Praying Beyond Today
Prayer Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Turn with me to Luke 18:1-8
Praying Beyond Today
Today something will bother you
It might be a minor thing or a major thing
It might be a friend who says an unkind word
It might be your health or the health of someone close
It might be your school or your work
It might be your husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister
It might be inconsistencies in your Christian walk
There are lots of things that can bother us
15 Call upon Me in the day of distress; I shall rescue you, and you will glorify Me.”
Norman J. Clayton wrote a song
If we could see beyond today as God can see,
If all the clouds should roll away, the shadows flee.
O’er present griefs we would not fret,
each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet, for you and me.
If we could know beyond today as God doth know,
Why dearest treasures pass away and tears must flow.
And why the darkness leads to light,
Why dreary days will soon grow bright,
Someday life’s wrongs will be made right, faith tells us so.
If we could see, if we could know, we often say,
But God in love a vail doth throw across our way.
We cannot see what lies before,
and so we cling to Him the more
He leads us till this life is o’er, trust and obey.
(Source: Singing Evangelism: Billy Graham Campaign Songs, #81, by Norman J. Clayton, 1943)
We Can See Beyond Today Through Prayer (Vs. 1)
We Can See Beyond Today Through Prayer (Vs. 1)
Vs. 1- Jesus knew that when times were tough
especially when Christians were being persecuted
That we would faint or lose heart and want to give up
I’m Sure that have been times when
you just wanted to give up
So how can we see beyond today, so we don’t faint
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
To Lose Heart:
to lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity, lose enthusiasm, be discouraged
Jesus tells us that we are always to pray
That at All Times or Always...
We are to be in continual prayer
Until the answer comes
It means prayer is a habit
Whatever happens in life, I should be praying about it
14 And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
Notice where our Confidence is?
It is in God!
Not in ourselves
Not in our clever solutions
Notice that we are to ask according to God’s Will
When I know it is God’s will, I ask for it
When I’m not sure it is God’s will
I Ask Him to Show me His will
We need to take our prayers to a higher level
A Spiritual level if you will
They should not be just a wish list
or an organ recital
We should pray for
For Laborers to be sent into the harvest
That the Lost individual will respond to the Gospel
For our Christian walk
To behave the way God has already called us to behave
For our brothers and sisters in Christ
And we should Pray Believing God Will Respond
22 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
24 “For this reason I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.
We Can See Beyond Today Through Persistence (Vss. 2-5)
We Can See Beyond Today Through Persistence (Vss. 2-5)
Vs. 2- Jesus tells a Parable on Prayer
In a certain city there was a judge
he was supposed to administer justice
but he had no regard for God or man
Probably means easily bribed
Not worried about what was right as much as
What was convenient or made money
Heb 12:9 teaches us,
9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Vs. 3 In the same city there was a widow
Who had a legitimate case
she was seeking justice
Widows in those days had little rights
and could easily be taken advantage of
Most would just give up in despair
However, This woman was very persistent
She kept on asking for justice
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you But to do justice, to love lovingkindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Vs. 4- For a while, the judge just ignored the woman
But after a while she began to be annoying
it was becoming obvious that this woman was not going to quit
The judge says to himself
I don’t care about God, and I don’t care about man
Or he wasn’t afraid of what God or man would say or do
Vs. 5 The widow was troubling him
So, the Judge says
I’ll give her justice lest she weary me by her continual coming
Wears me out
literally, hit me under the eye
Thus the word carries the meaning of
to give a black eye
Although, the judge didn’t care about God or Man
He cared about his reputation
And the woman was not making him look good
The woman did not faint or lose heart
because she was looking beyond today
In her mind the judge was giving her justice
So, she persisted until she won her case
We are told to persist in prayer
17 pray without ceasing;
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
18 praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
We Can See Beyond Today Through Promise (Vss. 6-8)
We Can See Beyond Today Through Promise (Vss. 6-8)
Vs 6 Jesus tell us to listen to what the unjust is saying
The unjust judge didn’t care about justice
and he still answered the woman’s request
Because she kept “nagging” him and would not shut up
Vs. 7 God is not like the unrighteous judge
God cares about his elect
33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Those who have come to God by accepting
Jesus Christ as God, Savior, and King
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
If you are a Christian, you are one of God’s Elect
You are a child of God
The promise is yours that
God will act more graciously towards His children than the unjust judge
As we persist faithfully in our prayers,
God will avenge us or bring us Justice
Vs. 8 When God acts
He will do so according to His Time and He will act decisively
In other words, There will be no doubts
Then we have the Question on His Second Coming
26 “And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same as in the days of Lot—they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;
29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out, and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.
Robert Stein
Luke Comments
Will he find faith? Persistent prayer and perseverance are necessary in order for God’s chosen ones to remain true to the faith until the Son of Man returns. The use of the article before “faith,” i.e., “the faith,”274 suggests that this question should be translated “Will he find the faith?” rather than “Will he find faithfulness?”
Trent Butler
Luke A. Dedication in Prayer: Trust to the Last (18:1–8)
When Christ returns, will there be anyone here who calls out in faith day and night? Will we become so lackadaisical in our faith that we allow people of persistent prayer to become extinct? Will the second coming of Jesus find us persisting in prayer that his kingdom will come
Trent Butler
Luke A. Dedication in Prayer: Trust to the Last (18:1–8)
When Christ returns, the person of persistent prayer will still be praying. Will you?
Call To Action:
Will you pledge to Keep Southwood Baptist Church in your prayers continually praying
God would send workers to go out from Southwood Baptist Church
That our Church would have a positive impact on our communities
And the leadership would have the wisdom to cast a vision to see lives transformed
And Keep Praying for it!
