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.

Good Friday

Luke 7:36-47 ESV

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."  Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."  And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This woman of the city is really a prostitute. She was a sinner. She came with expensive perfume and anointed his feet with it. She wiped her feet with her hair and tears.

In breaking this jar, she had committed everything to Jesus. Once the jar is opened by breaking the neck open, you would not be able to save any of it. She came prepared and ready to serve Jesus.

Simon was not. He believed that sinners could taint the righteous. Jesus challenged this. Simon was here to trap and ensnare Jesus. Simon offered no hospitality, no actions of respect. He was there to investigate Jesus.

The woman was a hooker and always looked down. All the religious officials would have said that she had no way to be acceptable before God. Constant shame and condemnation was her lot and when she died, she could expect nothing other than rejection by God. The gospel of free grace was very costly to Christ. She sees this at this dinner. Jesus hangs out with sinners and so, these religious authorities could not accept him. Jesus had to bear under the scorn and disrespect of these men. The woman got a glimpse of this. And she breaks out in tears. Not a little, but a torrent of years. Simon did not wash His feet. He certainly wouldn't offer a towel. So she lets down her hair to wipe Jesus' feet. This would have been shocking to people of this day and age. A woman only let down her hair for her husband. So when she let down her hair, she was saying that Jesus was deserving of everything. And seeing that Christ got no kiss of greeting, she kissed his feet in reverence. This perfume was probably the most expensive thing in her life. And she poured it out on his feet.

Jesus lays it out. He points out Simon lack of hospitality. He shares a parable of debtors. God is owed everything, but we are guilty of ignoring God. This is everyone. Even the religious owe God, but they think they can take care of their own debts. But in the parable, Jesus lets us know that neither of them can repay. So even if the debts are different, both of them are bankrupt! The amount makes no difference! The difference in amount is purely technical, it makes no practical difference. Both moral and immoral, religious and irreligious cannot repay the debt. Jesus pays the debt with His life. Simon thinks he can repay, so he doesn't care. This woman knows she cannot repay! She is in need of a savior and so she is forgiven.

Those who think little of sin, think little of Jesus. This is Simon. Those who think much of sin, think the world of Jesus. This is the woman.

Who are you?

Do you examine Jesus from afar? Is it just a somber attitude or is there something more? Or do you think of Jesus and find yourself overwhelmed by tears of joy? Is your life filled with comfort or are you willing to bear rejection/pain for Christ? Are you struck by your great indebtedness and the greatness of God's forgiveness? Do we have "acceptable sins" that we think acceptable before God and men? Anger, discontent, & complacency all point to how we have forgotten God. Jesus points to this prostitute as one who can teach us a right attitude before God. We who have been forgiven much, the remembrance of it, brings us back to love the one who paid the debt for us.