KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

Hello my brutthers...and sista's...are you keepin' on keepin' on? Are ya keepin' on truckin'? We are continuing our Rambling from last time on PRAYER. What does prayer have to do with truckin'? Well...I'm glad you asked.

In our first collage...we see some references to truckin'. Back in the late 60's and 70's...there were some buzz words of the hip. Words like...right on...far out man...and keep on truckin'. These words arose from the drug culture...and were fleshed out...or cartooned out by an artist named Robert Crumb. He had many underground comics including Fritz the Cat...and various album covers from artist ranging from Janis Joplin to Hot Tuna. Recording artist like The Grateful Dead and Eddie Kendricks (ex-Temptations member) sang the songs like TRUCKIN' and KEEP ON TRUCKIN'.

The roots of the phrase KEEP ON TRUCKIN' goes deep into black culture. As with most things...the white population...took black culture...and homogenized it.

Truckin' was rooted in the minstrel shows in the 1930's in Louisville Kentucky as entertainer Dan Thomas Rice...reportedly did a dance step called truckin'. Some credit Pigmeat Markem doing the Truckin dance at the Apollo Theater in New York. It is considered a Harlem dance from 1927 that signifies a strutting walk done when one is happy or joyful. You can see the dance in the Lindy Hop and later on in dances in London in 1935. You can also see various variations of the dance step in movies like CABIN IN THE SKY with Ethel Waters and Lena Horne. Even in the Walt Disney movie DUMBO...the crows see a vegetable truck go by and they line up in the truckin' pose.

The words truckin' can be found in 1920's and 1930's BLUES SONGS like KEEP ON TRUCKIN' and Blind Boy Fullers TRUCKING MY BLUES AWAY. NOTE: I may have sung some form of the song in my blues personification of BLIND LEMON PLEDGE.

Well...where ever the phrase comes from...it has come to be known to mean (1) carry on (2) keep on keepin' on (3) don't give up (4) keep on doin' what you are doin' (5) persevere. That leads us to today's item on the Rambling menu...PRAYER

Before we delve into the tenacity of prayer...let's get some things straight. GOD IS NOT: (1) Your SUGAR DADDY (2) Your PERSONAL SANTA CLAUS (3) The HOLY SLOT MACHINE (4) Your FAIRY GODMOTHER that will wave her MAGIC WAND to grant your WISH...bippidy, boppidy BOO. (5) Your personal MAGIC LAMP that you can rub three times (in significance of the Trinity) so that He can grant you three wishes.

Prayer is that DYNAMIC CONNECTION from CREATOR to the created. It is not JUST ASKING. It is a touchstone of intimacy between you and the Father.

When Jesus had finished praying (he did this quite often)...in a CERTAIN PLACE (do you have a certain place to pray?)...one of His disciples said to Him..."LORD...TEACH US TO PRAY...just as John taught his disciples to pray."

(Luke 11:1-4/Matthew 6:9-11) Jesus gave them a model of the prayer...and then gave examples of prayer. 10 POINTS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER:

1. Pray to the Father who is in heaven
2. Declare His name to be holy
3. Invite His KINGDOM (rule, reign, realm) to come (from heaven to earth)
4. Ask His will (his wish, his desire) to be done on planet earth as it is in heaven.
5. Ask for DAILY provision (fresh manna versus horded stale manna)
6. Ask for forgiveness of sins/debts in the same way that we forgive others
their sins/debts.
7. Ask not to be led into the way of temptation (like Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit)
8. Ask for DELIVERANCE from evil (Like Jabez wanted)
9. Declare whose KINGDOM it really is (not ours...but His)...the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever
10. End with a big AMEN (so be it...bring it to pass Lord)

Now this outline of prayer is a Rambling in itself...so let's get back to what we started out with...the nature of KEEPIN' ON KEEPIN' ON in our PRAYER LIFE.

Sometimes when we pray...we quit before we see the answer. There are many reasons that we do this. Sometimes we have been taught that whatever happens...God has answered the prayer. The answer is either (1) yes (2) no
(3) not yet. Or we have been taught that we must always end the prayer on the note of THY WILL BE DONE...and when we don't get the answer to our prayer...then IT MUST NOT HAVE BEEN HIS WILL. Another reason that is linked closely to the Thy will be done principle...is the DORIS DAY FAITH PRINCIPLE...aka QUE SERA SERA...whatever will be will be...the futures not ours to see QUE SERA SERA. This usually means...that whatever happens, the good, the bad, the ugly is God's will. If I get sick...it must be God punishing me or teaching me a lesson... so I will BEAR THE CROSS he has given me...and ACCEPT whatever comes down the pike. This is closely related to Hinda/Eastern thought of...things like KARMA...the CASTE system, etc.

