Lesson Two: Your Prayer Has Been Heard

DO NOT FEAR SERIES LESSON TWO YOUR PRAYER HAS BEEN HEARD

Luke 1:5-25

QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1) Why do we pray? What is the purpose of prayer? 2) If God already knows what we need, why pray? 3) What does it say to me when my prayers don’t seem to be answered, or not answered in the way that I ask? 4) Do my prayers affect world events or world politics?

INTRODUCTION

The passage of Scripture that we are considering today is the announcement the angel brought to the priest Zechariah of the coming birth of a son who would eventually become known as John the Baptist. Before we consider the story of John’s birth, we will jump ahead to look at an overview of John’s life and ministry. His own teaching on the subject of prayer will help us understand how God answered the prayer of his parents. A relative of Jesus, John the Baptist will be the “set-up man” for the ministry of Jesus. in the spirit of the prophet Elijah, John will begin a ministry that foreshadows the work of Jesus, and that carries forward the message of the Old Testament prophets in several ways: their emphasis on a humble and contrite spirit, and their focus on service to the poor as a sign of true righteousness. First, God will only respond to a person with the proper attitude. A humble and repentant spirit is required of one who would be accepted as righteous in the eyes of God. in the spirit of the former prophets, John challenged his hearers by attacking their heritage as israelites, or members of God’s chosen people. He made it clear that God didn’t need them; He could create a chosen race out of the rocks that they walked on every day. in fact, as so many prophets had spoken in their past, John proclaimed that the ax of God’s judgment was already being prepared to cut down those trees (the people of israel) that failed to produce fruit (righteousness as defined by God). John’s point is that they need God’s help, not the other way around. Second, John emphasized that an attitude of repentance is only the first half of what is required of God to be righteous; it must be accompanied by a lifestyle of righteous living. A righteous heart will bear fruit that is visible in the life that is lived out in culture. This thought is at the heart of John’s message to those who came for baptism. His challenge to those who came to him looking for help was to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Luke 3:8) As Luke describes the ministry of John, he tells us that the crowds were so moved by his powerful rhetoric that they asked him what they needed to do to receive the benefits of God’s mercy. Like the prophets of old, John called them to a life of service to the poor: Share clothing and food with those who need them, don’t cheat in their businesses (specifically tax collecting), and don’t extort money when you have power over others (especially those who were soldiers). (Luke 3: 11-14) John was confronting two of the power groups in Palestine at this time, the soldiers of Rome and the Jewish tax collectors being paid by Rome. Returning to the distinctive marks of the ministry of John, in addition to repentance and righteous treatment of the poor we see an emphasis on baptism. Although Christianity would later adopt this practice as a sacrament of faith in Christ, John apparently saw it simply as symbolic of washing away the transgressions of one’s life prior to repentance. in Matthew 3, we are told that people were being “baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (3:6) Luke calls it a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3) in Matthew 3, verse 11, John himself described the purpose: “i baptize you with water for repentance.”3 Thus, we can observe in the Gospels that John the Baptist was a powerful preacher, who had a significant impact on the people that heard him speak, across all strata of society, both Jewish and Gentile. it is this very John the Baptist who the Angel promises will be born to Elizabeth and Zachariah in Luke 1. So, let us go back and look more closely at the encounter Zechariah has with the Angel.

THE ANGELIC ENCOUNTER

in opening paragraph of this chapter, we are told that King Herod is the ruler in Palestine under the overall authority of Rome. This is a position that he inherited from his father, Agrippa, who had been granted Palestine in recognition of his service to Julius Caesar and the Roman General Pompey. We learn that Zechariah is a priest, and not only that, but his wife Elizabeth is also a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses whose line has always supplied the position of High Priest. These individuals were well placed in the religious traditions of Judaism. Luke tells us further that they were not only well placed genetically, but that they

