Sermon National Day Of Prayer - Be Persistent In Prayer

Sermon – Be Persistent in Prayer

Scripture - Luke 18:1-8 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Introduction: Does it amaze you that Jesus would conclude his teaching of the end times and the kingdom of God with a lesson on Prayer? Even though men should always pray, every prayer may not be immediately answered. We must persist in prayer while dealing with unjust systems, prejudice, and hostility in our present world. What does the parable in Luke 18 mean? The Parable of the Persistent Widow teaches us about the importance of persistence in prayer and faith. We must always pray and never lose heart or give up when facing obstacles, but instead, pray continually like the widow who kept coming to the unjust judge. Through her persistence, justice was served.

I was taught by listening to others that Jesus always answers prayer and prayer was a way to get what we want from God. My prayers seem to be hit and miss. I had to rethink my concept of prayer. Even though I donot claim to understand everything about prayer. I have had enough experience with answered prayer and enough experience in my relationship with God to know that it is God’s will for me to pray and not faint. Prayer is making my request known to God. God is perfect, holy, righteous and all knowing. God does not need my advice about what is best for me. God is perfectly good, so he knows what is best for me and how best to me my need and the need of the world. Yet, God seems to get joy out of allowing me to participate in his blessing the world. God could cause sick bodies to recover without doctors or medicine, without hospitals and nurses, but he chooses to work with them and through them. God could feed the world without farmers, seeds, and agriculture but he chooses to use them in his process. God could bring peace to the world, save every sinner, root out injustice, and rid the world of hatred without the church, without Law and without good government, but he chooses to use imperfect human being, faulty systems, faulty Christians to carry out His will in the earth.

Though our prayers are imperfect, our faith is weak, and the conditions are deteriorating around us, we are called to be persistent in prayer. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus provides us with a parable about the necessity of persistent prayer. "Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming."

Jesus’ parable falls near the end of his journey to Jerusalem. He has given the disciples a lesson of unforgiveness. As the last days approach, they would need to forgive their brothers seven times seven times. Everyone you meet is going through something. They will need your kindness and forgiveness. Then, immediately follows his teaching about the coming of God’s kingdom and the end times (Luke 17:20-37). Jesus shift to the importance of prayer. Despite his shift to the topic of prayer in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus’ parable continues this eschatological thread from the previous passage. Now Jesus reveals the imperative of persistence and actively relying on God as we await the end. Life may not get easier, in fact life in this world will continue to be troubled by evil influences and injustice. Even though we lived holy, dedicated lives, in this world we will have trouble.

Apostle Paul was a faithful servant who prayed three times for a thorn in His flesh to be removed, the result was the response, “my grace is sufficient for you.” No one experienced the level of faithfulness to God that Jesus experienced, no one was more obedient to God or faithful in prayer, yet in the garden of Gethsemane, in his greatest hour of need, after praying three times that the cup of suffering be taken away, His prayer was not heard. Prayer is not a magic bullet or an absolute science, prayer is making a request known and trusting our perfect, all-knowing God who does what is best to respond in the way He chooses.