03 - Persevering Prayer 2016 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

Pray Through

Part 2

"Persevering Prayer"

Luke 18:1 "Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”

6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Last time we talked about the three ways God answers prayer--Yes, No, or Wait.

But there is another way God answers prayer that I want to talk about today that is connected to the "wait answer--When God says "PERSEVERE" in your praying.

Waiting on God is not a passive, twiddle your thumbs, do nothing act.

It is a verb....we wait "in faith," we wait "in obedience," we wait "expecting."

And we wait by PERSEVERING in our prayers!

________________

Another word for persevering prayer is "IMPORTUNITY."

We call it IMPORTUNATE PRAYER, which literally means "Shameless persistence."

In the parable, Jesus describes Persevering or Importunate Prayer as being passionate and heartfelt with a touch of urgency....

"...who CRY to Him day and night..."

The word "cry" here is used to describe an urgent distress-call; to summon someone intensely, because you're sorely needing a response of help.

James describes persevering prayer the same way:

James 5:16 "The earnest (heartfelt, persistent) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]."

________________

Now, this parable about the unjust judge and widow follows directly on the heels of a major prophetic discourse from Jesus---both of what the disciples would soon face, and of the end times in which we live now.

In Luke 17 the Lord predicts troublesome times ahead....

Men will be worldly, religious deception will be epidemic, a man of God will be as hard to find as they were in Sodom.

Universal apathy toward God and His call to repent will be the prevailing attitude.

And persecution of the church will grow intense.

_________________

So, Jesus says in the parable that follows that the major weapon given us in times like these is bold, persistent, unflagging prayer to God.

He says that we ought to "always pray" and not faint, (which means to turn coward or to lose heart).

Prayer, says Jesus, will be your strength, even if it seems God tarries in His answer, we are not to "turn coward or lose heart," but trust that He is true to His Word.

______________

Now, The parable of the unjust judge is easy to understand in that Jesus is contrasting our Heavenly Father with an unjust judge who "doesn't fear God nor respect men."

His point is, There IS no contrast--God is the opposite of this judge, which is one of the parable's points.

The second character in the parable is a widow who has somehow been wronged and wants legal justice to be dispensed.

Jesus points out that the widow REFUSES TO QUIT in her requests for justice.

This is made crystal clear when the unjust judge says:

"Though I don't fear God nor respect men, I will avenge her, lest by her 'continual coming' (there's the perseverance) she weary me."

Then Jesus makes the application: "Shall not God (who, unlike the judge, truly loves and cares for you) avenge His own children, who cry out 'day and night' to Him?"

_______________________

So much of Jesus' teaching on prayer contains the encouragement to "persevere in prayer" and not faint.

His famous admonition to "ask, seek, and knock" is in a verb tense meaning "keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking."

And the disciples took Him at His word!

We see their prayer passion and perseverance all through the New Testament:

Acts 1:14 “They all joined constantly in prayer.”

In Col. 4:12 the apostle Paul extorts the new church, “Devote yourselves to prayer being watchful and thankful.”

Phil. 4:5-6“The Lord is near. (So) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything…present your requests to God.

Eph. 6:18“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,…Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

They persevered in their praying!

________________

Yet, so often when we turn to God in prayer, we find ourselves quitting when we don't see results in the time frame we had in mind.

But quitting is never the answer!

ILLUS: A teenager had decided to quit high school, saying he was just fed up with it all. His father was trying to convince him to stay with it.

“Son”, he said, “you just can’t quit. All the people who are remembered in history didn’t quit. Abe Lincoln, he didn’t quit; Thomas Edison, he didn’t quit; Douglas MacArthur, he didn’t quit; Elmo McCringle…”

“Who,” the son burst in, “Who’s Elmo McCringle?”

“See,” the father replied, “you don’t remember him…. because Elmo quit!”

When it comes to prayer, We need to be like the postage stamp that sticks to a thing until it gets there!

____________________

I believe that too often we assume God's not answering the prayer so we quit, when it's really a matter of persevering.

And this is Jesus's message in this parable....He's saying:

Don't give up, don't be discouraged, even when it seems that God is not answering your prayer, and even when it seems that God is working against the answer to your prayer, God answers prayer!

_______________________

A great quote from author Andrew Murray is worth reading,

'When faith has taken its stand upon God's word and the name of Jesus, and has yielded itself to the leading of the Spirit to seek only God's will and honor in its prayer, it need not be discouraged by delay. It knows from scripture that the power of believing prayer is simply irresistible, real faith can never be disappointed."

______________________

Prayer warrior George Mueller wrote about the longest-lasting prayer of his life....he says:

"The great point is never to give up until the answer comes. I have been praying 63 years and eight months for one man's conversion. He is not saved yet, but he will be - how can it be otherwise? I am praying!'

The day came when Mueller's friend received Christ, but it didn't come until Mueller's coffin was being lowered into the grave at his funeral. His friend saw his lifeless body, thought of his godly life, fell under conviction and got saved!

________________________

Three simple reasons to persevere in prayer and not quit:

Persevering Prayer accumulates in heaven...

In John's Revelation he describes an "...angel (in heaven) with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people, to offer upon the golden altar before the throne. 4 And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out." (8:3-4)

This reveals that the accumulated, persistent prayers of God's people over time had finally reached a point of ripe fullness and God answered in power!

ILLUS: Most people see prayer like a microwave meal--I give God my request, hit the 60 sec button, and out should come my answer.

But how about looking at your prayer like a seed that goes down into the ground, lies dormant a while, then puts down little roots, and finally breaks up from the ground and blossoms!

Like the daily watering of a flower seed finally brings it bursting above the ground in beautiful display, so the daily persistence of a praying person waters the request until it is answered!

All the pray-er need do is patiently water the request with persevering prayer!

____________________

In other words, some of the best answers to prayer take time.

Andrew Murray writes, "Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious."

So...One reason to persevere in our prayers is to keep them watered with faith until they are ripe...

__________________

A second reason for why we must persevere in prayer is...

II. While preparing the answer FOR you, He's also preparing YOU for the answer....

There are things we pray for that are absolutely within the framework of God's will...

But if He were to answer them immediately, we could not handle the answer.....

Our maturity level would not be sufficient...

Our life's experiences are not yet enough to equip us with the wisdom to handle some of what we ask for WHEN we ask for them.

You see, God not only knows WHAT we need, He knows WHEN we need it!

And part of what God uses to prepare us for the answer is to call us to persevering prayer, which 1.) develops our faith, 2.) drives us deeper into the Word, and 3.) hammers patience into our souls.

Any time we have to persevere, God's hand is all over that to build the character that will enable us to handle the answer!

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to persevere. 4 And perseverance develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady" (Rom. 5:3-5).

After a season of persevering prayer, the answer is not only ready for us, but we are ready for the answer!

_______________________

And finally, another reason we must sometimes persevere in prayer is...

III. Warfare is involved....

The unseen forces of Satan have united together to hinder your prayer, which is what I want to deal with next time, but let me leave you with this...

Satan and his demons are real, and they are totally opposed to God's purposes for our lives.

The Bible reveals him to be one who will literally attempt to fight off the answers to our prayers...

Paul the Apostle told the Thessalonian's church, "...we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan HINDERED us" (1 Thes. 2:18).

Twice he said the same thing to the Roman church: "Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that many times I purposed to come to you, and was HINDERED..." (1:15)

And, "For which cause also I have been much HINDERED from coming to you" (15:22).

So...DON'T QUIT today!

God sees your effort, has heard your cry, and will soon show Himself as the GOD OF BREAKTHROUGH as you persevere in prayer!