were righteous people who lived “blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.” (1:6) And then, the dreadful word, “but,” is added – “but they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren.” Children were exceptionally important to the israelites. We see this throughout their history beginning with the Patriarchs and moving down through the line running from Abraham. The pattern of the story of Sarah and the coming of isaac is repeated in the history of the birth of Samson the Judge, and the story of Hannah and her son Samuel, the Prophet. The belief that having children was a sign of blessing is also brought out in writings like the Proverbs, where not only having children, but having many children is seen to be the best of all worlds. We see this logic clearly in Psalm 127. “Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” Not only is the birth of sons seen as a great blessing but having many of them is a source of great happiness. The reference to arrows in the hands of a warrior is a clear metaphor to the capacity to make a difference in society. Thus, not having children was considered a sign that the blessing of God was not on the barren family. it caused both sadness and embarrassment if a couple was unable to bear children. in the case of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, it presented an opportunity for her servant to become haughty and overbearing to the woman who was her master. So, the context of the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is that they had prayed for a child for years, and they had grown old feeling that for some reason God had considered them unworthy of his blessing. Now, Zechariah is in the sanctuary of God performing the duties of a priest, having been randomly chosen by lot to work on that occasion. However, this time everything is different – this time he meets an Angel. As he is preparing to offer incense to the Lord on behalf of the congregation, he saw an Angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. He was terrified.4 The Angel told him not to be afraid, and then made a strange statement: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard.” (1:13) What was the prayer that they had prayed? Clearly, they had been petitioning God to let them get pregnant. Now they were old, and though righteous in God’s eyes, they were unable to have children. Thus, the words of the angel must have been incredibly confusing – your prayer has been heard, and your wife is going to bear you a son, and you need to name him, John. The angel added that their son would be great in the eyes of God; he was to be a Nazirite from birth and would be filled with God’s Spirit even before he was born. His job was already decided for him: he was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, and he would have the power of Elijah to fulfill that task. His message would reunite parents to children, help the disobedient become righteous, and make people ready for the coming of the Lord. (1:17) We can imagine that this message was a lot to take in for an old man who had lived for decades with the impression that God had either not heard his prayers or turned his request down, so we might understand him expressing doubts. Zechariah, conscious of the gravity of this miracle, asks how he can be sure that this is going to happen. Several things happen in response to his questioning. First, the angel is named. Angels are rarely named in Scripture, but in this case, we are given the name of the messenger. in his opening statement to Zechariah, the angel identifies himself as Gabriel, and identifies his position in the heavenly kingdom as an angel who stands in the presence of God. (1:19) in verse 26, when we are told that the “angel Gabriel was sent by God” to inform Mary that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah. The implication is that Gabriel is a messenger of God. This is further underscored by the first appearance of Gabriel in Scripture in the book of Daniel. After Daniel has a particularly confusing vision, a human figure suddenly appears before him, and Daniel hears a voice say: “Gabriel, help this man understand the vision.” (Daniel 8:16) As the figure approached him, Daniel became overcome with fear (a common response to angels). This heavenly figure then interprets the dream to Daniel. One other angel is mentioned by name in the New Testament (possibly in the Old), and that is the Angel Michael. in Jude 1:9, for example, we are told that the devil and the Archangel Michael contended over the body of Moses. The fact that he is identified as an Archangel has led to speculation that there might be a hierarchy of angels in the heavenly realms, each with certain degrees of responsibility. Paul, in the fourth chapter of his first letter to the Thessalonians says that the trumpet announcing the return of Christ for his Church will be blown by an archangel, but no name is given. (i Thessalonians 4:16) We are also told in the book of Revelation that Michael and his angels fight a great battle against the dragon (the devil) and his angels. in Daniel there are several references (Daniel 10 and 12) to a Prince named Michael; and the language of the passages seem to indicate that this figure is more than just an earthly prince. The existence of large numbers of angels is confirmed by several different passages in Scripture, but we only get to know two of these helpers of God by name: Gabriel and Michael. One of these is named in the story that we are studying today, which further underscores the significance of this event.5 Secondly, Zechariah pays a price for his lack of faith. Now, i suspect that most of us would have a similar reaction to Zechariah were we to have the same experience. Our natural reaction, even in the presence of an angelic messenger, would likely be, “how can i be sure that what you say is really going to happen?” Perhaps we would even wonder to ourselves whether this was some sort of dream or hallucination. The fact that Zechariah and Elizabeth were well beyond child-bearing years might cause him to wonder how even God could make something like this happen. Maybe, like so many people in our day and time, he thought that the days when miracles could occur on this level were long gone – they

4 NOTE FOR DISCUSSION: what is the proper perspective that we should take towards Angels? Should we see them as little babies flying around or should we see them as mighty warriors of the Lord, ready to do battle on behalf of God. Are they at work assisting Christians, or merely messengers of God? Why were people always terrified when they saw them? 5 NOTE: Scripture also describes fallen angels and their leader, Satan/the Devil. This is not the time or place to pursue that information; perhaps on another occasion.

only took place in the days of the Patriarchs like Abraham and Moses, or the Prophets like Elijah and Elisha. Whatever the reason for his hesitation might have been, the angel him that the sign that will prove his words true is that Zechariah will be unable to speak for nine months until the baby is born. Meanwhile, on the outside, the crowd waiting for him to complete his priestly duties were probably concerned that he was taking so long, and were likely relieved when he returned, but then confused by his loss of the power to speak. They understood that he had seen a vision but were unclear what it all meant. Zechariah, we are told, continued his time of allotted service, and then returned home to be with his wife.

