Title: A Parable On Prayer – “Always Pray”
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Subject: (Does prayer work?) How do we commit to Prayer when injustice seems to rule?
Complement: (Wait and see...) by faith in Christ’s coming kingdom
Big Idea: Without Faith We Will Fail – With Faith We Pray And Prevail!
INTRODUCTION: “Ostensibly” unanswered prayer…discourages us from praying…
Context: as the Lord’s coming approaches, evil will increase…
? as it was in the days of Noah
? as it was in the days of lot.
? It will be just like this on that day… (17:30)
I. Jesus Tells A Parable Of Persistence ... (an essential character trait)
? A woman... AND, she’s also a widow
? A powerful judge – But, he’s a calloused judge? “local gentile judge—not a religious court.
? Many such cases of injustice will come his way…
? His reputation is at stake
? He so corrupt he doesn’t even fear God!
? Widow -- “grant me justice...”
? Finally to get rid of her the judge helps ...
II. Jesus Contrasts (!) The Widow’s status & Our Status:
? God will bring justice! (at the eschaton)
? Finally, vindication!
? ‘his chosen ones” ? note the contrast w/ helpless widow
? justice and speedily!
? Speedily ---quickly is misunderstood !
I. A reference ch 17 – the kingdom/his coming!
? Help is one the way...and the delay will prove shorter that we think.
** this isn’t a parable about praying for a prayer need before God our unjust judge who can’t be bothered helping us – so we bother him until he surrenders...
NO!
It's a parable about the practise of praying – and calls us to commit and do it!
– even when there’s chaos all around... this is when we need faith... not faith for “a” miracle...
**but faith to believe in Jesus return and his kingdom!
This is a prayer about the end of the age... and the question Jesus asks us is this “ when I come ...will I find you to still believe in me... will you still be praying...or will you have given up praying?”
See again verse 1: Jesus told this parable that we should always pray and not give up.”
III. Jesus Asks However, ...When I Come, Will I Find Faith?
The return of Christ expresses the triumph of the gospel over all kings and kingdoms... over sin and evil
***This victory inspires us to pray!
The return of Christ will settle all injustices
The people of God will finally be vindicated.
Until then... there will be wins and losses
A mixture of miracles and misery
Example: pastor in Nigeria killed by beheading
Example: pastor in China imprisoned for 9 years
Too much misery may cause us to quit praying...???
***Jesus says...I’m coming back – and I want to find my people to be people of prayer!!!
? Things will be tough...
? Faith will be under fire...
? Example ? China... NA (church on the margins)
I. Church in Nigeria.
II. Pastors in prison in China
? All of this creates a discouragement... yes even, a “why bother” attitude, resulting in – prayerlessness!
? Elim – can we be a people of devout prayer?
? The ball is in our court—will we be faithful enough to pray?
? Remember 2 weeks back... “ask, seek, knock”
? Last week – “kneel before the Father”
? Jesus is committed to doing justice!
? But things will get tougher as we near the end…
? Will he find us faithful? {Faith is seeing things unseen} Heb 11.
? What is faith? Firstly, it is praying!
Application? so what? Take-away?
Develop Prayer habits...?
(1) 3 x per day
(2) journal
(3) pray scripture
*** “As a good, good Father, God is interested not merely in answering our prayers (~demands) but in shaping our character !
(REPEAT...)
Have you ever prayed a prayer like this...”Lord, help we to get an A on this assignment” or quiz even though you didn’t study much... then you get a ‘C’ and you wonder God, why didn’t you answer my prayer?
*** “As a good, good Father, God is interested not merely in answering our prayers (~demands) but in shaping our character !
Another example: “someone you love becomes sick and dies too young... we wonder why didn’t God answer our prayer and heal this person? We look for someone to blame: (1) God (2) ourselves
We can become angry with God.
We can lose our faith.
We can say why bother praying
Prayer didn’t work.
This parable doesn’t promise an answer to every prayer ...if we just bother God enough, we will get our answer...
Like I said ... this is a very misunderstood parable!
We cannot predict the outcome of our prayers
We cannot control the outcome of our prayers.
This is where faith/trust really comes in !
We must let God be God –knowing he is a good father and NOT an unjust cold-hearted judge.
• Our job is to pray.
• Our assignment is to pray beyond ourselves and our needs. ...pray for the kingdom to come.
• Pray for the mission and outreach of the gospel.
• Pray for the church to be a light.
• Pray for the church to be strong in faith toward God, and love for one another, and pray for a heart for the city and the lost next door.
The parable also reveals something significant about prayer.
Most prayer meetings I attend take on a predictable character. We pray for one another’s needs—usually issues like finances and health. Occasionally a request for the opportunity to share with a friend or a neighbor comes in, along with the obligatory prayer for the leaders of our country and missionaries. The victims of natural or political disaster also get attention.
**What is often missing in such meetings are the types of concerns reflected in this parable’s call for persistent prayer.
We are to pray earnestly for the vindication of our testimony in the world and our eventual full redemption by the hand of God.
The prayer most like the one called for here in Scripture appears in Acts 4:23–31, where the church asked for enablement to perform what God had called them to do, even in the face of fierce persecution. They desired vindication, that God would show his presence powerfully through their ministry.
The longer time goes on until the Lord’s return, the more relevant Jesus’ parable in 18:1–7 becomes. The parable calls for prayer, persistence, and patience, something that becomes more necessary the longer we wait.
At the base of the parable is an attitude about facing injustice as believers.
Our call is not to strike back in kind, but to turn to God and rest in the promise he has made to vindicate us. The parable is therefore both an exhortation and a promise, whose point is as valuable now as it was two millennia ago. We must pray and keep looking to God for the vindication he will bring one day.
The second lesson of the parable is that God will bring justice. As Romans 12:19 indicates, he will one day execute vengeance. We tend in our culture to shy away from the God of judgment, but a God of judgment is really a God of accountability. We require such a concept in our everyday lives. What would our streets be like if there were no law and order, no courts and prisons? A God of justice reminds us that we cannot do as we please and be accountable to no one.
Finally, the text issues a call for faithfulness. When the Lord returns, will there be faith on earth (v. 8)? Like 12:35–48, God calls us to be faithful managers in the interim. We should pray in a way that leaves judgment to the Lord and serves him with diligence until he comes.
Insights From This Parable:
• This parable teaches us the God is not an unjust judge but a loving and compassionate Father.
• Whereas widows were the lowest members of society, we are children of God our Father.
• The parable speaks of justice for God’s people – not merely getting our prayer request answered.
• If this widow attained justice from an unjust judge, how much more will we receive (eschatological) justice from God, our just judge and loving Father.
• The parable is an invitation to keep praying – not simply for a prayer to be answered but for the people of God to persist in the ministry of prayer as the Lord’s coming nears. There is a call to not abandon prayer as the Lord’s coming nears.
• God is looking for faith on the earth – this faith is seen most clearly in praying people.
4 KEY ASPECTS OF PRAYER
A--adoration(worship)
C--confession of sin
T--Thanks for ....
S--state your needs
Closing ?A story of staying power ...persistence... (Movie- “unbroken”)
• Shot down
• At sea
• Captured
• Tortured...
