The Nature of Effective Prayer

UV 4243/10000 The Nature of Effective Prayer “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?” Luke 11 v 11 Jesus asked this rhetorical question to reveal the loving and faithful nature of the Father in heaven. We are to ask specifically and we will receive specifically. Like human fathers our Father in heaven blesses His children with what they ask- fish when they ask for fish and not something that is poisonous, inedible or harmful to them. Hence, not only should we ask persistently but we should ask with faith and specifically that which we need in our lives. If we are in the habit of giving good gifts to our children, our Father in heaven will do much more than we ask of Him. Jesus ends this teaching by saying that if ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to guide us, to lead us, to comfort us, to strengthen and enable us to do His will and obey His word, the Father will do so. We need to ask persistently and specifically not for the gifts of the Holy Spirit but for the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate gift mankind needs and should desire for He is the third person of the Trinity, God Himself. He will even teach us how to pray and what to pray for. Through this uni-verse, Jesus teaches us that our Father in heaven is not just awesome but He is approachable, accessible at all times, attentive to our pleas and prayers, sensitive to our human and earthly as well as holistic and spiritual needs. He is also able to satisfy us in every area of our need though the metaphor of fish and snake implies food. Jesus was weaning the Jews who were listening from their fear of approaching the Lord and the prayers of appeasement. The quality of our prayer life determines the quality of our lives in its entirety. The quality of our prayer life is dependent on the trust and intimacy we enjoy with our Father in heaven and His Son Jesus as well as the Holy Spirit.