Learning to pray

Mark 11:12-14 ESV

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.

Mark 11:20-25 ESV

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered." And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."

Rev. David Skinner

The problem with prayer is that sometimes it works. Other times, it seems that nothing happens. Now, we know God is sovereign. He's in control. But, honestly, we wish that God would work more on our timeline, our agenda. But that's not how it works, evidently. Not only is prayer frustrating. God is often frustrating.

So, we come to our passage. The fig tree represents the Jewish religion. Jesus is come to replace the Jewish religious tradition. He comes in the footsteps of Melchizedek: king, priest, and prophet. But Jesus does not respond that way to his disciples. He talks about prayer.

Pray unceasingly

So what can we take from this? Jesus prays unceasingly. We often speak out of frustration. But that would not make sense for Jesus. So in this case, Jesus is not making an offhand comment. He is speaking to God. He is talking about how the Jewish system will wither. The story here is about hypocrites. The fig tree looked good, but there was no fruit. The illustration is one of those who look good on the outside, but produce no righteousness. Jesus only acts as the Father wills. How does this work? Jesus is constantly speaking with God; in constant communion with God.

In order to pray unceasingly, we must treasure God.

We pray without ceasing when we treasure God. When we have people we love, we are constantly consider them in our minds. So it is to pray without ceasing. Jesus's joy is in relationship with God, the Father. Jesus wants God in every area of his life.

We also must constantly know our need

We also pray without ceasing when we realize our need of God. Prayer comes from those who hope in God. Being in the wrong, in trouble, in need is the basic state of those who pray constantly. We are constantly in need. Do we feel the need for Him in our lives? It is when we are vigilant and conscious of our constant need that we will pray consistently.

Pray without skepticism

Can we pray believing He will give it? Aren't we always thinking God would maybe answer? We are constantly wondering. We need some more scriptural context.

James 4:2b-3 ESV

...You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Bring our broken things to God.

Compared to God, we are foolish, powerless, and weak.  So we need to ask. Place your faith and hope in God. That is what we need to do. We need to hand over those broken things in our lives. And we need to do it without skepticism.

Bring your precious things to Jesus

Hand over our schedules. Our jobs. Our dreams to save thousands. Our dreams to be a perfect parent. Our grandest desires. When we've placed those in His hand, then we can desire what God wants. We hand over our agenda and receive His in return. We seek His kingdom instead of our own. Then and only then will we pray for God's passion rather than for our own.

Pray with forgiveness

As we pray asking for forgiveness from Him, we get a heart that wants to forgive others. Because when we see how God had paid for us, we desire it for others. Seeing the depth and breadth of God's forgiveness of our sins against Him.

Forgiveness is:
1. Freeing a person from the penalty for their sin against you.
2. Absorbing the price for their sin.

Pain is the cost of sin. We have two choices: inflict it on the offender or accept it ourselves. It can be paid once, but more likely over time, in payments. That is forgiveness.