The Audacity of Prayer

There's always that one guy at a potluck who gets in line first and takes two plates. He's the reason that the host may ask everyone to "please just take one" the first time through. This guy probably didn't bring anything (if he did, it was a box of discounted, day-old donuts from the gas station) but he will pile those plates as high as he can. Afterwards, he'll take another trip through the line to load up another plate or two to take home. He may even ask people who actually brought stuff, "Are you doing anything with the rest of that cheeseball? Do you mind if I take it?" And chances are, the cheeseball owner will say, "If you want it, you are welcome to have it."

Whatever his motivation, whether he be lazy or greedy or is just short on grocery money, he does not care what anyone thinks of him. Everyone else might be embarrassed for him or even shocked at his behavior, but he's not embarrassed at all. He possesses an oblivious sort of confidence that allows him to ask for food without regard for societal expectations.

The Bible talks about someone like this. In Luke 11:5, Jesus tells this story:

“Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’  And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

His friend did not look kindly on this request. It was rude for him to show up in the middle of the night and ask for anything. I wouldn't even call someone past 9:00, let alone show up at their door asking for food, but because he asked, he went away with the bread, just like the man at the potluck who walks away with plates of food wrapped in plastic wrap and the cheeseball. Everyone else might keep their reputations of being polite in the eyes of society, but the audacious man who asks is the man who gets the food.

Luke 11:5 is sandwiched between the Lord's Prayer and the Ask, Seek, and Knock verses. The disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray, so he started by giving them a prayer to pray as a pattern to guide them in their prayers. Then he told them them how to pray--with shameless audacity.

Sometimes we try to figure out what audacity looks like in prayer. Is it the posture of our prayer? Does it mean going to the altar? Raising our hands? Is it the length or intensity of our prayer? Should we pray out loud? Does it involve making declarations or being very specific about what we ask for?

Well, we don't have to wonder, because Jesus Himself explained what audacious prayer looks like in the next verses. Ask, and keep asking, Seek, and keep seeking. Knock, and keep knocking. Sometimes we lose sight of the level of audacity required by the act of prayer in and of itself.

Think of the most powerful earthly person you can think of. Maybe it's the President of the United States. You would not dream of hopping into your car, driving to the White House, and demanding an audience with the President.

In the Bible, Queen Esther came before her husband, King Xerxes, to petition him for the lives of her people. He was so powerful and no one, not even she, could come before Him uninvited at the peril of their lives. She went before him with fear and trembling, and he extended his scepter to her which allowed her to approach his throne.

God is the most powerful being in the universe, more awesome and powerful than any other king or president who has ever lived. He is so holy and righteous, and so powerful that He spoke everything into existence.

What audacity, to ask anything of the one and only God! And yet, that's exactly what He wants us to do. Despite the magnitude of who He is, He has already extended that scepter to us allowing us to enter His presence. For those who love Him, we can come to Him not in fear and trembling, but with the posture of a child running to his Father.

Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Amen. May we always remember to ask with the audacity of prayer!