Persistent Prayer
CCCAG 1-1-2023
Scripture: Luke 18:1-8, Matthew 7:7, Jeremiah 29:13
Introduction
Happy New Year everyone!
One of the traditions regarding celebrating the new year is to sit back and evaluate the past year or so, and then make decisions to change certain things about ourselves.
We call these New Years Resolutions. It’s not a bad thing to do, but usually when we make them we have in the back of our minds that these resolutions will be broken before the weeks end.
We love to make plans for things don’t we.
There is a saying in the military that all plans for battle become useless upon first contact with the enemy. Kind of like all diet plans become useless upon first contact with our favorite treat.
One of the things I always resolve to do is spend more time in solitude with God in prayer and meditation, and I often spend that alone time with God in the woods hiking or hunting. Well, if I’m honest, this year was probably one of the worst years for that. I spent zero time in the woods, didn’t get out hunting at all because of work and injuring my knee at the start of hunting season, and just running out of time.
It reminds me a little of some commercials on TV growing up, showing video and pictures of starving people in Africa with an appeal to send money to certain charities to fix the problem?
Thinking about that, I then thought what if God would open our eyes into the spiritual, how many of us would appear spiritually emaciated through lack of prayer like many of those on TV look physically emaciated through lack of food.
My friends, let’s mark 2023 with a change in our attitudes about prayer and resting in God.
We all know that prayer is an important part of our faith.
If this on again, and off again cycle that sounds like your prayer life too, then you're in a good place.
Our passage today, We will study The Parable of the Persistent Widow.
Jesus gave us this parable to give us another look at prayer, and we learn just how amazing it can be.
Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"
6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Prayer
Main Teaching
Prayer is rapidly becoming a lost virtue in the Christian church. I think one of the main reasons is because our society has become a place of instant gratification.
Have a question- Google will have an answer in less than a second.
Want food? Door Dash can have it to your house in 15 minutes if you live in a major city.
Maybe you need a new kitchen tool, or some type of gadget to make life easier. Again, in a city, Amazon can have it to you in an hour. Here in about a day.
Our world is set up to make this idea of patience a lost art.
We all want instant gratification, and that goes against the whole idea of prayer, which is to teach us patience.
That’s the first thing I want to bring to you this morning that Jesus is trying to teach us in this parable.
Be Patient
Read Luke 18:1-3
Here we’re introduced to the characters of our parable… “a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought,” and a widow seeking justice. We’re also told from the beginning what the purpose or point of the parable is; “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
With those things in mind, the next thing we learn is that this widow is patient in her pursuit of justice. In verse three we learn that she “kept coming to him with her plea.” She wasn’t about to give up, even when the order from the judge was “no.”
This is an important point for all of us as we seek God in prayer in our own lives. Even if you’re getting a “no” it may mean, “not now.” You may have asked God for healing or provision last week, with no obvious answer, but does that mean that you can’t ask again?
Does that mean that you should give up and stop asking?
This reminds me of a quote from Mother Teresa about prayer. She said, “I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.” Change takes time, and often, it takes lots of time.
Consider this- has anyone ever seen the redwood trees in California?
Those didn’t grow overnight.
So be patient and trust the process with God. He is transforming and maturing you. He hears every prayer, and the answer may be “no”, but it could also be “not now.”
Just as it was in the case of the widow who kept coming back again and again asking specifically for justice.
I want to clarify something about prayer-
Prayer isn’t as much bringing a laundry list of wants, desires, and needs before God. He knows already. But he still Commands us to pray.
Why?
Prayer is about spending time with HIM, and letting His Spirit speak to us about our needs, wants, and desires.
Perhaps some of what we think we need isn’t what we need.
Perhaps some of what we think we want is something that will bring us harm in the long run.
Perhaps some of what we desire will draw us away from His Will and His plan for our lives.
How many people watch the movie “A Christmas Story” at some point during the Christmas season?
It’s a movie about a young boy named Ralphie, who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, and all of the obstacles he has to face to get his dream present.
But no one in his life wants him to have this present.
Every adult keeps saying the same thing to poor Raphie-
“You’ll shoot your eye out kid!”
Even the Santa Clause at the mall tells him that.
But he persists, and persists, and persists, and finally on Christmas morning, he is opening up his presents, and lo and behold, He opens up a long box which contains his coveted present- the Red Ryder BB gun. He is so excited he immediately loads it up with BB’s, runs outside, sets up a target against a metal backstop takes careful aim, and pulls the trigger. The BB hits the target, then the metal behind it and ricochets back at him and…
Hits him right under the right eye. Not only that, but it knocks his glasses off, and in the confusion he steps on them, breaking them under his snow boots.