YOUR PRAYER HAS BEEN HEARD

We will focus our consideration for the rest of this lesson on the matter of prayer that arises during this story. As we noted earlier, by the time the angel arrives to tell Zechariah that his prayer has been heard, he and his wife are not in the baby-making business; they are way too old to have children from their own bodies. The context seems to tell us that they were no longer praying this pray: “For i am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” The word he uses relating to Elizabeth is probabekooia, which literally means to “walk forward or go on,” meaning that she had gone down the road of life well beyond the time of birthing children. For Zechariah and Elizabeth, the answer to their prayer had been ‘no,’ and they had apparently made their peace with it. However, timing is everything, and two types of “hearing of prayers” by God are evident in this story. God is all-powerful (omnipotent), everywhere existing (omnipresent), and all-knowing (omniscient), so the prayer that Zechariah and Elizabeth offered up when they were younger was “heard” by God when it was first prayed. Yet now their prayer is heard in a second way: it has now been addressed and responded to by God in an outwardly manifest way. So, perhaps there is a deeper sense to having God hear our prayers than simply getting an answer. We can see this from how prayer is depicted elsewhere in Scripture.

THE PATTERN OF PRAYER IN SCRIPTURE

in scripture, prayer is a commonplace occurrence, and there are patterns associated with the practice.

Prayer is Commanded for Us

The first thing that we see is that God expects us to pray! in Psalm 122, David tells his readers (the people of israel) to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Here we see that the King believes that the people must join the king in praying for peace and prosperity in the holy city. in Samuel’s last address to the people of israel after they had begged God to give them a king, Samuel tells them that this was a terrible mistake, and that God’s judgment will come upon them because of it. Nevertheless, he says, “Moreover as for me, far be it from me that i should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and i will instruct you in the good and the right way.” (1 Samuel 12:23) Here are two leaders that both implore people to pray, and model it in themselves. Prayer is just a part of who they are as God’s followers. in the New Testament, the expectation of prayer is continued. Paul tells the believers in Rome to “be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) He tells the Christians in Ephesus that they should “pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18) So, not only should they be praying all the time, but specifically, they should be praying to God on behalf of his followers. This latter point is taken up again in Paul’s letters to Timothy, where he urges him to make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” (1 Timothy 2:1) on behalf of everyone, and especially for all rulers and people who occupy high places in society. To the Thessalonians, Paul says to “pray without ceasing” (i Thessalonians 5:17), and the Colossians should “continue steadfastly in prayer,” (Colossians 4:2) with thanksgiving. To the Philippians, Paul even gives a model of how the prayer cycle should look. He writes: “Do not worry about anything,” he says, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) Notice the pattern here: if we are worried or anxious then we need to pray and make request to God in a spirit of thanksgiving, and God’s peace will be the result. Paul notes for them that when God’s peace comes, it will guard our hearts (emotions) and minds (thoughts) – the very sources of our anxiety. However, there is no guarantee to us that God will “hear” our prayers in the sense of giving us what we want. We need no longer fear the things that have troubled us, not because we will automatically receive our request but because God’s peace guards us.

Prayer Is Modeled For Us

Not only are we taught, and even commanded, to pray, we also see examples in scripture of prayer being lived out. in the Psalms, prayer is expressed as a constant, ongoing conversation with God. in Psalm 5, the psalmist says that he begins early in the morning: “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning i plead my case to you, and watch.” (5:3) in Psalm 55, the writer says that he cries out his complaint in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. (55:17) in Psalm 141:2, the writer asks God to view his prayers as “incense” before his throne. Jesus himself was a great model for the importance of prayer. in the Gospel of Mark, we are told that Jesus “rose up early, while it was still dark, and made his way to a place where he could pray.” (Mark 1:35) Luke tells us that on one occasion he went up on a mountain and there prayed all night long. (Luke 6:12) Jesus tells Peter that he is praying for him so that his faith won’t fail. (Luke 22:31) Later in the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, the writer goes so far as to note that “in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5:7) The early days of the church saw the Christ-followers focused on prayer as part of their daily walk. After leaving the mount where

Jesus ascends to heaven, we are told that the disciples spent their days “devoted to prayer,” and among those praying were “Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.” (Acts 1:14)6 After Pentecost, and the conversion of over 3,000 new followers of Jesus, we are told that the followers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.” (Acts 2:42) And later, when Peter was imprisoned for standing up to the Jewish leadership, earnest prayers made to God on his behalf result in his being freed from the prison by an angel of God. (Acts 12:5) And finally, Paul constantly mentions to the churches to whom he writes that he is praying for them. in the first chapter of Colossians, for example, he says that “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3) The way that this statement is made indicates that this is a pattern that Paul repeats on a regular basis.

