In Luke 11, Jesus compares prayer to the relationship between neighbors in a world where hospitality was shamelessly expected for any stranger who would approach your home with a need. A man shows up at a neighbor's door at midnight with a request for bread because a stranger has showed up suddenly at his door and cannot offer him bread because he is fresh out. The neighbor makes every excuse in the book for not helping the man in need of bread and shuts the door on him. When the the man continues to knock and continues to remain at the doorway, the neighbor grants him the request. Ultimately Jesus makes this point: "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs... how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:8, 13b)!"
Both of these analogies reveal prayer as a continuing and persistent conversation between you and God that lays out specific requests and continues beyond those requests. This is not prayer as the "Magic 8-Ball" in which you ask your question and then see what turns up in the window after you shake. "It is certain." Nor is prayer like putting a coin in a Nineteenth Century mechanical fortune teller who goes through his motions as the gears turns and the lights blink to spit out a card with your answer.
Prayer as "Magic 8-Ball" is prayer as a singular event, thrown up into the heavens, waiting to see what happens. But Jesus describes prayer as continuous. Had the man in need of bread only made is request and then walked away, the neighbor either never would have granted the request, or when he did finally decide the grant the request the man would not have been at the doorway anymore to receive the gift of bread.
One of my favorite lines of the Bible is Paul's concluding words in 1 Thessalonians: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for that the is the will of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)." Praying without ceasing is the continuous and persistent prayer with God our Father that Jesus both teaches and models.
Did you catch that? I said "with" our Father and not "to" God our Father. Prayer is continuous because it is conversation. The parables of Jesus about prayer compare it to conversations between neighbors or between a parent and a child. Prayer should play out in way similar to if I were talking with you face to face.
So does that kind of prayer look like the famous picture of the old man strenuously praying for his daily bread, or like a little boy knelling next to his bed praying for Aunt Jane and her knee replacement surgery? Yes it can... but the conversation continues. It means dwelling in the presence of God even while you eat that meal or feeling the presence of God even as you doze off in that bed ready for a good night's sleep.
Again I want to lift up the relationship between children and parents. On a beautiful afternoon three children are playing at a playground while their parents watch. They play for hours, having so much fun. They know the boundaries. Don't leave the playground. Don't push your little sister. Take a breather if you start coughing.... things like that. The parents watchful eye is upon the children the whole time and every once in a while the parents have to yell "stop that" or a child comes and asks to go to the bathroom near by. There are moments of tears and moments of pure joy. At one point mommy pushes her son on a swing. It's a great afternoon at the park and while the kids are on their own to play on whatever equipment the choose and with any of the other children, as they choose.... they do it all while dwelling in the presence of their parents.
What if prayer looked like that?
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