Experiencing God - On Prayer 152

"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
Gospel of Luke

This particular reading can also be found in the Gospel of Matthew.  Luke's Gospel is different from Matthew's on one point.  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus is praying, and the disciples take notice;  so they approach Jesus and asks Him to teach them how to pray.  This is when the Lord's prayer is introduced.  After the Lord's prayer, Jesus gives a teaching on the importance of persistence when it comes to prayer.  He does this by telling the story of a neighbor who has unexpected company in the middle of the night, but no bread to offer.  The neighbor goes to his friend next door at midnight to ask for some bread.  But this family is retired for the night and do not wish to be disturbed.  Jesus than says: "This person may not be willing to get up because of friendship sake, but with persistence in knocking, they will eventually do so and give him whatever he needs."  And then:

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you."  In other words, be persistent in your prayer.  Approach God with boldness and confidence.  Think of the way a human father or mother cares for their children, filled with a desire to provide what they feel is best for them.  Then you will begin to gain some understanding of God's desire to provide what is best for us.  An emphasis must be placed on "to provide what is best".

In our persistence, God always responds to our prayers in the ways that are best for us, though not always in ways that we would expect or like.  And what is best is ultimately the Holy Spirit, that which leads to the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. 

C.S. Lewis, the famous English author, says that we pray, not to conform God's will to mine, but to conform my will to God.  So our asking, searching, and knocking may not result in receiving some of our frivolous requests and demands, but should lead to a union with the mystery that will ignite our hearts with a love that will over flow into all areas of our life, and in the lives of those we encounter.  This path, this condition of the heart, comes through persistent prayer, and many times through what we may see as a denial of "self".

In Revelations, Jesus is saying:  "I am standing at the door knocking.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me."

Jesus wants our hearts, which is another way of saying he wants us.  It's in our persistence in asking, searching, knocking that we are able to break through our self-imposed will to discover what we truly desire.