Persistent Prayers

The Lord used these parables to convey a truth to the listeners then, and to His listeners now, by taking a physical situation to teach a spiritual truth.

Luke 18:1-8 is a parable about prayer.

This is made clear in the first verse of this parable, look at Luke 18:1, we read, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

This is not only a parable about prayer, but it is about persevering in prayer.

For example, some have referred to the woman in this parable as the HOUND OF HEAVEN. SHE WAS DETERMINED!

But what we discover is that her persistence paid off. But there is a word of caution as we deal with persistence in prayer.

WHAT IS THE CAUTION?

Many folks have persisted in prayer, and asked God for things they wish they had never asked for.

THE CAUTION IS: "Be careful what you pray for... you may get it! After you get it, you may wish you had never prayed for it.”

For example:

• Many folks have persistently prayed for a particular mate they wanted to marry, and now they wish they had not persisted

• Many folks have persistently prayed for a particular house, and now they wish they had not persisted

• Many folks have persistently prayed for a particular car, but now they wish they had not persisted

When the Lord does not grant our prayer, it could be that He does not grant it because He sees it is not in our best interest.

WILL GOD GRANT A REQUEST WHEN IT NOT IN OUR BEST INTEREST?

Yes, we have Bible proof of that.

In 2 Kings 20:1-6, we read, “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.”

Was it the will of God for Hezekiah to die? Of course, the Bible tells us that he sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him he was going to die.

But this godly man turned to God and began to pray. As a result of his prayer, God gave him another fifteen years.

BUT CONSIDER THIS…

This may sound cold hearted, but it would have been better if when the time came for Hezekiah to die, HE HAD DIED.

• After God granted him fifteen more years, he produced a son by the name of Manasseh.

• King Manasseh grew up to be the worst and most wicked King that Judah had.

• Also in the last fifteen years of his life he became arrogant.

God knew what he was doing when He sent Isaiah to him and told him he was going to die, but HE PERSISTED IN PRAYER, and God gave him fifteen more years, which proved to be not the best thing for him or Judah.

As we persist in prayer, we always need to end it, “Thy will be done,” because He truly knows what is best for us. If we continue to persist, He may grant it, and we may wish we had never persisted.

But as we consider this caution, we also need to keep in mind that PERSISTENCE pays off in most cases, and that's especially true for those who trust in God.

It seems the whole purpose in the Lord giving this parable is to teach us the PERSISTENCE OF PRAYER. It is something we should do, but with caution.

Let’s first look at-

I. THE JUDGE

Look at verses 1-4, we read, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man.”