Pastor's Circle - Chuck Huckaby

Chuck Huckaby, pastor of St. Andrew's Church in Lawrenceburg, TN, joined the Pastor's Circle to talk about  perseverance in prayer. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

How did the Church get away from fasting?

I was just thinking about that yesterday. I grew up in Bible-believing evangelical churches, and I don't ever remember any talk about fasting.

Sometimes we can say, "I love the Bible!" but we really never read it much. We fight if the Ten Commandments are going to be taken off the courthouse wall, but no one knows what they are.

We need to stay close to Scripture, and let our hearts and minds be changed by God.

What does it mean to "persevere in prayer"?

In the Gospels it says that Jesus taught this parable to the effect that we should never lose heart. He told the parable about the unjust judge, and said if that's how judges act, how much more will our Father answer us?

Realize also that prayer isn't an instant download. God doesn't have to be convinced, but He is the Sovereign King. He is working out his own plans, and calls us to be persistent in our prayers to Him.

Why does God require perseverance of us?

I think it's to train us. If prayer was something we could fire off and forget, we would forget the Source to whom we pray.

It would all become about us, and prayer would become something to check off our to-do list rather than humbling ourselves and coming before God.

If we could just fire and forget it, we would think that God was working out our purposes.

What are some biblical examples of perseverance?

The one that I keep coming back to is Abraham. Imagine for yourself: you have this direct promise from God, and then nothing seems to happen. 

God delivers you, but the thing He promised is still not coming.

 So you come up with backup plans. We come up with all these plans, that we think are our own answer to prayer, and then God shows us how worthless that is.

Finally, about a generation later, you run out of hope that it's ever going to happen, and then it happens.

It's that way with us a lot of times. When our only hope is in the Living God, when He's purged us of our schemes and self-will, and when He's disciplined us to pray and do what we need to do, something happens.