Title: Never give up! Ever!
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Thesis: If you care deeply about something, keep praying and trusting.
Introduction
Larry Crabb, writing in the November/December issue of Pray! Magazine told this story. When he was ten years old, he first heard Matthew 21:22, where Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” He said it was the “whatever” model of prayer: Believe, ask for whatever you want, and it is yours.
Crabb said, “I remember running outside, standing in the driveway, closing my eyes real tight, and praying: ‘God, I want to fly like Superman. And, I believe you can do it. So, I’ll jump, and you take it from there.
“I jumped four times and each time landed half a second later and half a foot farther down the driveway. I had believed and I had asked, but I didn’t receive. Thus began my 50-year journey of confusion about prayer.”
I confess, I identify with Larry Crabb. Over the years, I have worked at sophisticating my prayers making sure I prayed just right: I have made sure that when I pray I always end my prayers with, “in Jesus’ name. Amen” I have used the ACTS model of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
I have prayed many a safe prayer. When I pray a safe prayer, I am careful to not be very specific. That way, there was no specific “adversary” to be avenged, as in our story today or any specific person or situation for which I needed God to intervene. That kind praying prays that God will bless all the missionaries and for world peace.
I have also practiced the principle of significant praying. By that I mean, I didn’t think I should bother God with anything trivial for fear that if I asked God to help me go to sleep, I might distract him from diverting a tsunami somewhere on the other side of the world.
I confess that I have also been big into submissive prayer, which is a lot like safe prayer. In submissive prayer, you always end every prayer with, “never-the-less, not my will but, thine be done.” After all, that is how Jesus prayed and that is the model given in the Lord ’s Prayer.
Then, there was the selfless prayer period in which I never prayed for anything for myself because it says in James, “The reason you don’t have what you want is that you do not ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get because your motive is wrong, you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:1-3
This morning I do not anticipate that any of us will leave with all of our questions answered, but we will have been exposed to one of the texts in the Gospels in which Jesus taught specifically about prayer.
From his story about the persistent or, as some versions put it, the importunate woman, we learn that prayer is first of all, personal.
1. Prayer is Personal
There was a judge in a certain city… A widow of that city came to him, repeatedly appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. Luke 18:2-3
You have heard someone say, “Please don’t take this personally.” Or, you have heard someone say, “It isn’t personal.” Let me say, “It is always personal!” If it is about you, me, or anyone else, it is personal.
A Financial Services Technology online article reviewing, It Isn’t Just Business, It’s Personal, by Arunas Chesonis and David Dorsey refers to the PAETEC’s philosophy of doing business. The article states, “It’s the people: employees, customers, suppliers and everyone else in the communities we serve.” At PAETEC, it isn’t just business, it’s personal.
When I read the October issue of Smithsonian Magazine I found an eight page section of slick black pages with a tiny message line that ran like a continuous thread across the center of each page… on and on it read. I was so intrigued by the ad that I went online to look at the DOW Chemical web site in which DOW refers to the Periodical Chart of Elements and says that one is missing. The missing element is Hu 8, the Human Element.
Isn’t it interesting that the technical science people and the chemical science people are using terminology like “it’s personal” and “the human element”?
When we pray, we pray for situations and circumstances that affect people. We pray for people we care about. We pray for ourselves. Prayer is always personal. Intercessory prayer is about the human element.
In our story there is a judge, a widow who is a plaintiff bringing a charge against an unnamed defendant who has harmed her. The three people in our story are people and the case presented is very personal. The injured party, i.e., the widow, brought her case to the judge anticipating that he would weigh the evidence and give her justice.
Perhaps it is presumptuous to expect that one can get justice through a judicial system. Perhaps even the act of praying is presumptuous.
2. Prayer is Presumptuous
There was a judge in a certain city who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. Luke 18:2
Did the woman really think she could get justice in a court of law? How presumptuous!
The bible frequently refers to God as a judge. In his conversation in Genesis 18 over the eminent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham says to God, “Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the judge of the earth do what is right?” It is expected that any judge, God or human, will do what is right.
The Psalmist reminds us “God is a righteous judge.” Psalm 7:11 We are informed that Jesus Christ will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set us his kingdom. II Timothy 4:1 The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the Old Testament passages in Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 135, “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord, “I will repay.” The Lord will judge his people. Hebrews 10:30
However, the woman in our story had not brought her case to a righteous judge. In fact, he is described as “a godless man with great contempt for everyone. The judge said of himself, “I fear neither God nor man…” Luke 18:2 and 4
I tell you this story to illustrate two things. Justice is not always just and injustice is always personal.
