Persistence of Prayer
Lu. 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint
2 Saying There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said Hear what the unjust judge saith
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?
Many have used this scripture to teach if we pester God we will get it.
The point of this Parable is that WE OUGHT TO PRAY AND NOT FAINT.
The UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGE IS NOT GOD.
You cannot weary or wear out God. This judge did not regard God or man.
Here is what Jesus said:
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
God wants to answer your prayers.
Say that GOD WANTS TO ANSWER MY PRAYERS.
Last week we saw there were ways to pray and not be heard, we saw that God knows what our needs are.
We saw there were things that we can do to cut down on our prayer time.
Let’s look at some of the things that we can do to free up our prayer time for the things that we need to pray about.
Matt. 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow they toil not, neither do they spin
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought saying What shall we eat or, What shall we drink or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
I want to address these things.
I want my prayer time to be spent on the things that are important and am told to pray about.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
We are told to pray that God’s Kingdom and God’s Will be the thing that we are to pray about.
We get so caught up on OUR WILL ABOUT THINGS and forget God’s Kingdom, His Rule , His Will is the thing that we are to pray about.
We have our agenda and we get concerned if we don’t get our way, What about God’s WAY.
The ACLU, COURTS, GOVERNMENTS are ruling the Earth to day and we are told to pray about these things.
THINGS WE DO NOT HAVE TO PRAY ABOUT:
31 Therefore take no thought saying What shall we eat or, What shall we drink or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed
This says DON’T WORRY about the food and drink.
We spend more time worrying about the Food and Drink than we do about life.
We get up in the morning and start planning where and what we can fill our bellies with.
THIS IS A SIGN OF THE LAST DAYS.
Philip.3: 18 (For many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
IT IS EASIER TO GET PEOPLE TO AN EATING MEETING THAN A PRAYER MEETING.
We worry if the clothes are in STYLE and the right color for the season.
We need to put on the GARMENT OF PRAISE and forget about the color of our robe.
Just be sure you have a Robe of righteousness.
Here is the answer:
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
We are not told to pray about those things that GOD KNOWS ABOUT IT AND WILL GIVE IT TO YOU IF YOU WILL LIVE RIGHT.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness
This is the ANSWER TO GETTING PRAYERS ANSWERED.
SOMETIMES OUR PRAYERS ARE DELAYED
1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
This is what the parable in Lu. 18 is saying DON”T GIVE UP. GOD, THE ANGELS, ARE WORKING ON THE ANSWER.
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
It does my heart good to know that a great prophet of God did not get an immediate answer.
1Ki 18:44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said Go up say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.
Most of us would have given up and decided that God was not through punishing Ahab.
Who knows what God had to line up to get the cloud to form? Elijah kept on praying without settling for a substitute.
It should not take this long.
Have you prayed and things got worse?
God is aware of your need.
There are 5 Reasons for Delay.
1. Delay is not Denial
It could be Demon or Devine delay
Daniel prayed and it was 21 days before he got an answer.
Dan 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Daniel prayed without giving up. God heard the First Day.
The delay was by demon forces.
Sometimes God has to work on peoples Hearts.
2. Delay separates Desire from Whim.
Daniel prayed for 21 days.
It was more than a passing fancy, it was a DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND.
Mr 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
If you DESIRE you will persist in Prayer
3. Delay Gives time to Refine your Request.
Jas 4:2 Ye lust and have not: ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
As we pray it will change you so that your desires are not selfish.
Israel asked God for a King and did everything they could to get a king.
It was not God’s plan for them to have a king but they pressured the preist to anoint Saul. It almost destroyed several times because they warred and fought to get a King.
4. Delay prepares Me for the answer.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us,
When we are delayed and we pray without giving up, it changes me to let the power of God to work IN US to receive that ABOVE ALL WE ASK OR THINK.
5. Delay causes Faith to Work.
Lu. 18: 8 Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth?
We are instant people, but God has to work on several things sometimes to get the answer that we are wanting, Praying without giving up is work.
It is hard to keep believing when we don’t see a change.
Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Prayer is the Work of Faith.
All through Scripture there are examples of Delayed Answers.
We usually remember the instant answers.
Remember
Joseph 16 Years old and had a Dream was 30 years before it was fulfilled.
Abraham Promised a Baby 25 years later and many mistakes in between.