Someone asked me..."How long do I keep praying?" My answer...until the prayer is answered...until God gives you PEACE (God's umpire) to stop praying...or until you die. KEEP ON TRUCKIN'...KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON. See Hebrews 11:13; 35-40 I would rather go out believing...than not believing.

In our collage...we see various things that reflects this TENACITY in prayer. ASK, SEEK, KNOCK...hang in there like a bitin' sow (watch out for mamma hogs protecting their piglets. They bite down and don't let up). Go after it like a BIG DOG. Run the race until you finish (ie. Eric Liddle...Chariots of Fire). Rocky Balboa in training. The original suggestion for the National Bird of American... the rough and tough, FIGHTING TURKEY. We see Dog The Bounty Hunter in pursuit of criminals...and won't give up until he has accomplished what he set out to do. Our friend the FROG resisting the PELICAN. As I am writing this Rambling I am listening to the soundtrack to the movie THE APOSTLE. Steven Curtis Chapman is singing...I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY!!!!! Bob Mumford (a Bible Teacher) calls God the GOD OF ELEVEN FIFTY NINE (11:59). Sometimes we GIVE UP at 11:58.

"KEEP ON ASKING...and it will be GIVEN YOU...KEEP ON SEEKING...and you WILL FIND...KEEP ON KNOCKING...and the door will be OPENED for you. Fore every one who KEEPS ON asking RECEIVES....and he who KEEPS ON seeking FINDS...and to him who KEEPS ON knocking...it will be OPENED. Or what MAN is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent? IF you then, evil as yo are , know how to GIVE good and advantages gifts to your children...HOW MUCH MORE...will you FATHER Who is in heaven...(perfect as He is)...give good and advantageous things to those who KEEP ON ASKING HIM! (Matthew 7:7-11/ Luke 11:9-13) NOTE: Luke equates the GOOD AND ADVANTAGEOUS THINGS...to the HOLY SPIRIT.

Jesus...as He teaches about the PERSEVERING PRAYER...shares two parable to illustrate His view of ASKING.

LUKE 11:5-8 (following the Lord's Prayer outline)

"And He said to them...Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall GO TO HIM AT MIDNIGHT...and say to him, friend lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and from inside he shall answer and say DO NOT BOTHER ME...the door has ALREADY BEEN SHUT and my children and I are in bed...I CANNOT GET UP AND GIVE YOU ANYTHING. I tell you...even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend...YET...because of his PERSISTENCE/SHAMELESSNESS...HE WILL GET UP AND GIVE HIM AS MUCH AS HE NEEDS."

Jesus follows up this parable of SHAMELESS PERSISTENCE...with the passage of KEEP ON ASKING...KEEP ON SEEKING...KEEP ON KNOCKING.

Another parable is found in LUKE 18:1-8

"Now He was telling them a parable TO SHOW that at ALL TIMES...they OUGHT TO PRAY AND NOT LOSE HEART...saying...There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God...and did not respect man. And there was a widow in that city...and she KEPT COMING TO HIM...saying...GIVE ME legal protection from my opponent. And for a while he was UNWILLING...but AFTERWARD...he said to himself...Even though I do not fear God...nor respect man...YET because this widow BOTHERS ME...I WILL GIVE...her legal protection...lest by CONTINUALLY COMING...SHE WEARS ME OUT. And the Lord said...hear what the unrighteous judge said...now SHALL NOT GOD...bring about justice for His elect who CRY TO HIM DAY AND NIGHT...and will He delay over them? I tell you that He WILL BRING about justice for them speedily...However, when the Son of Man comes...WILL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?"

FINAL THOUGHT...FINALLY

When we pray...and we don't SEE the answer...what do we do? Do we give up...assume that God is NOT going to answer our prayers...or do we KEEP ON TRUCKIN' by FAITH. Do we walk by SIGHT and not by FAITH...and give up...OR do we walk by FAITH and not by SIGHT...and KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON? When He comes with the answer will He find..."the substance of things hoped for (confidently expected)...the evidence of things NOT SEEN. Will He be PLEASED as we come to Him as we BELIEVE that He exists...and that we BELIEVE that He is a REWARDER of those who DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM...versus those who PASSIVELY INQUIRE...and give up when we don't immediately see the answer.

NEXT TIME: HINDRANCES TO YOUR PRAYERS.

Love and Persevering Kisses
Rodney "Keep On Truckin'" Boyd