Title: House of Prayer Prevailing (Persistent) Prayer - Mark 18:1-8 Aim: The imp of persisting in prayer pray & not lose heart. Intro: Andi & I enjoy

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Antonia Cobb
5 years ago
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1 Title: House of Prayer Prevailing (Persistent) Prayer - Mark 18:1-8 Aim: The imp of persisting in prayer pray & not lose heart. Intro: Andi & I enjoy space movies Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. Because of that, we also have enjoyed a movie that is a spoof on such genre Galaxy Quest. The main character, played by Tim Allen, who in the movie plays a has-been star of a defunct TV show, Galaxy Quest, about space adventure. Like Trekkies now, the cast of the show had a following & they did various shows & store openings where they signed autographs & such. On the old show, his theme saying was Never give up! Never surrender! In an altered form, that ought to be our determination in the matter of prayer. In prayer, we should always surrender to God, but we should never give up nor quit praying. Persistence is imp in prayer. Persistence, according to the dictionary is The act of continuing firmly in some course or state, despite opposition or difficulties. It is insistence, endurance, perseverance, staying the course. Persistence is a key to prevailing prayer, & who doesn t want to prevail in prayer! Theme (2 more wks): House of Prayer God has called His Church to be a house/people of prayer, regularly encountering Him spending time w/him, drawing near to Him, enjoying Him, petitioning Him, listening to Him, etc. to the end that our lives are transformed & we become His instruments to help others encounter Him, too. As God s people of prayer, there are times often & in regard to many concerns, when we must practice persistence in prayer. God honors persistent prayer! Persistent prayer prevails! That s the encouragement Jesus wanted to give His disciples (& us) in Luke 18:1-8 [READ]. A parable is a story not necessary true - intended to teach a truth. The wd parable literally means a placing of 1 thing by the side of another, juxtaposition, as of ships in battle. It is a comparing of 1 thing w/another (Strong s). Jesus might well have said, Listen, prayer should be like this: In a certain city there was Luke tells us what Jesus purpose for telling this parable was to teach His disciples/us to always pray & not lose heart. That exhortation to always pray is 1

2 really found in numerous places in Scripture, in both OT & NT. In 3 of Paul s epistles we are exhorted to always pray. I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray w/out ceasing always be in touch/connection w/god, communing w/him, aware of Him, responsive to Him. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication w/thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. In everything, pray! Colossians 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it w/thanksgiving. In vs12, Paul gave the example of Epaphras, who was always struggling on your behalf in his prayers. Always pray, even tho it may be labor/struggle! Do you always pray? W/out ceasing? In/about everything? Are you devoted to prayer? The apostles needed to be, & so do we. Always pray & not lose heart don t become discouraged in prayer. Have you ever been discouraged in regards to prayer? Last wk feeling that prayers bouncing off ceiling, not getting anywhere. That can be discouraging, tho we know that God does indeed hear every prayer of His children. We can by God s grace deal w/hindrances to prayer (unbelief, unforgiveness, sin, unvalued relationships). But why else would we become discouraged in prayer? What are other obstacles in our minds to effective prayer? Several things come to mind. Feeling unworthy of approaching God? Told in Heb.4:16 that because of the atoning work of Christ we who are God s children can w/confidence draw near to the throne of grace, being sure that we will receive mercy & find grace to help in time of need. Has there been too much failure in your life, Christian walk, so convinced God won t hear you? Promised in I John 1:9 that If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Have you prayed & prayed about something & seemingly gotten no answer? Your question to God might be the same as the Psalmist (6:3), O Lord, how long? That s when our text comes into play. Jesus told this parable for you. In the parable, the main characters were an unrighteous judge & a widow. We re told the unrighteous judge neither feared God nor respected 2

3 man. As David Brown wrote, he defied the vengeance of God & despised the opinion of man. In those days, widows were often very vulnerable, defenseless. The widow in Jesus parable was in some kind of conflict w/someone & by her request it seems she was being oppressed, ill-treated. She may have had little or no means of income, depending on whatever she could sell of what her husband left her. Maybe someone was taking advantage of her, not paying her a fair price for something, or whatever. In the story, it doesn t matter what the situation was, but she needed help. Went to this judge, whose responsibility it was to hear cases/disputes & give a just judgment. That s all the widow was asking for justice. Give me justice against my adversary. Vindicate me; give me legal protection. We re told that this widow kept coming to the judge because at 1 st (& for a while) he refused her request. He said no to a direct question expecting an affirmative answer. We re led to think this widow s request was legitimate & the right thing to do was to help her, but he would not. She didn t give up, but persisted & prevailed. She kept coming to the judge, asking the same thing, & the judge grew tired of it. He finally said to himself, I don t care what God thinks, what is right, & I don t care about this widow, but if I don t do something soon, she s going to keep bothering me & drive me nuts beat me down by her continual coming. The wds beat me down means to beat black & blue, smite so as to cause bruises; to give one intolerable annoyance (Strong s). So, he helped the woman, gave her justice end of story. But, why did Jesus tell this story in regard to prayer. Was He saying that we have to wear God out? Beat Him down? Is that even possible? What did Jesus mean? Vs6b-7 are key to our understanding. The judge had no relationship to this widow. She had to overcome his reluctance by her persistence. We who are God s elect born again children of God thru faith in Christ, His redeemed ought not think that God is reluctant to answer our prayers. He is not. God our heavenly Father is just & righteous, of perfect character & infinite love for His children. He is 3

