Keep on praying and continue trusting in God

Transcription

1 Keep on praying and continue trusting in God Luke 18:1-8 Emily Carpenter Sermon audio and text available at 1. Perseverance Who here has made New Year resolutions for Keep your hand up if you have managed to keep your resolution? We are now almost a month into the new Year and I suspect if you made one you may already be finding it hard to keep it. According to US news about 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February- you've got two weeks to go, you can do it!! Whether it is around food, exercise, reading the bible, catching up with family and friends, persevering with New years resolutions is hard. Well, this morning/evening our passage is about persevering with prayer. Jesus tells the disciples in verse 1 always pray and don't give up. Its almost a depressing start to the talk really isn t it. The assumption by Jesus is that Prayer is a struggle and we know he is right. How do you feel about prayer? Do you find it hard? I think a lot of Christians find prayer hard. Here are some possible reasons for Why we don t pray Or why we struggle with prayer See if any of these connect with your experience. We think that it makes no difference whether we pray or not, because God will do want he wants to do anyway We think that we don t need to pray because it s ok, we ve got everything under control, God can t listen to every prayer that is said? Perhaps you think praying is a little bit odd, like a crazy person muttering to thin air. We re Too busy to prayer or we forget to pray in the busyness

2 We don t feel we re good enough to deserve an answer to prayer We Don t believe God will hear our prayers and answer them We see instances where God did not answer a prayer, and therefore concluded that God doesn t answer any prayers We re too scared to pray, too afraid of the answer that will be given. We don t know HOW to prayer We believe we can t talk to God after we have failed again and again to live his way Which of those reasons connect with you? It s a long list isn t it and I am sure you might even have others. We all struggle with prayer don t we? Sometimes it feels like it is just easier not to pray rather than face those struggles.. One of the great things that I love about this parable, is that it shows us that Jesus knew that prayer would be a struggle for us. That it would be something which we would need to persevere with. That s why he tells us this parable here in chapter 18. He tells his disciples a parable that they should always pray and not give up. 2. What s with Verse 8b?? what does it have to do with prayer? Illustration I remember about 12 years ago I was at church and during our service there was a time for announcements. And at that time, anyone could say an announcement, so I jumped up and said I have a date and I made a little pause but before I could finish my sentence someone went (woooo! Congratulations and clapping), I went bright red, but I had paused at the wrong moment and I hadn t given the context. I was actually going to finish saying I have a date for our carols service. Context can make a big difference in our understanding of something. So just before we begin delving into the parable, I want to go to the end of verse 8. Because when reading this passage, one of my questions was how does the question Jesus asks in verse 8 fit in with our subject of prayer. What does prayer have to do with Jesus finding Faith on earth?

3 The first thing we need to know is the emphasis Jesus places on prayer in the Christian life. In the gospel of Luke we see prayer time and time again in the life of Jesus, as he teaches the disciples how to pray and about the importance of prayer in their lives. Reformer and Theologian, Martin Luther says To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. What Martin Luther and Jesus are saying is that prayer is a necessary part of your Christian life, it shows that you trust in Jesus. It s hard to have a relationship with someone that you don t communicate with and prayer is how we communicate with God. So as we follow Jesus, prayer is to be part of our whole life. The second thing to understand is that our parable is the ending of a bigger section which starts at chapter 17:20. The Pharisees had asked Jesus about the coming of the Kingdom of God and Jesus uses this opportunity to teach his disciples about this and also the time when the Son of Man will return for judgement day. Jesus has been saying just before our passage that in the last days, when the Son of Man will return, it will be sudden. Jesus compares it to Sodom and Gomorrah which we read a few weeks ago. Judgement came upon Sodom and Gommorah quickly, Lot s wife turned back and she perished along with the city. Jesus is saying that Judgement will come and it will be quick. Some will be taken, Some will be left. Do you wonder what the disciples might have been thinking at this point? perhaps they were feeling afraid, Perhaps they were thinking about how they were going to live in the days before the end comes? maybe feeling unsure about whether they would be the one taken or the one left on the last day? Will they be saved from the ultimate judgement when Jesus returns? Well, Jesus doesn t leave them worried or unsure or feeling defeated, what he says next in our passage is a way of reassuring them. He doesn t just give them the instruction - pray, but he tells them a parable that will encourage them to always pray and not give up. Jesus wants his disciples, those who trust in him to still be following him when he returns and he knows that there will be difficult times ahead. So let s have a look at how this parable motivates us to Pray and not give up.