What he thought was His blessing quickly became a curse.
Man, he wanted that BB gun. HE was positive that if he could just have that BB gun, his life would be forever better and fulfilled.
But it almost cost him dearly.
Patience in Prayer is meant to be a time where God can filter our wants, needs, and desires to keep us from spiritually shooting our eyes out and loosing all spiritual vision for what is truly important in life.
Which brings us to our next point today…
Be Precise
Re-read Luke 18:3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
I love this point, the widow just kept coming back with the same request time and time again. What sticks out here is that often we get tired or discouraged and we stop asking, or we bring a different request in prayer. I admit I have fallen into this trap many times myself. I think, “I told God once or twice. He is omniscient and therefore knows what I want and need before I open my mouth to pray, and therefore it’s a kind of a moot point to continue to pray about it. In fact, maybe I’m showing a lack of faith in keeping asking for it”
The lies we tell ourselves…
So we don’t see the fulfillment, and we move on from one prayer to another. When we do that, just maybe we’re not being faithful to the process of prayer.
If it’s justice you’re seeking, be specific.
If it’s healing, keep asking for healing.
If it’s a restored and redeemed marriage, don’t get discouraged.
If it’s the salvation of your family members, don’t throw in the towel just because it’s been 5 - 10 -15 years, but keep coming back and ask over and over again.
Listen to this from 2 Peter;
Read 2 Peter 3:8-9
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
For God, time isn’t the same as it is with us. He exists outside of time. I know that is very difficult to comprehend so I ask you to take that on faith- time is a created thing and part of the overall creation HE has made. Therefore, HE can see all parts of the timeline at the same time, and although you may be praying for this to happen now, He has ordained that answer to come there to fulfill his overall plan for not only you, but to further HIS Kingdom.
The take a way of all of this- YOUR ANSWER IS COMING
Come confidently with your requests of God;
Read 1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.
We know that he hears our prayers and we know that he answers according to His will. With this truth in mind we can be bold in patience, specific in our requests, and of course, persistent.
That brings us to our next point-
Be Persistent
Luke started this chapter explaining exactly why Jesus taught this parable-
“Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
Jesus must’ve known we’d be easily discouraged and frustrated because this isn’t the only time the scriptures encourage us to be persistent and consistent in our pursuit of God. Here’s a passage from Matthew 7;
Read Matthew 7:7-8
Matt 7:7-8
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
NIV
This is another picture of persistence from Jesus. “Ask, seek, and knock”
He says, “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
You might not receive exactly what you wanted, you might not find exactly what you were seeking, and the door might not open up to the exact answer you were hoping for, but the point is that God DOES respond to prayer.
God will answer that prayer according to your needs and for what is best for you and for HIS Kingdom.
Here’s another encouragement from Jeremiah 29;
Read Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
NIV
This one is so important, “...You will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Not only does God respond to prayer, but he’s after your devotion and intention. He sees your heart and knows what you need.
Let’s close by re-reading the rest of the parable
Read Luke 18:4-8
"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"
6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Jesus compares the unjust judge to the ultimate judge in heaven. He tells His disciples, “...will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”
Now listen very closely-
Jesus is NOT saying God is unjust, unfair, and uncaring by comparing HIM to a secular judge. Jesus is saying that if even this evil person will give this woman what she desires because of her persistence, will not the God who loves us, cares for us, and desires intimate relationship with each one of us answer our prayers?
He is listening and He is responding, even if it’s not on the timeline we want or in the ways that we want. We must have faith and continue praying. We must not give up or get discouraged.
Conclusion
As we wrap up our time today in Luke 18:1-8 it’s important that we also touch on the very last thing that Jesus said, in verse 8.
Read Luke 18:8
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
On the one hand, it seems disconnected from the parable for Jesus to suddenly ask if there will be faith on earth when He (the Son of Man) returns. On the other hand, it seems to make perfect sense… It’s likely Jesus is wrapping up the parable by reminding His disciples that God will be faithful to bring about answered prayer, justice, redemption, and everything else that He’s promised.
But will God find faith on earth?
Will He find a people pressing into prayer, worship, and fellowship? Another way to think about this final verse is to say;
“God will do His part, will we do ours? Will we remain faithful until His return?”
All Risse
And that’s the challenge that we face today as well.
Will we trust the words of Jesus from our parable today? Will we remain patient, precise, and persistent in our prayer?
Let’s pray together.
