The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 316

Vera. o--10.-Oontinuan~ in prayer. These words of our Lord are not intended to present God to us as one that is reluctant to respond to our prayer, and t1,at, conse- quently, has to be besought and entreated with growing energy anrl ardrrnr, a.s Baal's prophets imagined to be the case with the deity they worshipped (1 Kings xviii.). Bather should we think of him as of a Divine Father who, for o"r sake, delays his answer to our prayer, in order that we may be disciplined in devotion, and in order that he may give us what we ask, with a fuller blesMing in the bestowal. I. THE FACT OF UNANSWERED PRAYER. It is a fact attested by the common, if not the universal, experience of the devout, that prayer is often presented to God without any answer being presently and consciolll!ly received. And this is not only true of prayer that is not worthy of the name-of mere sacred formalities which proceed only from the sense au.d not from the soul; it is true of genuine, spiritual devotion. Men honestly and earnestly pray God to give them bleRsings, and he withholds them. The sickness is not removed, the life not spared, the burden not lightened, the son not reclaimed, the friend not reconciled, the cause not blesRed, the wrong not stayed, the faithful not delivered; and the hearts of the people of God are filled with sorrow and dismay; the question that rises to their lips is, "How long, 0 Lord, how long dost thou not respond ? " _ II. 'l'HE MEANING OP Goo's SILENCE. 1. It may mean that we ask for the wrong hing-for that which we think will help us, but which God knows will hann us; which (he knows) will do us much more of lasting, spiritual harm than confer on as present bodily or temporal relief. 2. It may mean that we are expecting the answer in the wrong ,oay. Like Naaman, we may have laid down, in our own thought, the precise way in which God is to help or heal us, and it may be with us, as it was with him, that God is purposing to respond in another way altogether-perhaps by some simple means (as in his case), which we are disposed to consider unworthy of the occasion; perhaps by some way in which we shall be taught a lesson in humility or in some other grace. 3. It may mean that we are expecting the answer at the wrong time, much sooner than it would be wise for God to give it, or well for us to receive it. 111. THE REWARD OF CONTINUANCE IN PRAYEB. We find, as our Lord teaches us In the parable, that while our friend will not always give us our request at once, yet he will grant it if we do but persevere (ver. 8). And so with our Divine Friend; he may not answer our prayer at once ; he may delay long to respond to us. He may know that if we received immediately everything we desired of him, we should become unduly confident or be otherwise injuriously affected. He may know and may wiAh us to learn by disciplinary experience that " Hie help ilr nlwe.ye sure, His methods seldom guessed ; Dele.y will make 0lll' pleasure pure. Slll'priee will give it zest." But sooner or later, in one way or in another, in his own good time, God will reward our persevering prayer with his effectual blessing. We must ask, and go on asking, and we shall certainly receive; must knock, and go on knocking, at the door of his mercy and hie power, and it will assuredly be opened to us. This will be founu in our seeking: 1. Conscious and joyou8 acceptance with God through faith in Jesus Christ. 2. Our spiritual growth. 3, Our U11efulness in that especial sphere in which we are engaged for him.-O. Ve?L 11-13.-The argument J,-om the human fatherhood to the Divine. Jesus Chril!t revealed the Father to men, and he revealed him as the Father of men. He taught us to address him as such (ver. 2), and to feel toward him as such. lie woulc. 321 TTIE GOSI'EL ACCORDTNG TO ST LUKE. [c11. xt. l--B4. - - -- ------------------ hnYe u~ rc~li:,;e that Gc><l strnt.ainA to_ us a re)ntionship very closely Indeed correspondin~ to thnt "·l11c-h a human father smtnms to bis child. In thll text be teaches ue that thie nnnlog:, is so clo~c And so real that we may draw practical inferences from the lower to the higher one. The particular conclusion which our Lord draws le- I. FROM OUR GIYINO TO RIB. No human father would give hie son a stone when appl'al we.a _made _to hrn! for bread, eto.; would put him off with a response which would only be a bitter d1~e.pporntment. Such a one would be not only an exception to his kind, but would be guilty of an act that would be simply monstrous in general regard. If, then, we, "being evil," cannot withhold "good gifts" from our children, how much less will the heavenly Father deny his blessings to us, his sons and daughters I What we, with our finit.e and limitt>d love, could not refnse, it is certain that he, in his intinitB good_ness and boundless pity, will readily bestow. 'l.'here are two blessings which we particularly want. of God our heavenly Father-provision for our temporal well-being, and su.ccour for our soul. \Ve cannot live without these. Our bodily nature cravee the one, our spiritual nature needs the other. Bread we must have, and all that" bread" stands for, that we may live happily and serviceably 1\8 those that tread the path of mortal life. But " man cannot live on bread alone; " he needs those higher and holier gifts which nourish the soul, which feed the flame of piety and zeal, which strengthen him for spiritual conflict, and give him the victory over his worst enemies, For these two great blessings we may confi,lently ask God, and he will assuredly grant them. It is much more certain that God our Father will provide for our real necessities, an<l will strengthen our souls with all needful Divine influences, than it is certain that the kindest human father will not mock hie beloved children when they appeal for his bounty. With holy boldness, then, may we go to the throne of grace, and pray for all those things that are requisite- alike for the body as for the soul. But we may carry this argument with which our Lord has supplied us into other spheres, and may th\18 " assure our hearts " concerning hirn. II. Fno11 OUR FORGIVING TO HIS. We may have a difficulty in realizing the great truth that God is willing to forgive us a.II our sin and to reinstate us fully in bis favour. But if as sons we have been forgiven by our parents, or if as parents we have forgiven our children and taken them back into the fulness of our favour, we may argue safely from the human fatherhood to the Divine. If we, "being evil," with such small and scanty magnanimity as we possess, can forgive freely, how much more can be-he whose ways of mercy are as much higher than ours as the heaven is higher than the earth I m. Fno11 oua GUIDANCE TO ms. How impossible it is for any of us that is a father to refuse guidance to one of our children when he comes to ask it of us I Only the most heartless, the most unfatherly, could think of declining it. And since that is so with us, in all our human imperfection, how positive it is that the Divine Father will guide us by the shaping of his providence, or by the prompting of bis Spirit, when we see not our way, but make known our request unto him to " lead us all our journer: through" I IV. Fao11 oUR SOLICITUDE TO HIS. One of the very greatest questions we pro- pose to ourselves is this-Does God care enough for each one of us to renew our life in another realm when we leave this world? Jesus Christ's declaration is the answer to this question (John v. 24-29). But we find strong, reassuring help here. How much do we care for the continuance of the life of our children? How much do we not care? What words will express our parental solicitude that death should not strike them down, that they should live, and that their life should be large, free, blessed? If that is our concern for them, what will not God our Father desire for us? What will be not care tbat we do not perish iu the arms of death, but have everlasting life in the embrace of his own heavenly love ?-C. Ver. 20.-<Jhrutimnity the benl,gna,nt power. Lasting p01DM' shows solid worth. The corrupt empire fells; the false system is exploded; the demoralizing custom is discarded. That which, under all changes, shows itself strong and enduring, is proved to be sound and good. But add the element of benignity. Jesus Christ adduces his beneficent power in the expulsion of evil spirits from the bodies of men as a convincin_g evidonce of the Divine presence; that beinit done, "no doubt the kingdom of God 18 euwc." Puwer for good, for healing, for restoring, for tro.n1forming, auch rower con- OR. u. 1-64.) TilE GOSPEL ACCOilDING TO ST. LUKE. 821