In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. (Hebrews 5:7)

When you finish your prayers, are there tears in your eyes? Usually we "say" our prayers, not "cry" them. We associate prayer with peace, calm, and strength. We may feel weepy when we begin our prayers, but we expect to be comforted by the end of them. Because there are very seldom tears in our eyes when we pray, our prayers are ineffectual. There are no tears if we mechanically say a childhood prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep." If we doubt the power of prayer, we are not moved enough to have tears. A young woman confessed, "I pray, but I don't think it does much good." Emergency prayers usually do not have tears. As a plane was flying across the Atlantic, the captain announced that one of the engines quit. One man said to his seat companion, "Maybe we had better say our prayers." The other replied, "It isn't that bad, is it?"

Indeed, not all prayers call for tears. There are prayers of thanksgiving and praise. On the other hand, there are times for praying with tears in our eyes. Tears are appropriate when we tell God how sorry we are for our sins. Tears can express how desperately we need God's help. Our text tells us that Jesus prayed with tears in his eyes. The text is Hebrews' account of his prayer in Gethsemane, the garden of tears. In the gospels, we are told that Jesus entered the garden very troubled and sorrowful. He prayed so earnestly that his sweat was mixed with tears. With loud cries he called to his Father for deliverance and guidance. "Jesus offered up prayers ... with loud cries and tears ..." Could it be that the reason our prayers are usually weak and ineffective is because they are devoid of tears?

I Really Mean It!

Tears say to God, "I really mean it!" I am not talking off the top of my head but from the bottom of my heart." Tears say that I am sincere and earnest in my prayers. Tears express the intensity of our desire for God's help and mercy. With tears, we are not glibly saying, "Pretty please," but we are pleading, beseeching, and imploring God to hear our petitions. In human relations, we use tears to express the depth of our desires. When death threatens, people beg for their lives. During the VietNam war, the press carried a picture of a soldier with his gun pointed at a captive who was on his knees and with tears, pleading for mercy. Hostages with tears beg terrorists to release them. Marshall McLuhan, high priest of modern communications, once described prayer as "petition which consists of banging and slamming on gates until they open."

Because of the intensity of our desire in prayer expressed by tears, we persist in our prayers. Prayer is a struggle with God. We beg and plead for God to help us. We will not take "NO" for an answer. Like Abraham's pleading on behalf of Lot, we will bargain with God. Or, like Jacob, we will wrestle with God all night long, and we will not let go of God until he blesses us. Once Jesus told a parable about a poor widow who cried to a judge for justice. She kept after him day and night. Though he had no regard for God or man, he gave in to her request because of her constant nagging. When Jesus prayed with tears in Gethsemane, he did not struggle with God over the question of going to the cross only once, but twice and even a third time. We need to remember, however, that persistence is not vain repetition which Jesus condemned. Luther once reported that at the trturt monastery monks were required to say the Lord's Prayer 500 times a day. That is what you would call repetition, not persistence.

Persistence pays off. For eighteen years Columbus tramped around courts and the wealthy for funds to find a new way to India, and he discovered America. Booker T. Washington, wanting to go to college, heard about a school that would take blacks. He walked 100 miles to get there only to find that the enrollment was closed. He begged to stay and worked sweeping floors and washing windows. Finally, he was allowed to register. Years later, he worked on an experiment and failed 700 times. On the 701st time he found the right way. One time a mother and her three children were in a sailboat which was capsized in a storm. They clung to the boat, but after some hours, the mother said she could not hold on any longer. The oldest child said, "Hold on a little longer, mother. Don't let go now. Jesus walked on the water and saved Peter. He may save us, too." With this encouragement, the mother persisted, and eventually a rescue boat picked them up.

Persistence pays off in prayer, too. When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time, he passed through Jericho. There was a blind man sitting by the wayside. You can see him sitting there in filthy rags. In his bony hand was a cup, begging for alms. Hunger wrinkled his face. Flies were bothering his blind eyes. Several teeth were missing. When he heard a commotion, he asked what was going on. They told him that Jesus was passing by. He began to cry, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me." He made so much noise that people told him to shut up. Still he kept on crying to Jesus. Again, with curses, they told him to be quiet. But he cried all the more, "Have mercy on me." Jesus heard his persistent cry and went over and gave him sight. If he had not persevered with tears, he would still be blind.

To give up praying before receiving an answer is to give in to the Devil. It is said that one time Satan put up his instruments for sale. There were the sword of jealousy, the dagger of fear, and the noose of hatred. Each had a high price. But standing alone on a pedestal was a worn and battered wedge. This was his most prized weapon. At the base was a sign saying, "Not for sale at any price." It was the wedge of discouragement.

Why, you may be asking, do we have to persist in praying with tears? If God is good and eager to help us, why does he not answer our prayers the first time we ask? Is prayer a means of overcoming God's reluctance to help us? By no means. One reason for the necessity of persistence in praying is that it may not be the right time for God or for us to receive the answer. Often God answers our prayers through others or circumstances, and he cannot answer until "the fullness of time." If we do not persist, we may not be receptive when God is ready and able to answer our prayers. One time a lady lost her very valuable diamond ring in a theater. When she got home, she missed it. At once she called the manager of the theater and reported the loss. He promised, if she would hold, he would search the theater for her ring. Well, she waited and waited and waited. She was so tired of waiting that she hung up. Fortunately, the manager found the ring and joyously picked up the phone to tell her the good news. But, all he heard was the dial tone. Not knowing her name nor phone number, he could not return the ring to her. In prayer, if we, too, get tired of waiting for God's answer to prayer, we will lose out on the answer.