4 kind & gracious. He knows us & He will give justice & He won t delay long. So why do we sometimes pray & pray & seemingly nothing happens even for years? Let s consider several possibilities. 1) Long to us is not long to God. In his 2 nd epistle Peter addressed the scoffers who say that Jesus is not coming again Look how long it s been already. II Peter 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that w/the Lord 1 day is as a 1000 yrs, & 1000 yrs as 1 day. What seems like a long time to us is but a millisecond to God. God s not in a hurry, but He is always on time. We re counseled in Scripture over & over Wait for the Lord. But in our computer age & instant everything we don t like to wait for anything. That doesn t deter God. You might as well give in & learn to wait for/on God. The process of waiting is like a spiritual sawhorse/vise in the workshop of God. Because we are His children thru faith in Christ, because He indeed loves us, He is ever & in everything working to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom.8:29). Leads to 2 nd thought: 2) Perhaps God is doing the work of refining. David Gudzik wrote, The delays in (answer to) our prayer are not needed to change God (as the widow s persistence changed the unrighteous judge), but to change us. Waiting is a transforming element. God is at work for our good in our waiting for His answer. He is refining us. Perhaps God is refining our prayers. If like me, sometimes you re lazy & you pray w/out much thought. We need to slow down in prayer & think about what is really needed in our lives or in the lives of others for whom we pray. Have you ever prayed, God, how should I pray for this person? Situation? What do you want in this person s life/situation? Allow God, by His Spirit to refine your prayer. Perhaps He is refining our character. If praying for someone s salvation Godly prayer but something in your life might be hindering that person from coming to faith in Christ (no excuse for them). God maybe wants to work not only in that person s life, but yours, to take that barrier out of the way. Or say for instance, if looking for a soulmate/spouse, but due to some hurt in your past or anger in your life, 4

5 you re not able to love as you ought, don t you think God might be working to change you, that you might be a proper soulmate/spouse to that person He has in mind for you? If you re asking God for provision of something you need, but you haven t learned to be a good steward of what you have, maybe God wants to teach you that 1 st, then supply that need. Seek to align w/god in your prayers. Perhaps God is refining our passion. The widow in the parable was desperate & she repeatedly cried out to the judge to help her. I wonder if sometimes God would say to us, Come on, have a little passion! How much do you want this? Do we cry for our children s salvation/restoration to God? Do we groan w/in for the work of the kingdom of God in this world? Do we genuinely ache for our children/ grandchildren to be true disciples of Christ (or are we satisfied w/their being good kids)? Do we weep for the unborn, aborted children? Do we weep for the mothers/fathers faced w/such a choice & think that s their best one, because they don t think they have the means to care for a child? Do we weep for the hungry, homeless, broken? Do we ask God what He would have us do? 3) Imp to understand that God is always working on a much larger/grander scale than just our prayers or the matter of our lives. He s expanding His kingdom, continuing to build His Church. That s not to say that God doesn t have time for the little stuff He most graciously does. But everything is being aligned for His purposes. Even in the matters of our lives, He is working on the big picture. The answer to a specific prayer may be step 209 in a 300 step process. He s working on it, carrying out His purposes for us & His timing is right, but we can t see it yet. And, He s not just working in our lives, but in the lives of others who will be impacted by His answer to our prayer. Or maybe He s working in someone else who is a part of His answer to our prayer. The point is, God is working. He is faithful. He hears your prayers & the answer is coming in His best time, for our best. And the point is we must trust our Father, the righteous judge, to do what is right at the right time. Jesus asked, When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? 5

6 Jesus is now & will be when He comes looking for the kind of faith that prays w/out losing heart, from those who always surrender & never give up. Persistence in prayer is imp. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking & keep believing. Persist in faith. God has said, My house shall be called a house of prayer. We re coming to the end of this emphasis on prayer, but let us not come to the end of prayer itself. Let us ever be His people of prayer! 6

Title: House of Prayer Prayer Requires & Creates Restful Trust & Confident Hope - Matthew 7:7-11 Aim: The imp of persistent passion & also humble

Title: House of Prayer Prayer Requires & Creates Restful Trust & Confident Hope - Matthew 7:7-11 Aim: The imp of persistent passion & also humble trust in prayer. Intro: I deeply love our granddaughters