HOW TO PRAY

Hopefully, it has become obvious that prayer is a part of the Christian’s life that should not be ignored or devalued. Remember that the angel told Zechariah not to fear because his prayer had been answered. How does prayer remove fear?

Prayer and Relationship

Let me begin with perhaps the most important point to remember. Prayer requests should have nothing to do with the quality of my relationship with the Lord! To say that again in a different way: when i request something in prayer, it is part of having a normal relationship with God, but it should not affect the quality of that relationship. To illustrate, my conversations with my wife are a common part of having a relationship with her. if we didn’t talk at all, then the quality of our relationship would be damaged. However, any requests that i make of her are not the basis of my love for her. That love is built on other factors that are only enhanced by our communications with each other. My commitment to her is absolute, regardless of the outcome of our communication. My trust of her is 100 percent, no matter how many times she does or doesn’t do what i ask her to do. Sadly, many followers of Jesus hinge their relationship with him on the way he does or does not answer their prayers. You’ve heard people ask, “how can a loving God not answer my prayer?” Or, “God doesn’t answer prayer; if he did, he would not have let that happen!” Or, perhaps: “i can’t follow a God who let’s things like that happen, especially when everyone was praying that it wouldn’t.” Can you see the pattern? The relationship in each example is tied to the results of prayer. We cannot enter prayer with that kind of understanding. First, we should be more conscious of who it is we are praying to, the God Almighty, Creator of the Universe, not our neighbor next door. As an individual human being, i have no coercive power over God at all! As God told isaiah, “The nations are like drops in a bucket to me,” so how can i hurt God by pouting and telling him i am mad at him for not doing what i determined is right for him to do? Did he not also say, “my ways are not your ways; my thoughts are not your thoughts?” i can’t see past the present that i am experiencing right now, and yet God knows the past, present, and future as one point in time. How then can i tell God what is best for me, my friends, or my loved ones (or even my enemies, for that matter)? i am trying to make this point as strongly as i can: when i pray for God’s help, i should enter into this prayer with boldness (as He tells us to do), but i should enter into it with absolute trust, and with the understanding that no matter what transpires after i pray, i will still be absolutely committed to my God (no matter what). if i get what i am praying for, then praise the Lord – what a great blessing. if i don’t get what i want, then praise the Lord – what a great blessing to know that God will take care of these issues according to what is best for all concerned. My relationship is secure in Christ regardless of the results of my prayers. Now, having established this prior understanding, we can look at the way the scriptures teach us to pray.

Prayer and Sin

First, our prayers can be hindered by impurity or sin in our lives. in Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector who go to pray. The Pharisee prays with a sense of arrogance and pride, and God rejects his prayer. The Tax Collector, on the other hand, comes before the Lord fully aware of his weaknesses and failures and asks for mercy, and God comes close to him. The writer of Proverbs says that “the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” (15:29) in isaiah 59, we are told that the Lord can readily hear our prayers and easily save us out of our troubles, but, as he puts it: “your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” (isaiah 59:1-2) in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the people that if they pray like the hypocrites who pray for show and public praise, or like the Gentiles who think that pretty prayers and empty words are the way to go, then they can expect the reward of public praise but God will ignore their prayers. (Matthew 6:5-8) James tells us that when our motives are wrong, our prayers are hampered. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3) His point is that when our motivation is “all about us,” then God may not give us what we ask for because he knows it would not be best. This then is a matter of trust on our part: He ultimately knows best. in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that when we pray, we are first to forgive if we have anything against anyone. A lack of forgiveness will prevent our own forgiveness from God which will then impact God hearing and responding to our requests. in fact, Romans 8 tells us that we often don’t know what we should be praying for, and that the Spirit is interceding on our behalf. This does not mean that the Spirit is praying in unison with our requests. The Spirit is praying for what is best for us, not according to what we are thinking, but according to what the Spirit is thinking. (Romans 8:26-28) The model prayer taught to us by Jesus has little about personal wants or wishes. He

focuses instead on our relationship with God and each other: “let your kingdom be on earth like it is in heaven; forgive us like we forgive others; give us our daily sustenance; and protect us from temptation.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Prayer and Boldness

Second, the scriptures do tell us to ask with boldness. Jesus said that if we ask in faith, we will receive. (Matthew 21:21-22) in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that whatever we ask in his name we will receive. (John 14:13-14) in Matthew, Jesus says that if two agree on anything they ask, it will be done. (Matthew 18:19-20) This idea is repeated on a number of different occasions. Although this sounds like Jesus is giving us a blank check, this is not his intent at all. in John’s first letter he addresses this point in a different way: “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (i John 5:14) That phrase, “according to his will,” must be prioritized in our understanding of answered prayer. if we pair this point with the teaching James mentioned previously about not asking with wrong motives, then we see that our boldness in prayer is not being bold to ask for our own will, but being bold to ask for things that will advance God’s will and His kingdom.

