Pray Now
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: The book of Luke begins with an explanation of why it was written; “Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.” It was written to help and encourage Theophilus. The book of Luke can still help and encourage you today. This parable in Luke’s gospel comes with an explanation in the beginning which is unusual, “they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
Do you have deep longings that weigh you down and discourage you because they are not being realized? Do your family and friends have deep longings or troubles? Do they need help, are they calling out for help?
Have you lost heart or need encouraging? Have we as church lost heart and stopped praying for these deep longings within us or our family? Have we lost heart with the state of things in our community? This parable told by Jesus encourages us to pray and not lose heart.
The parable of “The Persistent Widow”
1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.
3 “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’
4 “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said;
7 now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?
8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
What are we looking at this morning?
1. The Parable
2. The Point of the Parable
3. Our Part in the Parable
The Parable Luke 18:1
1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
a. Why tell the parable?
When things are going tough in our lives we want to quite. We want to stop fighting and just give up - it’s too hard. Sometimes, when it gets this way we get around to praying about it. But if it doesn’t stop right away we stop praying. We have to remember to keep praying - to never give up. This parable reminds us to never give up.
b. This is Show and Tell
Jesus is using this parable to show us a situation and then tell us what it means. How many of you remember show and tell? You get up in front of the class and show your classmates your favorite thing, something special or weird, and then you tell them about it. Well that is what this parable is doing. Jesus is showing us what was happening and then telling us how it ended. Like all parables there is a point to the story. A lesson to be learned. We’ll get to that lesson soon enough.
c. The characters
There are three characters in this parable. The judge, the opponent and the widow.
i. The Judge Luke 18:2
2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.
Wow - this guy doesn’t fear God or respect man. He doesn’t seem to care about anything. He probably likes having the power of the position. He isn’t there to help people, he’s there to fill some twisted need in his soul.
ii. The Opponent Luke 18:3
3 “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’
There always has to be a bad guy. There is always somebody trying to take advantage of a situation. There is always someone who wants more money, more power, they just want more. We aren’t given any reason why this guy is the opponent but based on our lives we can come up with something that fits.
iii. The Widow Luke 18:3
Not much information about the widow either. But if we think about the way things were we can imagine that she was having a hard time. A woman without a man to provide was not well off. If she was younger and had children that would have made things even harder. She would have been struggling. And then we add the opponent. What if the husband died and left her with debt. The opponent may be trying to take the children as slaves, he may have been trying to take their home and land. Not a good situation. She needs help, she needs legal protection like the parable says.
So the parable is going to tell us what happened in this story. How does it work out and the lesson to come.
2. The Point of the Parable
a. The Judge - He doesn’t care, just like so much of the world today. The worse part is that there might be something between the opponent and the judge - their buddies. The judge owes the guy a favor or they are just good friends. But he seems to be a lot like other people - he wants to be left alone.
b. The Opponent - He wants to take advantage of the widow, or you. How many of you have someone in your life that wants something you have? Somebody wants to drag you into court. We all have one, sometimes we don’t see the someone in person but they are there.
c. The Widow - Well, she has issues… She needs help. She has debts, no way to work or make money, children to care for, what a mess. On top of having to live life this guy is trying to take what she does have.
So we have three people tied together for good or ill. The story can work out many different ways.
What about each of you? Are any of you free of this? Businesses want to take more of what you have, the bank needs their share, you have to eat and care for yourself. And then there is the opponent that pushes us over the top. We want to scream and call out for all of it to stop. Help me Lord! Jesus knows what you are going through, He sees you, He is Beer-lahai-roi the God who Sees. The point of the parable, He sees the injustice in your life, He sees the injustice all around us. He knows, He cares, He loves you. He wants to help, but we have to ask. Sometimes a whole lot more than we want too.
3. Our Part in the Parable
a. What is He showing us to do? Luke 18:4-5
4 “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ”
i. Pray continually! 1 Thess 5:17
17 pray without ceasing;
Keep praying 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. Do it continuously about everything. This parable tells us to pray without ceasing for that one thing, for that legal remedy against the opponent or that deep desire of your heart.
ii. Don’t give up!
If you are praying without ceasing then you won’t give up - right. Well, these things don’t necessarily go together. You might pray without ceasing but you give up on praying for that one thing that you really need because you never see an answer to that prayer.
b. What is Jesus showing us about Himself in this parable? Luke 18:6-7
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said;
7 now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?
i. He sees you. Gen 16:13
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
He is Beer-lahai-roi the God who Sees. This name was given to Him by Hagar, Abram’s concubine when see ran away from Sarai because she was being mistreated. Can anybody relate - Abram, the judge, Sarai, the opponent and Hagar the one who needs help. He saw her then and he sees you now.
ii. He listens to you.
The unrighteous judge said he would finally give your protection because of her constant nagging. Hear in verses 7 & 8 Jesus says God will do it and do it quickly for His elect. For His children He will come to their aid and He won’t take to long to do it.
iii. He loves you. John 15:13
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He laid down His life for you. He substituted His life for yours so that you could be reconciled to God. There is no more enmity to get in the way with a personal relationship with your heavenly Father.
Exit: If you are God’s child ask Him for everything you need and do it as often as you need. He knows what is going on in your life, and He knows what your deepest desires are because He sees you and listens to you. But, best of all He loves you. He gave Himself up for you. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Him now is the time. Accept Him as Lord and Savior so that you may be a child of God.
So, What can we take away from this parable individually and collectively?
What has this parable shown you?
Are there things you could be bringing to Him in prayer?
Can we pray and not give up until there is an answer?