When I was a teenager, I lived in Boone County, Iowa. Boone County is a beautiful county that appears to be flat as a pancake on either side of the Des Moines River. But the river valley is deep and wide and on either side of the river, there are deep cuts and gullies. I was driving on a country road that paralleled Highway 30, which dropped down from the flat gumbo soil into the Des Moines River Valley. Between the towns of Ogden and Boone. I was basically just puttering along. I notice a small airplane off to my left flying between me and Highway 30. I stopped at the intersection and literally watched the plane before making a left turn and driving down, what we called Moigona Hill to Highway 30. A patrol officer was sitting at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, waiting for me. He said the patrol plane had radioed him and told him that I had just run the stop sign at the top of the hill and he gave me a ticket.
Bill Sparks was the Justice of the Peace in our town. He was a good person and I his daughter was a classmate. I lived just down the street from his house and he knew I was a good, hardworking kid. So, I went to see Bill. He listened to my story, sympathized with me, told me it was pretty hard to dispute the word of a highway patrol officer, and suggested that the best thing to do was just pay the $10 fine and be done with it.
The fact that I remember that story after forty-two years is evidence that injustice is not only personal… sometimes it is presumptuous to expect justice in an unfair world. Yet, despite the unfairness of the world, we presume that justice will prevail. And when we are in need, we pray because we presume that God cares and can intervene in our behalf. And why shouldn’t we?
It was God who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The Apostle Peter said, “Cast all of your cares on Him, for he cares for you.” I like the way the translators of the New Living Translation word that verse in I Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.”
It was Jesus who explained the story of a man, who upon the arrival of a late night guest and having nothing to give him to eat, went over to his next door neighbor’s house and began pounding in the door shouting, “Hey Bob, I need to borrow three loaves of bread. My brother-in-law just flew in and I need some bread.” Jesus said that praying is like that… when you need some bread or whatever, you keep on knocking and keep on asking and eventually, in time, the door will open and you will be given your bread. You can find that story in Luke 11:1-13.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done.” Philippians 4:6
Why would we not be presumptuous in our prayers, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
When we pray it is always personal. And when we pray, we are presuming that God hears, cares, and will answer.
The third lesson we see in the example of the widow is that prayer is a matter of persistence.
3. Prayer is Persistent
A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. Luke 18:3-4
Time and time again, the woman came before the judge saying, as the King James Version puts it, “Avenge me mine adversary!” She came repeatedly asking for justice.
Just because God is not like the unjust judge, Jesus teaches us to be persistent in our prayers saying, “God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night.” Luke 18:7
I read a story about a large Chicago based magazine subscription firm that sends out subscription notices for new readers, renewal readers and expiration notices.
On one occasion, their computers malfunctioned and as a result, a rancher in Colorado, received 9,734 mailings informing him that his subscription to National Geographic had expired.
The word is, they got the rancher’s attention! (Stand Firm, December 1999, p. 19)
There are many reasons we don’t subscribe to every magazine advertisement that comes in the mail and there are reasons we are not persistent in our prayers. Among them:
• We may not be all that serious about whatever it is we are asking God to do. The woman was persistent because she was serious.
• We may not really believe God cares, can, or is willing to act in our behalf. The woman was persistent because she knew the judge had the power to act in her behalf.
• We don’t get a quick answer. The woman was persistent because she knew that if she persisted, the judge would one day do what she asked.
Persistence is important because Jesus does not say that God will act immediately. But it does say that God will act. God is not a puppet whose strings we pull to make him dance to our amusement. Jesus says God will grant justice “quickly”. By that Jesus means, God will act suddenly or unexpectedly.
God is not like the rancher who subscribed because he is inundated when we drop 9,734 requests for National Geographic in his mailbox. But, God does read his mail and our requests are not lost to him, even when offered over and extended time.
Prayer is personal. Praying is a presumptuous act of faith in God’s character. Prayer is something we persist in, if we are serious.
And, prayer is a reflection of our passion for that which we are asking.
4. Prayer is Passionate
[The judge said,] “I fear neither God nor man, but I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests.” Luke 18:4-5
I remember seeing a little plaque on the wall of an elderly, woman’s kitchen. It said, “Kissin’ don’t last, cookin’ do!”