Prayer and Persistent Faith

Lastly, Jesus talked about praying with persistence on several different occasions. in Luke’s Gospel, for example, we are treated to two different perspectives on prayer. in Luke 11:2-4, Jesus gives to the Apostles the model prayer that we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” He follows up the model prayer whose focus is on praise of God and desire for his Kingdom to come on earth with a parable about the need for perseverance in prayer in verses 5 to 13. He says that a certain individual has a friend who shows up at their house at midnight, and they have no food to offer the visitor. The homeowner then goes to another friend’s house and knocks on his door to see if they will loan them some bread. Because of the lateness of the hour, the friend is in bed and says that he can’t get up to do anything for him. The homeowner continues to ask for help until the friend eventually gets out of bed and helps him out. Jesus then makes the application that if we ask, seek, and knock, God will respond to our requests. He notes that if we give good gifts to our physical children, then we can expect a good God to do the same for his spiritual children. Note that the gift that Jesus says that God will give is the Holy Spirit, not a blank check for our wish list. A little later, Luke tells us that Jesus gave another teaching on the need for persistence in prayer, and began this teaching with another interesting parable. He tells of a judge who lived in a certain city and who “neither feared God nor had respect for people.” (Luke 18:2) A widow, who had evidently been treated unjustly, begins coming to him to get justice for her situation. For a time, he refused, but eventually he yielded to her request and gave her what she wanted. He did this because she had worn him down with her requests. Jesus then makes the application by saying that, in a similar sense, God will bring justice to his “chosen ones who cry to him day and night.” (18:7) Unlike the evil judge, God does care and have respect for people, but He nevertheless expects His people to partner with Him in seeing justice come on earth through persistent prayer. Here again, the prayer being answered is not a petty request but a desire for justice that aligns with God’s righteous character. At the end of the parable, moreover, Jesus asks: “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18: 8) This comment seems to tie together both our perseverance in prayer with our faith, and thus the structure of prayer requests is built both on God’s loving response to our persistence and the degree to which our faith will impact our prayers. By connecting this passage with the point Jesus makes about faith the size of a mustard seed being able to cast mountains into the sea, we find ourselves challenged to increase our faith if we are failing to pray with persistence against the mountains of injustice in our own day.

CONCLUSION

in this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, even though it seemed an impossible prayer to answer, the Lord did a miracle in their lives. When we are haunted by the question, “is God listening to my prayer,” their story reminds us that we need not fear because the “Lord has heard our prayer.” We have seen that “hearing our prayer” reflects both the receiving of our requests or words, and the response that God gives to them, which may not be evident to us until much later. Prayer is more than merely making requests so that we can get what we want. Though God is fully aware of every human’s needs, his response is intermingled with our own. Our attitude and motivations, for example, are involved in how our prayers are heard, and even more critically, purity of heart and life have a profound impact on God’s response. John the Baptist, the child who was conceived as a result of this supernatural answered prayer, emphasized the importance of repentance, humility, and right actions or “fruit in keeping with repentance” when coming before God. in John’s ministry and in Jesus’s, both tax collectors and soldiers were coming for healing, reminding us that anyone with the proper attitude is welcome at the table of Christ Jesus. God wants and expects us to pray, and to pray boldly and persistently with faith. For the Christian, prayer should come as naturally as breathing. Prayer arises out of our relationship with God, and should represent a constant communion with the Lord. As we walk in that relationship, we come to know the character and will of God, so that we can ask for things that align with his nature. Finally, it is equally obvious in Scripture that the Lord expects us to persist in our prayers. Jesus emphasized this on several occasions. Our faith should remain strong regardless of how God responds to our requests, because we know that He hears us, loves us, and will ultimately do what is best for us. This confidence in God releases us from the grip of fear. As Paul told the Philippians, when we offer our worries to God, our hearts and minds are guarded, and we become better able to continue praying with faith. All fear is gone because we can trust that whatever answer we receive comes from a God who loves us no matter what. Such love means that he will never leave us or forsake us, and we can be assured that we are “heard” by One who is for us, not against us.