4 3. So what is this parable telling us? Jesus draws attention to two characters within this parable. We first meet the Judge in verse 2 he is a pretty terrible man. Because he is a judge he has power and authority in his hands. But he misuses this power, and we re told he doesn t fear God or fear man. This judge is not a picture of right justice and goodness, he seems to be a selfish man of injustice. Then in verse 3 we meet the Widow where we find out she has had some injustice that has been done to her, and she is seeking out justice. We see her as someone who is persistent in her plea, she is not leaving until she gets justice from the judge. In society at the time, she would have been on her own, she would be in a hopeless situation, there is no social welfare, no government assistance, she would be considered to be one of the most vulnerable people in the community. She needs the judge to get justice. So we see that this widow is persistent, she frustrates and annoys the Judge to the point where we see him relent and give her the justice that she deserves. In the end the widow gets justice through her persistent pleading. Now people often think that the application of this parable is that, in our prayers we must be like the widow, that we should be pestering God until he answers our prayers. And while there is nothing wrong with continuing to go to God with the same prayers, this is not the main point that we should take away from this particular parable. You see, the main point of this parable is to teach us about who God is and how we relate to him. Jesus in this parable uses comparison and contrast to teach us this. So what does the parable teach us about who God is? In verse 6, Jesus says listen to what the unjust judge says. Now my first thought is, why would I want to listen to that total disaster of a judge? He doesn t give any kind of reason to persevere. But then in verse 7 we realise that Jesus wants to contrast the Judge and God. Jesus is saying this: If this Judge who doesn t care about God, and who doesn t care about people.. If this kind of a Judge eventually gives justice to the persistent widow.. HOW MUCH MORE will a compassionate God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? We re to see God

5 to have the opposite character of the judge. The judge was unloving, evil, ungracious, merciless, and unjust. But God is loving, good, gracious, merciful, and just. We are His chosen ones and are not left alone to fend for ourselves. Isn t that such an encouraging thing to know? To know that when we pray, we re not praying to an unknown God, or to know that when we pray that our words, whatever they might be, are being said to a God who loves us, who listens, and who loves justice and righteousness. But what about these two sentences how does verses 7 and 8, fit in? They are a little hard to grasp. When Jesus says, Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. Do you get a little uneasy with the word quickly? You might be thinking to yourself, quickly I don t see God acting quickly with my prayers and you might say.. SEE.. God doesn t listen to our prayers. Why bother praying to God, it looks like he isn t listening So what s happening here? What is Jesus saying? The trick is to understand how Jesus is using the word quickly. It s not quickly as in it will be immediate instead, he s saying when justice comes, it will come suddenly. The speed when it comes, will be quick. it's not quickly as in it will be immediate and justice will come in a short period of time., he's saying when justice comes, it will come suddenly. Having said that it's also important for us to realise that... God is not putting off justice just because he can, like the Judge. God is longing for justice to be given, and he will bring justice to all people. And when he does, it s going to be at the exact appropriate and right time. However, God s idea of the right time might be a little different to our idea of the right time. I think about the passage from 2 Peter 3:8 and it helps us to understand God s quickness.. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

6 God has good reasons for delaying. One of the reasons is that he is waiting for more people to turn to him, to follow him, so that they do not perish. So when Jesus says that God will see that they get justice, and quickly. It means he will bring it justice at the right moment in history and it will be sudden. I know that sometimes, we can be discouraged by God s silence. But I think we need to learn that in the silence our loving God is answering us, whether we see his working or not, for he delights to answer his children s prayers. Sometimes the silence means that God s answer is a loving no or wait. 4. Knowing who our God is keeps us praying and continuing in our Faith So, have you felt the effects of this parable? Have you been motivated and encouraged from this parable to always pray and trust God to the end. I like to think of a Christian life as running a marathon race because it takes great perseverance to do both. and we re all at different stages of our Christian life, some of us are just starting out, some of us are near the end, some of us are in the middle of the marathon about to hit the wall. In what state is God going to find us? Will we be running or walking, or limping, but continuing to move forward in our race, or would find us having given up? Well, this parable reminds us that prayer is worth it, and that we should be praying often, because we have an AMAZING, sovereign and powerful God, who wants to hear from us, his chosen people who he loves. And he wants to see us trusting in him right to the end of the finish line. Knowing who our God is keeps us praying and trusting in him. We ve already mentioned that at times it is hard to pray, even Martin Luther who said I m too busy every day not to spend the first 3 hours every morning in prayer, had blocks of days in his life where he did not pray. It s so easy to feel bad about not having the right kind of prayer life. We know that we should pray, but sometimes life and barriers get in our way to have a healthy prayer life. We can struggle to pray consistently. So I just want to finish of this morning/evening to think about how to pray, how we can begin to enjoy prayer and not let it feel like a duty or to feel bad about praying.

