Pray With Faith

Scripture

Luke 18:1–8 “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?””

Intro

Regrets in life

Some things I’m still incredibly embarrassed about

What if things had gone better?

Who knows how things would have turned out, but things turned out okay for me

Sometimes, what we think we want is really not what we want

How should we pray?

What should we pray for?

What this passage is NOT about

Jesus is not saying that your prayers bother God

The unrighteous judge is set up in opposition to our righteous Father in heaven

God tore the veil to the Holy of Holies through the death of Jesus in order for us to be able to go to Him

God invites us to Him

Jesus made the way possible

Through our High Priest we can go to the throne of grace

How should we pray?

Praying in Jesus’ name

John 14:13–14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

We have to ask, “What would Jesus pray?”

Remove the log from your own eye

In praying for the situations and people around us, put yourself on the chopping block first

Am I the problem?

What can I adjust?

I need God’s peace, joy, righteousness, wisdom

Then we can better pray for those around us

Rough situations

Sometimes we are in a situation that is rough and not so much our fault

We can certainly pray for those around us, but again, what do I need

I need God’s peace, joy, righteousness, wisdom

How can I be a witness to them?

Pray for your enemies

How God answers prayers

Sometimes there is an immediate miraculous answer

Often times we still have work to do

We pray for peace and God plants a seed of peace in your heart that you can feel

When the situation comes up again we have a choice, hold on to that peace or let go of peace and grab hold of worry, fear, anger

The more we hold onto the peace of God the greater it grows in our hearts and the easier it is to do

We still must deal with the situation but now we are able to do it with peace

“Justice against my adversary.”

Satan more than people

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

God’s justice will certainly be done

You may be fired, persecuted, executed, but they can’t take your peace, joy, or salvation

God will enact His justice at the right time

What about healing?

Why doesn’t God heal?

God certainly can heal

We are to trust God that He knows best

We all have to die at some point

Paul prayed 3 times for the thorn to be removed and God eventually said, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

God’s grace is always sufficient and we can still pray for healing

What I know people need and God supplies:

Peace

Patience

Joy

Righteousness

That we can continue being a witness of God’s goodness

“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

Pray with faith

Faith that God hears you

Faith that God wants you to come to Him

Faith that He does and is answering prayers

Faith that God will satisfy your needs

Faith in who God is not faith in what I want

Trust God to work it out in His time and in His way

The widow came to the judge because she knew he could do something about her situation. Go to God knowing that He can do something about your situation.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”