Prayer
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!
It always pays to pray:
I start with that phrase, and I’m sure I will end with it…
Our faithful persistence in prayer WILL CAUSE a Holy God to incline his ear toward us and cause the direction of our life to be altered in a way that we’ll know without a doubt that God has heard our prayer.
Someone said it this way:
Pray as if everything depends on God
I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it. John Wesley
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” John Bunyan
Prayer in its highest form is agonizing soul sweat.” Leonard Ravenhill
I’ll give you 1 more:
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” John Bunyan
5 examples here on this thought of prayer… if I were to continue, it would seem endless examples…
I might even find myself looking at the Apostle Paul… or Peter… or one of the other 12 Apostles…
Instead…. We’re going to look at the One who the 12 Apostles said to Him… Master, teach us to pray….
No wonder James said that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Because we have learned it from the greatest of them all… the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was something different about this Man name Jesus…
The Apostles had watched Him in every area of His life… and what they saw in Him was like they never saw in any other.
As I begin this morning, please allow me to read Luke 18: 1 - 8 as I get started here.
Luke 18:1-8
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
I want to begin this by traveling back to verse number one… which has a phrase that I would like to rest on:
1 …“men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”
When I see the word “men” here in scripture… I think of another verse, which I won’t dwell on, but I do want to bring out a couple of points if I can.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong
The phrase "Quit ye like men" means to act like men, be courageous, and stand firm in the faith.
The phrase "quit you like men" not only encourages but it is a challenge for us as men to live and act with courage, resolve, and strength… those characteristics associated with manliness.
It is meant to call men to stand firm in their faith and to act with courage
The word "quit" in this phrase, doesn't mean to abandon or stop, but rather to "prepare yourselves" or "act like men.
When we pray, it is no different than preparing ourselves to go to battle…
Every day we are in a battle with the flesh and the devil…
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I say to you, that men with bended knees… calling out to God is taller than the highest mountain.
I can’t help but believe that even Satan and the demons of hell trembles when they see even the least of saints on their knees in prayer…
As we look back at Luke 18:1…
Once again, we see this phrase… “men ought always to pray and not faint…”
The pastor said it well a couple of weeks ago when he said that prayer is never easy… And if you think that it is then you need to try it and see what happens.
You hardly begin to pray, and your mind begins to think about the business of life…
Perhaps it is some pain in the body that decided to flare up as you begin to pray…
Or like the Preacher said in that message, the phone rings…
I think about what Job said in Job 12: 9… “who knoweth not in all these things that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this”
In other words… Nothing catches our God by surprise, Whether it be the pain that hit us at the most in opportune time… or if that phone decides to ring…
Prayer is not meant to be something you do when you feel up to it… But the Bible says to “pray without ceasing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16 which is a challenge for men to pray continually.
It means to be in a "prayerful" state, frequently speaking to God in prayer.
Prayer causes us to realize that God is always present and with us.
Prayer is that, that causes us to turn our lives toward God.
The scripture that the Lord has given to us this morning, reminds us of the importance of consistency in prayer…
As the Lord had done several times in the past, he uses an illustration that we can relate to.
In our scripture reading, there is a judge who as the Bible says, had no fear of God and had no regard for Man.
He may have had an important position… But his disposition had much to be desired…
But here we have this woman who becomes the focal point of our thought as she goes before this judge to be avenged of her adversaries…
Now this woman is at wits end as she comes before this judge… And she needs for him to help her with this grievous problem..
Unfortunately, for her, he has no fear of God and he has no regard for Man… And he could really care less what she’s going through.
Nonetheless… She is persistent as she comes before this judge, not just a couple of times but several times…
Not only does the scripture indicate that she come before this judge several times…
But you have to imagine there was a timeframe that was included here…
How long was she persistent to come before this judge …
For ever how long it took for her to get this judge to listen to her and to do something for her…
She continued to come before him and seek his help.
As a matter of fact, she bothered this judge so many times that in his mind he begin to say to himself:
It sounds to me like I’m going to have to do something for this woman or else she’s going to keep pestering the life out of me concerning her adversaries…
Our faithful, persistent, running to God in prayer… Will one day pay off.
For unlike this judge here in scripture, we have a Judge who sits above the Heavens, who declares to you and I this morning that a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without him knowing about it.
Hebrews 4:15 "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin…
The word that comes to my heart this morning is the word agonizing…
To be able to agonize with God in such a way, that I can just feel myself grabbing a hold of the horns of the altar as I call out to God in prayer.
Not only is their importance in prayer, but there is an importance in “when we pray”.
We should always start early in the day as we begin to pray…
I understand that we never know what one day is going to be from another day to another day…
But no matter what the day brings…
1 Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Would to God that we could get up every morning and say GOOD MORNING LORD instead of GOOD LORD MORNING …
AS I WIND DOWN:
If I could I’d like to bring you a thought on this word “faint” in verse #1
In Luke 18:1, "faint" means to lose heart, become discouraged, or give up in prayer and perseverance. It emphasizes the importance of persistent prayer and not giving up when facing challenges
The Greek word translated as "faint" in this context (ekkakeo) carries the meaning of "to be faint-hearted" or "to be purposefully negligent". It suggests a loss of courage, a weakening of spirit, and a tendency to give up.
How many times have we prayed… And prayed… And it seems like there’s no answer. It seems like that the ceiling is brass above us and our prayer is not reaching heaven.
Jesus is telling us through this parable that he is greater than all of our problems…
Jesus is telling us that he is greater than all of the upsets that life throws our way…
Jesus is telling us that when we are tempted to give up… When we are tempted to give in…That
The Lord reminds us in:
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
It was Charles Spurgeon, who said these words… And I quote: “The most gifted Church is not always in the healthiest condition”. “Unquote”
A gifted Church is a church that has “bathed” itself in prayer… not just corporately, but individually.
Are your lives… individually… in a position where you can pray?
Let’s keep our communication between us and God open…
Let’s not fall into the temptation of giving up or giving in…
It always pays to pray…
That’s all I have this morning.
Love you.
