This week we begin a summer series entitled, Tell Me A Story. “Tell me a Story” is a simple and shorter way to reference Jesus' use of parables. A parable is a relatable way to share a moral or spiritual lesson.
Storytelling forges connections among people, between people and ideas, and they convey the culture, history, and values. You just have to love a well thought out short story. Jesus told 36 different short stories in the gospels.
Recently, I heard a story of George Mueller, a christian reformer who lived in the mid 1800’s. He wrote down five people he would pray came to know Jesus and submit their lives. He prayed for eighteen months when the first one came to know Jesus. George said thank you to the Lord and continued to pray. After five years a second would come. He would thank the Lord and continue on. After six years a third would come to know Jesus. He would thank the Lord. He would continue to pray for the two remaining for the rest of His life. After he died, fifty two years later, the men both would come to know the Lord. Talk about a story of persistence.
Today, I would like to relay two stories told by Jesus about prayer. They both are present in the book of Luke. Luke was probably the best re-teller of stories of all of the gospel writers. He wrote about widows and politicians, pharisees and publicans, little children and adults, rich men and beggars. Luke mentions widows more than all the other gospel writers combined.
Windows especially had a hard time making ends meet in the time of Jesus in spite of the care God instructed His people to give them. The world was focused on survival and production. As such the older the widow, the less productive she became, the less valuable she was. By using a story of a widow as the main character, Jesus would have been using a story teller's method of using a counter cultural idea to teach a valuable lesson. In this case, Jesus was lifting the less important to point to an idea of more importance.
The widows of Jesus’ day had three obstacles to overcome:
No standing before the law. They had no rights.
Only a man could lodge a complaint. Women normally could not go before the court for justice. However, money and reputation could produce exceptions.
She was poor. Unlike in America, A judge sets his own agenda. He had assistants who took the “court costs” (bribe really) and depending on the amount given, they would determine, if and when, the case was heard.
Now that you have the background and want to follow along, open your bible to the beginning of Luke 18 beginning in the second verse:
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
Many people read this and wonder, ‘so is this suggesting we are supposed to “nag” God? Is that how justice comes about?’ Just keep praying the same request over and over again until you wear God down and get what you want.
The answer is simply, NO! It’s a form of spiritual pride to believe you know what God needs to do. Prayer changes us.
Yes. As Christians steeped in His word and deed, we can see injustice, situations that need to change and crying out to God for intervention is time well spent for both this life and eternity.
Our prayers are an indicator of the status of our relationship. The more frequent, the closer the connection. The less selfish, the more inline with God's nature.
BUT only God knows what is ultimately right and wrong so by thinking we can badger Him into doing what we want or think is right, we minimize God. We also are showing the status of our relationship and our lack of faith in His good and perfect will.
As if God would hear our question about nagging prayer,
Jesus goes on to say...
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Who will see justice, the chosen ones. That’s you! If you’ve accepted the gracious gift of God given through a belief in Jesus and repentance of your old ways, your commitment to exchange your old ways for His new ways creates a new standing in God's eyes. You are a friend of God.
Unlike the human judge, God is not worried about you ruining His reputation by your continually asking in front of others. Nor does he need a bribe or a deal to listen to your petition.
God answers prayers for His glory out of love for us.
The word from verse eight “he will see that they get justice, and quickly’ means we should never doubt God in the time in between. God’s delays are not the delays of inactivity but of preparation. God answers prayer or Romans 8:28 could not be in the bible. God works in all things at all times to accomplish His purposes. The moment we send a request in His will (John 5:14 -16), God begins to work. We may not see it, but the answer will come.
Recently, someone frustrated by a lack of results in their prayer closet asked how I pray. It was a teaching moment. I think the person was looking for a magic formula - say these words in this order and ‘bam’’ it happens. However, there are no magic words. There are helpful patterns:
ACTS - Adoration: Give God praise and honor for who he is as Lord over all. Confession: Honestly deal with the sin in your prayer life. Thanksgiving: Verbalize what you're grateful for in your life and in the world around you. Supplication: Pray for the needs of others and yourself.
PRAY - Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield (Yield to his will—it is better for you than what you want anyway)
PRAISE - Praise, Repent, Ask, Intercede, Speak the Word, Enjoy His Presence
Even Jesus offered a pattern as well as another story when His entourage asked the same question.
Prayer is a sign of a relationship and trust in the Lord's love
Let me read this to you:
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘ Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus’ story of the midnight request directly after the pattern offered here and in Matthew six seems to suggest that requests made of God that are inconvenient still get answered because we were bold in our asking. However, God promises to meet our needs, not our wants. The more we get closer to Him, the more likely our requests are actually aligned with His heart and will. If you ask for things that will accomplish the Lord’s purpose in this world, the requests are more likely to be answered.
The story also seems to indicate God hears our requests for the basic needs of others no matter when we ask? This is true. God always hears our cries for others. He walks beside us all. However, He sees the whole scene which means sometimes His answers to our prayers are no or not yet. There are other aspects of life at play. As such, sheer repetition of a request is futile and any pattern of prayer ineffective because our will is in conflict with His.
And if we believe without the engagement of our hearts, it’s just a meaningless ritual. Jesus spoke of this in His sermon on the mount in Matthew 6.
