem(s). Unfortunately, this sometimes carries over into our spiritual life as well. For me at least, I fail to pray about certain things for the fear of being a burden to God. This is simply one reason why I love the Gospel of Luke - it has helped me recalibrate my understanding of Christ’s compassion and ultimately my position as the Father’s child.
In Luke 18:1-8, we are told a parable of a persistent widow. This widow approaches a judge, who, by the way, does not respect man or God, and seeks to ask for justice on her behalf. Initially the judge refused to help this widow. The widow was relentless in her pursuit toward the judge and he finally caved and granted her desire. Following the parable, Jesus tells His listeners, “will God not give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night?” How do we compare in contrast to this persistent widow?
This parable should not be understood for us to say, “let me pray for such and such that God may grant my every pursuit.” Notice a few things from this parable:
Jesus was speaking in context to encourage His disciples after His departure from this earth (17:25)
Jesus’ main point in the parable is revealed in
verse 1, “always pray and don’t lose heart”
The Widow was praying for justice, not her own monetary gain or social status
There’s much to be learned from this parable. “The formula to overcome has as much to do with dependance as it does determination.” In our pursuit to go before the throne of God, we must remember that we are never a burden to Him, but we should ask in persistence just as the widow did. It is this kind of action that exemplifies dependence on the Father.