7 1. Remember the truth of who our God is..if we know that he loves us, and that he is in control over everything and he himself longs for and can bring justice, then we can know that all we bring to him whether small or big things, he will listen and he will answer in his infinite wisdom. 2. Anyone can pray! Some people I have talked to are worried and unsure of how to pray. Sometimes we get intimidated by how to structure our prayers or even to know what to say. If that s you? God wants you to talk with him about anything and everything. The great thing is that we can talk to God, it's ok to use simple words and to stumble as you pray, God hears what you pray. We can pray about what we do during our day, we can pray for our struggles, we can thank God for the good things that happen in our life. But so that our prayers are not only focused upon us, we can be thinking about praying for what God teaches us to pray. Jesus teaches us to pray through the Lord s prayer. Start with that. Go back to Marty s very first sermons that he did here at Waitara on the Lord s prayer, learn how you can pray with it. Pray throughout your day, pray for the places and things that you do. As you travel to and from work or school, you can pray for your work colleagues, you can pray for your children and for their friends. You can pray for your children s teachers. You can pray for those that you know who aren t Christian, that they may come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. You can pray for the injustice around the world, pray that God will bring justice in those places. Start with small prayers throughout the day every day.. Thank God for something during the day, Say sorry to God for something, pray for one thing for yourself, pray for one thing for each person in your family, pray for one thing that s been in the news that day. If you start small, and stumble through your prayers, that's ok, just start talking to God, and through God s grace, it will become easier to pray to our wonderful God every day. 3. We can and should learn how to pray from our brothers and sisters in Christ.. If you find it hard to pray on your own, I encourage you to find someone who will pray with you. If you can come and join the prayer session that we have once a month here at church. Get together with others, and pray with them.

8 Lastly, I want to finish off with a challenge for our whole church. I have 5 of the same book which is called Enjoying Your Prayer Life : which is a short booklet by Michael Reeves that you might be able to finish in minutes. I have found this a very helpful book to be encouraged to pray. I would love to see this book being read by everyone here at church!! So this is my challenge to all of us. I d like at least (10, 20, 10, 10) people from this service to come up to me at the end of the service, down here at the front of the church, and write your name in one of these books. And the first name on the list will have the book to read, then when they finish that book, they ll find the next person on the list and pass the book onto them. There s no time limit, but it would be fantastic that the book doesn t get stuck at a person. So if I can get 10/20/10/10 or more people, please come to me at the end of the service and we ll begin writing the list of names! I want to finish with words from JC RYLE a bishop from England who said Let us resolve to pray on steadily, patiently, perseveringly, and let us never doubt that it does us good. However long the answer may be in coming, still let us pray on. Whatever sacrifice and self- denial it may cost us, still let us pray on, pray always, pray without ceasing, and continue in prayer. Let us arm our minds with this parable, and while we live, whatever we make time for, let us make time for prayer. JC RYLE When the son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth? Will he find all of us here having faith and trust in him? I pray that he will, will you pray? Heavenly Father, we praise you that you are sovereign over all things, that you are all powerful, and that you love each one of us. We thank you that you love justice and you have a plan to make every wrong in this world right. We thank you that you have the exact right time when you will return and bring judgement to the whole world and we pray sovereign Lord, that you might help all of us here to never stop trusting in you. Lord you know our hearts, and you know where we might struggle in our prayer life, and I pray that you might be daily reminding us of your goodness, and that we might never stop talking to you and loving you. In Jesus name we pray