Perhaps we can get by in some areas of life without being passionate but when it comes to prayer, being dispassionate doesn’t get it… caring deeply does.
This woman was so persistent and so passionate that the judge relented because, as he said, “she is wearing me out with her constant requests.” Commentators, including William Barclay say the phrase “lest she exhaust me” or “she is wearing me out” is a much more potent than we sense at first glance. It means, I am afraid she is going to lose it and give me a black eye. (The Gospel of Luke, Barclay, p. 231)
If you read the Saturday edition of the Rocky Mountain News yesterday, there was a story about 75-year old Mona Shaw who became so frustrated with her Comcast service that she took a hammer to their office. She said, “I smashed a keyboard, knocked over a monitor… and went to hit the telephone. I figured, ‘Hey, my telephone is screwed up, so it yours.’”
Mona Shaw said a technician did not show up at her house as appointed. On another day, the technician left without fixing the problem. She then had waited two hours to see a manager, only to be told that he had he was gone for the day. That’s when she lost it. Mona was fined $345 for what she described as, “a hissy fit.” (Rocky Mountain News, 10/2/07, p. 30)
There was no question that Mona Shaw was passionate about her complaint with Comcast. And, there was no question that the widow in our story was passionate about getting justice. I don’t advocate shaking your fist or raising a hammer toward heaven when you pray… but our story suggests that the woman was serious about getting what she needed. Perhaps our prayers are not just a matter of persistence but also of caring deeply about the things, we ask of God.
At the end of our story, Jesus teaches us that there is a perpetual element to the practice of prayer.
5. Prayer is Perpetual
“When I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?” Luke 18:6-8
Jesus asks an interesting question. He leaps past the persistent widow and the prayers of all the people of all time, including ours, to the Day of the Lord or the Second Coming of Christ, and asks, “I wonder if the practice of prayer will continue to the end? How many people will still be praying and trusting God for their needs when I come?”
A couple of weeks ago I saw Elvis over at the King Soopers on 64th and Sheridan. He looked to be about 72 or 73 and since Elvis was born on January 8, 1935… the fellow was the right age. He had a head of Elvis hair, black-dyed, combed back, and duck-tailed on the sides. I fully expected that there was a vintage, baby blue Cadillac convertible sitting out in the parking lot. It was comforting to know that Elvis lives.
I don’t know how long the phenomenon of Elvis sightings will continue, but I suspect that one of these days all of the Elvis fans will die off, Graceland will go to seed, and that will be the end of Elvis.
Hopefully, those who depend on God will not be a dying breed because, prayer is a practice that continues indefinitely. Prayer is a practice that spans the generations and the centuries. Prayer goes on and on and on. We are to see our prayers as a link in a long chain of prayer links.
But more specifically, prayer is ultimately about trusting God. And Jesus is wondering if, when he comes, will he find people who are praying and depending on him for all things?
Will Jesus find folks who are putting the Kingdom of God first in their lives and depending on God to give them everything they need from day to day? Matthew 6:33
Conclusion
A priest and a pastor from a local church were standing by the road, pounding a sign into the ground that read:
The End is Near!
Turn Yourself Around Now…
Before It Is Too Late!
As a car sped past them, the driver yelled, “Leave us alone, you religious nuts!”
A moment later they heard the screeching of tires and a big splash.
The priest turned to the pastor and asked, “Do you think the sign should just say, “Bridge Out?” (Chaplain Hunt, San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Department, High Desert Region)
I’ve tried to be clear about the teaching this morning. I hope the sign I have driven into the soil of our hearts and minds has not been confusing or misleading. I hope we will go home knowing that Jesus taught:
1. Prayer is Personal
2. Prayer is Presumptuous
3. Prayer is Persistent
4. Prayer is Passionate
5. Prayer is Perpetual
This means, if you care about someone, don’t criticize them, keep praying for them. If you care about your church, don’t complain, pray for your church. If you care that you or someone you know and love is in crisis, don’t collapse in despair, pray for God’s intervention. If you care about something, Jesus told this story to illustrate our need for constant prayer and to show that we should never give up, ever!
This morning we have learned that: Prayer is personal, presumes on the character of God, persists through every obstacle, and passionately expresses dependence upon God, in all perpetuity.
