Peter’s Pervasive Prayer
“And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’
Matthew 14:28-33
Sinking times are praying times with the Lord’s servants, and all servants of the Lord have sinking times. In times of bodily pain, mental anguish, fear, stress, worry or anxiety we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the waves are driven upon the shore. There were only three words in the desperate petition that Peter cried out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. When speaking on the topic of prayer, strength and not length, is the goal. When we come into a right sensibility of our own needs, we learn strength of prayer and we learn brevity. It’s been said that “If our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all the better.” Long, drawn out verbiage is to devotion what the chaff is to the wheat…it’s useless.
It was the Pharisees who loved to parade their long-winded prayers among the people in the marketplace (Mark 12:40). They would use something as holy as prayer (communication with the Most High God) to strut their arrogant tail-feathers.
It was the Pharisee that thanked God that he wasn’t like other inferior men in Luke 18:10. In prayer, he boasted of his resume before the Almighty One, thinking somehow he would be an impressive specimen to the Most High. He wasn’t. In contrast, it was the ill-reputed tax collector who stood at a distance, refused to look skyward towards heaven, beat on his chest and cried out for mercy. This is who Jesus commended. We have much to learn from this scenario, just one of the Lord’s teaching on prayer.
Everything that is real and genuine in many long and drawn out prayers could be uttered in a petition as short as Peter’s. Are you currently in pain or suffering from affliction? Then lift up your petition to our Savior. You can rest assured that He knows your every pain and prayer before a word falls from your mouth.
The Scriptures encourage us towards earnest, reverent and humble prayers. But what happens when the child of God doesn’t know what to pray, how to pray or what to pray for, as is often the case? It’s then that ‘The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.’ (Romans 8:26-27).
There was only one desperate, prayerful plea by a Son that was ever forsaken by our Heavenly Father, and that one two thousand years ago from a rugged cross. Because He was forsaken, we never shall be. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ!