Persistent and Humble

Learning to Ask

The way God designed us and equipped us from birth is amazing. We could talk all day about how we’re made and how it all works together so we can navigate and deal with the challenges we face.

You were not born with the knowledge of how to tie your shoes. You had the brain power. At some point you had the desire. What you needed was help. A parent. A teacher who could teach you how.

Hopefully, by now, we can all tie our own shoes; that is as long as we can still reach our feet.

I’m a big fan of slip on’s, slip in’s, velcro, and zippers now.

And we grew from there. We had the brain power to add 1 + 1 and get 2. We had the raw material to learn to read “Dick and Jane”. But someone had to teach us how to apply what we had to face the challenge of learning to add and read.

I’ve talked a lot about Sara’s love of cooking. She was born w/ the basics then had a mother who taught her how to apply those basics. Now, she’s eager to learn more, apply what her mom taught her, apply what she learned about Dick and Jane and Spot and the ball. Study for herself and face the challenge of my restrictive diet. She is knocking it out of the park.

I’ve shared my health challenges w/ you. Related now, I’m turning 65 in April. Medicare time. I’m working on applying. I filled out the application online and then had some questions to make sure I did it right. So, I called to talk to an agent and asked for help.

Online applications are still relatively new to all of us old ppl. Am I clicking the right boxes?

I call and ask for help. Did I do it right? Do I need to make any changes?

What if, when I reached the rep on the phone, I started making demands, arrogantly barking orders? That rep doesn’t need that. And, if I want help, then I’ve got to learn how to ask for help. And a humble approach is always the best approach.

Would you please…? Could you help me? I might have messed up.

This applies to everything I’ve just talked about and more.

Imagine, you child coming into the room demanding you teach them how to tie their shoe. And, if you’re in the middle of something and tell them you will in just a minute, not right then, and they run off screaming at you at the top of their lungs and slam their bedroom door b/c they expect you to drop everything and do what they say when they say it, how likely are you to go teach them how to tie their shoe?

More likely, you about to go teach them not to scream and you nor slam their door.

Imagine, going to your new boss. You’ve been given an assignment you’re not quite sure how to do. Are you going to demand they teach you right then. If they don’t, are you going to give up trying? To advance, to get raises and promotions you’ve got to be able to perform. Are you just going to quit trying?

Are you going to settle for mediocrity? Failure?

Do you want to succeed? Do you want to face life’s challenges and beat them? Are you willing to do whatever it takes?

Health challenges? Relationship/family challenges? Job/career challenges? Hobbies?

We’ve all been given raw materials to work with. When we come to faith in Jesus, we get more. The question is, will we ask for help to use what we’ve been given to succeed in facing life’s challenges along the way?

Quick review. Chronologically, Jesus is just a few weeks/months from his crux and He will be leaving them soon. So, there are several key lessons He needs for them to get. Us, too.

Can He really raise the dead? He said He could. Words are cheap. Then, He raised Laz.

Can He really keep his promises? Can radical, unbelieving, powerful world leaders mess up His plan?

No. He used a Pagan Persian king to keep His promise to allow Israel back into the PL when He said He would.

He used the chief Priest of the temple to keep his promise to have Jesus take the punishment for our misdeeds and mistakes.

They thought it was their idea, their plan. But, God had already decided and made His plan and used them to do it.

The Kingdom was offered to Israel. If they would have accepted Him, He would have established it right away. But, they rejected Him. So it’s delayed, postponed.

Or, is it. Will it ever come? Is He really going to return to do it? Yes.

Just b/c it’s been a long time, does not mean it’s never going to happen and we’ve got to be prepared.

It didn’t happen in the c.1 disc’s lifetime. It may not happen in ours. But it could. Are we ready.

And, since it’s postponed, that means we will continue to face challenges in this world. In the kingdom, life will be glorious. Right now, it’s tough.

How do we face these challenges, ask for help, to learn how to apply the the basic raw materials we’ve been given by God at birth and our spiritual birth, to succeed in them?

How do we ask for the help.

Next, Jesus taught 2 parables.

Prayer. Convo w/ God. How to approach God. How to ask God. How to respond to God to be able to successfully face the inevitable challenges in this life until we get to heaven.

Do you have the ‘want-to’ to do whatever it takes to learn how to deal w/ the challenges you face in life? You’ve got the raw materials. But, now we’ve got to learn how to apply them, use them, maximize them to manage the situations life throws at us.

What does it take? Persistence and Humility.

First, the lesson learned from the persistent widow and the unjust judge. It’s a good lesson from a bad example.

Persistence

Luke 18:1–8 NIV

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Question: How bad do you want it? Fundamentally, are you willing to do whatever it takes, whatever you can w/out quitting, to get what you believe is exactly what God wants you to have?

Are you too easily distracted? Too busy? To preoccupied to take the time to do what you need to do?

Then, what’s your prayer life like?

The parable starts out w/ the word, “Then”. This ties this parable to the preceding context about the kingdom being postponed. If the kingdom were to be established right away, then we wouldn’t have to deal w/ situations like this. But, since it is, how can we successfully handle them?

The discs had been taught by Jesus to pray, “Your kingdom come…” But it wasn’t. So, what now?

Still, keep praying for it to come. He told them it would not come in their lifetime. But, eventually, it will. Their prayer will be answered and they will get what they are asking for. He will grant their request.

But they will have to live their lifetime and not see heaven until their life here comes to an end. And, the end for each of these disciples will be very difficult. No avoiding the persecution and torture.

They struggled. They fought. They suffered. And Jesus told them to continue to ask even though it would not benefit them in their lifetime. It would, however, be of great benefit to a future generation when their request is granted.

Can we persist in our prayer when the answer will do someone else more good than us? Future generations? For the good of the ppl who will follow them?

Pray, knowing the answer will benefit others? Can you pray for your unbelieving son? Unborn grandchildren? Ppl you do love, will love, understanding the answer may not come in your lifetime? But, you ask that it will in theirs.

Purely unselfish.

This is the story of a desperate widow who would not give up, would not quit in the face unfair treatment by an oppressor and an unjust judge.

In that culture, a woman had little standing of authority. She needed her father, husband, son to stand up for her. But, in this woman’s case, she had none of them. She needed this male just to stand up for her.

She recognized her desperation. She had no other options.

In the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. That is, blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, desperate situ before God, and understand they have no way to stand up for themselves.

She continued, repeatedly, constantly to approach and plead, pester, squeaky wheel, her case before this judge who refused to even hear the case for a long time.

She persisted. Would not give up. Finally, he relented, heard her case, ruled in her favor, and gave her the justice she asked for.

Notice, the judge’s motivation was purely selfish. She was wearing him out and he was tired of it. So, to shut her up, make her go away, relieve his own fatigue, he opted for her.

It wasn’t that the judge disagreed w/ her. He just didn’t want to be bothered by her.

The irony: Jesus is telling us not to grow weary and quit asking while this judge is growing weary of the widow asking. God will never grow weary of us. But, will we grow weary, wear out, quit too soon?

This judge admits he is not religious, though he is Jewish.

James 1:27 NIV

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Not his deal. Grace motivates us to care for the ppl who cannot possibly repay us for our kindness, justice, and generosity. Orphans and widows are the ultimate examples of those who need gracious treatment.

“Even though I don’t fear God or care what ppl think,…” Not religious at all. But she was bothering him.

We cannot quit even when it seems like the answer is not coming. We’re not getting what we ask for or when we ask for it. Can we keep it up? Do we have the stamina and strength? The self-discipline? Courage?

Jesus’ point: If an unjust, uncaring, in-compassionate judge will eventually give justice, then imagine how quickly God, a just, caring, kind, and compassionate judge will give it.

The widow was not demanding, she was persistent. She recognized her desperation. Unselfishly, not just for herself, she kept up her repeated requests for justice and mercy. And eventually was granted her request.

It didn’t happen as soon as she wanted, but it happened.

Can we persist under similar circumstances? We can. We bring what God has provided us to the convo and ask Him to help us manage. We have no basis to demand anything. What we have, God gave us. But we need to learn how to use it to succeed.

Be persistent. Pray what you believe God wants for you. Let Him do what he does, when He does it.

The second parable teaches the second important characteristic of our prayer life, humility. Persistence and humility go hand in hand to get from God what you hope to get so you can successfully manage life’s difficulties.

Humility

Luke 18:9–14 NIV

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Attitude is so important in prayer. While you are praying persistently and waiting patiently, pray w/ humility. There is a fine line between persistence, confidence, and arrogance. We cannot cross that line w/ God and expect Him to do everything that is possible for Him to do.

He will teach us to be humble, if we are willing to learn.

Look at the contrasts between these 2 pray-ers.

Different approaches.

The Pharisee refers to himself 5x and in the active voice. He believes it’s up to him to do the work and earn what He’s requesting from God.

You know the difference between active and passive voice? English 101.

“Steve threw the ball.” Active voice. Steve is the subject who performs the action.

“The ball was thrown by Steve.” Passive voice. The subject, the ball does not do the work. The work is done by the one in the predicate.

In the case of God, He does all the work, not us. He works based on his mercy and answers our prayers.

So, the TC refers to himself passively and sees God and the one who does the work. And, he desperately wants to see God act out of mercy, undeserved relief. He can’t earn it.

The Pharisee sees his achievements abundantly fulfilling the law and God’s commands. He believers he is better than others b/c of his own performance.

The TCC knows he is nothing before God. He has nothing to offer. No performance, achievement accomplishes anything of value earning God’s favorable response.

He is desperate for relief, mercy. Just like the widow in the last parable.

They took different positions, postures.

The Pharisee stood, looked up, as if to look God in the eye, approaching Him to demand He respond to His request as a matter of personal right. Justified in his frustration and anger toward God for not getting what he wanted when he wanted it.

You can almost hear him raising his voice, yelling at God, slamming his bedroom door as he storms out of God’s presence. Disrespect.

This doesn’t work for parents, bosses, superior officers, and it certainly won’t work w/ God.

He demonstrated a judgmental attitude. Prejudice in his opinion of the TC based on his chose profession, not his heart.

God sees the man’s heart.

“I’m so thankful I’m such a good guy and doing everything right! I go to church every, well almost every Sunday. I go to BS. I have a regular QT. I give a lot of money to the ministry. I’m an elder, a leader. I’m doing everything I’m supposed to do. So, don’t you think I deserve a little more favor than that guy who sat in the back of the church w/ his ferret?”

God cares more about your heart than your performance. The performance is important, but only after your heart is engaged. Do it for the right reasons, expecting nothing in return and you’ll get what’s best from God.

The TC is aware of his unworthiness. He is barely able to approach. He could not look up. We bow our heads in humble submission when making a request. There is a time to look up and praise God. But, when asking for something, humility is the proper posture. Lay prostrate on the floor, you nose in the carpet, if led to do so.

He doesn’t compare himself to anyone. He just deals w/ his own stuff, his own situ. There is no curve in God’s grading system. There is one standard to be met.

We don’t have to be in the top 10% of performers. And, we can’t meet the standard. So what do we do?

Faith. Faith in Jesus. Believe and receive and humbly ask for help.

All undeserved. Mercy, getting relief from suffering and tough situations that we don’t deserve to receive. Grace, getting a blessing, a positive outcome that is undeserved.

Jesus’ work on the cross is based on His mercy, we deserve the punishment but don’t get it when we accept His punishment in our place. It’s based on His grace, the gift of eternal life that begins the moment we come to faith and comes w/ many other undeserved benefits.

The Pharisee rep’d the most pious, revered by ppl religious group.

The TC rep’d the most vile, hated profession among Jews. Polar opposites in the eyes of Jewish culture.

On a human level, the obvious choice to get what he wanted was the Pharisee. But on God’s terms, it was the TC who would receive what he humbly asked for.

The simple reason God honored the TC’s request and not the Pharisee’s was humility. Boasting that you’re doing it all right while others are doing it wrong will not provoke God’s positive response to what you are asking for.

Back to the end of the first parable. When He returns, His second coming to establish His kingdom, will he find faith on the earth?

Not that He’s looking for believers. Though they will be in a large minority of ppl on earth.

But, will he find ppl faithful enough to be praying persistently, humbly, continuously, for the things we believe God wants for us?

Can we do this even if the answer is nowhere in sight, not necessarily what we want nor when we want it and it turns out for the benefit of others coming after us?

The kingdom was postponed b/c the Jews rejected Jesus. True. Why else? Why must we wait so long for God to come and put and end to the mess that is this world, forcing us to face situations beyond our ability to manage and cope?

Slide

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The bottom line, He wants more ppl to be able to join you in heaven. You’re saved. You’ve got support. More on this in a minute. What about your son who isn’t a believer? Your friend, neighbor? What about the ppl you care about that don’t know Jesus. Are you okay w/ God delaying things, giving them more opportunities to come to faith as you persistently pray for them and humbly ask?

So when, when will God end it all?

Slide

Romans 11:25 NIV

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,

God has a number of Gentiles, non-Jews in mind that He wants in the Kingdom. If you want to speed this up, then lead a Gentile to faith in Jesus. It comes down to God’s grace and mercy giving more ppl the opportunity. Can we be unselfish enough to be okay w/ God’s timing?

We were born w/ raw material. We have a brain, intellect. The ability to think and learn. We have strength, coordination, and different skill sets w/ desires. Everybody has these things.

Then, when we come to faith, we get even more.

Slide

2 Peter 1:3 NIV

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

We get a whole basket of fruit. All of it.

Slide

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As we grow, mature in our faith, grow closer to Jesus and get to know Him better, we unlock the powerful perspective of hope, confidence in our inheritance awaiting us in heaven, and the realization that the very power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in us.

We have it, we just need to learn how to effectively apply is, use it in combination w/ the fruit and raw materials to be able to successfully manage the difficult situations in our life.

Slide

Ephesians 1:17–20 NIV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

The million dollar Q is how? How do we access and maximize all this? By persistently and humbly asking God for what we know He wants for us. He wouldn’t make this stuff available if He didn’t want us to use it.

Does God really not give us anything we can’t handle? Well, no and yes. No we cannot handle it on our own. But we can handle everything that comes our way with the resources God provides and his guidance to unlock their potential and maximize their effect in our life.

How bad do you want what you’re asking for? Just bad enough to ask once or twice? Are you too busy, to preoccupied, too distracted to keep at it? Well, maybe God wants to develop you ‘want-to’.

You’ve got to want it pretty bad to make the time and keep at it.

Do you expect God to do what you ask. Have you put yourself in the position of believing you need to perform, ask just right, believe just right, use the right words, have enough faith, keep going to church, etc?

Or do you realize we can never have so much faith to deserve a positive answer to our prayer. We can’t perform, achieve enough on our own. We will always be dependent on God’s mercy and grace.

How’s your prayer life? Maybe it needs a little work moving forward to be okay w/ God’s answer to your request.

Applications

Persistence

Can you pray every day for the same thing and mean it sincerely? I would work on that. If you care enough, then you’ll pray enough. You’ll know how much you care by how often and how much you pray for what you want.

Don’t grow weary.

Humility

Bow your head. Lay prostrate on the floor. Whatever it takes for you to communicate to God your position of humility.

Ask humbly, not expecting anything in return. Be respectful. Understand and accept your total dependence on God’s mercy and humility.

Be patient. Watch. Be okay if your answer doesn’t come in your lifetime. It will eventually.

Access everything

Access and maximize everything God offers.

Could any more of this help you?

Patience while waiting for an answer.

Courage to ask.

Strength to persist.

Joy in all your circumstances.

Self-control, self-discipline to persist.

These are just a few of the resources God makes available. Grow in your relationship w/ Jesus and watch these resources and other grow in their effectiveness in your life.

Do you have the ‘want-to’ to do whatever it takes to learn how to deal w/ the challenges you face in life? Do you quit too early or do you have the stamina to keep it up even when the answer is nowhere in sight?

You’ve got the raw materials. But, now we’ve got to learn how to apply them, use them, maximize them to manage the situations life throws at us.

What does it take? Persistence and Humility.