Pray
Luke 18: 1-8
There’s a magazine cartoon that shows a little fellow kneeling beside his bed for his bedtime prayer. He says with some measure of disgust, "Dear God, Uncle Jim still doesn’t have a job; Sis still doesn’t have a date for the social; Grandma is still feeling sick - and I’m tired of praying for this family and not getting results."
Prayer is often talked about, but seldom practiced
Context: Jesus knew the importance that prayer would be to his disciples- waiting for Pentecost, growth of the church, persecution that would come, etc
Two commands Jesus gave them regarding prayer
All times to pray
Not lose heart
What causes us to lose heart in prayer
No immediate results
We wonder if we have been heard by God
In our instant society we want instant answers
Doesn’t work that way
Have you quit praying for a friend, family or loved one because after months or years of praying nothing has happened
Ill. George Mueller prayed for two friends salvation for all his life. One saved just two months before his death at his last sermon. The other two years after
Similar to the widow in the story- no indication just how long she had to continue on
Circumstances seem against you
Rather than things getting better they often get worse
Ill. Circumstances we see are like a parade passing by. Can’t see the whole picture
For this widow things looked bleak
No husband
No one to stand for her
Poor
We can’t let the circumstances around us dictate us to quit and lose heart
Lack or loss of faith
Vs. 8
Suddenly Jesus connects prayer with finding faith on earth
We may not verbally declare we doubt God but when we give up on prayer we are practicing that we have a lack of faith
We are saying that God is unable
We are saying that God is unwilling
Reasons to keep praying
Pray because much is at stake
This widow was in desperate times
Poor, unable to pay off associates to have her case heard
Without the judges favorable ruling, she would be hopeless
We are hopeless, we just don’t realize it
We are desperate, but we can’t see it
Hanging from ceiling with no ladder
Wouldn’t have to convince you to hold on
Keep praying- eternity is at stake
Pray because the answer may be just ahead
How many times did this widow go to the judge? Many
What if she had quit right before he was gonna rule in her favor
Mr. Hanover and Cadillac story
This week could be the answer to your prayer!
Pray because persistence is mandated
The point of this story was to encourage the disciples to not quit praying
Through this journey of persistent prayer God does several things
He tunes your heart to His
He prepares you for His work
He build your spiritual muscle-faith
Pray because you are special to God and he hears
This story focused also on a selfish, uncaring, judge
This is not the comparison to our Father
If an unrighteous judge will act so as not to be bothered how will a loving father react to the cries of his children
Andrea can ask for almost anything
Conclusion
If Jesus came today would he find you
Faithful in prayer
Persistent in prayer
Or would he find you
To distracted to pray
To self sufficient to pray
To discouraged to pray
What or who is it that God is calling you to begin or return praying for today?