I Must Have It!

Tears in our prayers say to God, "I must have it." Tears are the medium of the message to the Master that our needs are real and deep. Tears show that we are praying about critical and crucial matters of life that affect our destinies. If our needs are of such little concern that it does not matter one way or another, we will not be moved to tears. Is my concern only whether I should have chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Shall it be a red or a blue dress that I should buy? Which car shall it be - a Chevy, an Escort, or a Spitfire? Rather, when we pray about the essential issues of life that are matters of life and death, we pray with tears. This is no laughing matter. When Jesus prayed with tears in Gethsemane, it was about the issue of the cross - to die or not to die for the sins of the world.

There are such life or death concerns in our personal lives. These are times that call for tears in our prayers. It may be the case of barrenness. For years Hannah longed to be a mother, but year after year she was sterile. With her husband she went to Shiloh to pray. The account says, "She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly." With tears, she poured out her soul for a child. God saw her tears, and in due time Hannah had Samuel. Our lives, too, may be barren and unproductive. If so, we have reason to pray with tears for loves that are fertile with good works.

There may come a time when we need to pray about our health. One day we may get the news that we have a terminal condition. Our days on earth are limited. This happened to King Hezekiah who was told by Isaiah that he should prepare to die. Hezekiah refused to accept the message. He took it to God in prayer. The Bible says, "Hezekiah wept bitterly." God later speaks again to Hezekiah, "I have seen your tears." His life was prolonged. Tears made the difference. It may be that if you and I would pray so earnestly about our health, we, too, would be healed.

The issue before us may literally be a matter of death. This was the issue for Jesus in Gethsemane, the garden of tears. Was it or was it not God's will for Jesus to go to the cross? As a normal human, Jesus wanted to live. He enjoyed life, his friends, and his work. He was only in his thirties - too young to die! He agonized with tears and loud cries until he was convinced that the cross was God's will.

In our day we are hearing much about death and dying. How can we face death with courage and dignity? It is ultimately a matter of praying with tears. Why not tears? We, too, want to live. We enjoy life. We dread the unknown and leaving loved ones. I myself had to face up to this issue some years ago. Having a fear of heights, for many years I refused to travel by air. The time came when railroads were impractical for travel. I had a preaching mission in a distant state and found that I could keep the appointment only by flying. A couple of weeks in advance I bought the ticket. Until the time of departure, I had my own Gethsemane. I was sure I would die either of fright or plane failure. I prayed and I prayed about facing death until I was able to say with Jesus, "Thy will be done."

Our deep concerns may be for others as well as for ourselves. We can weep while praying as we intercede for other people. It may be that a friend or a member of the family is seriously ill and needs healing. We have a case of this in the Canaanite mother who came to Jesus about her daughter who was demon possessed. She cried, "Have mercy on me ..." Jesus ignored her. She continued to cry for help. The annoyed disciples urged the Master to send her away, "for she is crying after us." Because of her persistent and tearful appeals, she won healing for her daughter. Likewise, there are hurting people all around us - emotional, physical, and spiritual problems. They need and covet the kind of prayers that have tears of supplication.

Are we concerned about the faith of others to the point of tears? Do we care that much that they belong to God? On the last day that Jesus and his Disciples were together, Jesus said to Peter, "I have prayed for you that your faith fail not." St. Paul was so concerned that Jews accept the Gospel that he declared he would rather be cast off from God if the Jews could be saved. Do we pray for friends and members of the family that they might have faith in Christ? In recent years, the mainline churches have undertaken a renewed emphasis on evangelism. Here is the crux of evangelism - not in books on evangelism, not in methods and techniques, but in tear-filled eyes of prayer for lost souls. We still believe, don't we, that people without Christ are lost? My Barbara tells of a childhood experience. After school it was her custom to dash into the house and bellow, "Mother, I'm home!" One day she decided to surprise her mother by sneaking into the house. As she slowly and quietly opened the kitchen door, she saw her mother kneeling beside a chair praying, "Lord Jesus, save my little girl. Please don't let her be lost." Barbara did not want her mother to know she heard the prayer. She tip-toed down the porch steps, and in a little while returned with her usual robust entry. But her mother's prayer caused her to eventually confess Jesus as Savior and later to enter the gospel ministry.

What about today's social needs? Are we concerned enough about them to pray with tears? Are we praying about social needs that threaten the well-being of our society? What about the plagues of hunger, pornography, over-population, drugs, and nuclear warfare? Suppose the fifty million Christians gathered for worship this Sunday would pray about these problems so intensely and earnestly that they would have tears in their eyes? Would it do any good? You can be sure, there would be radical changes in improving social conditions even before the next Sunday.

Do tears accomplish anything in prayer? They did for Hezekiah. God said to him, "I have seen your tears" and then gave him fifteen more years of life on earth. Tears turn to smiles because God heeds the sincerity and earnestness of those who pray. It was so with Hezekiah. It was so with Jesus, for our text says, "he was heard for his godly fear." It can be so with us also. Seeing our tears as we pray, God will turn our tears into the smiles of answered prayer.