Consistent Prayer

New Living Translation Chapter 18

Parable of the Persistent Widow

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ”

6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

I have a high pain tolerance but there have been a few times that I have been hurting so bad that I would have let a doctor take a limb…or so I thought....but the thing is that after a bit of time the pain has always gone away.

Not only have there been times I have hurt physically but there are times where I am hurting emotionally and even spiritually....

However even in those times if I am seeking God’s will I have learned that I can endure even when I would rather have relief.

We need God’s will more than we need relief from whatever we are facing.

(NLT)

People that pray only when they think that need to are generally the people that see the fewest answers to their prayers.

(NLT)

Consistent prayer is not wasted time.

Consistent prayer

Prayer consistency will lead to receiving Justice

(NLT)

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

Luke 18:1–8 NLT

1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

It does not happen often but Luke states right at the beginning exactly what we are supposed to get from this parable. We are supposed to understand that importance of never giving up on prayer.

It does not happen often but Luke states right at the beginning exactly what we are supposed to get from this parable. We are supposed to understand that importance of never giving up on our prayers.

I think so many times we give up too soon when it comes to praying for things in our lives that we desire or need. Part of the reason for this is that we are so accustom to immediate results.

Even before the invention of convenience stores, self checkout, fast food, drive throughs, door dash, the internet and online shopping there has always been a desire to see immediate results. Otherwise why would Luke state that it is important to continue to pray even if we do not see immediate results?

This universal and timeless problem seems to be exacerbated in our current times. Since the time we have to wait for anything has grown shorter and shorter we apply this consumer mentality to God answering our prayers.

Probably unintentional but we do it. We assume or at least I have from time to time assumed that if God does not do something for me in self imposed timeframe the way I really want it then God is not going to do it.

This often leads to a few negative outcomes in our lives:

We lean in to self…meaning if God is not going to do it then I will force it myself…I don’t know about you but some of the biggest issues I have had in my life has started with the words…I can do it myself…I am a professional....With a friend...

We believe that we are not good enough…meaning if I just do more good then God will answer my prayers…or we simply believe that God does not care about us and we lose faith one prayer request at a time. First job I was turned down for.

Both of the things lead to a sense of frustration with God at the least or doubting of God’s goodness at the worst.

2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ”

This next idea is may sound pretty harsh especially if you are a self starter…but it is really freeing.

God is not interested in what you can do on your own.

One of the most important things that a college scout or and employwer looks for when recruiting a potential team member or employee is

Just like the judge in this story God is not impressed with people or other philosophies.

Many times the judge in this story is seen as a bad guy but the truth is this judge was committed to justice.

He was committed to doing the right thing. He was not influenced by people of means. He was only influence by the Law…this is what we want from judges.

The same is true of God. God is only motivated by who He is. God’s goodness, wisdom, and desire for us to live out His good and perfect will for our lives.

God is interested in justice and His perfect will for your life…When we understand this as we seek God’s will instead of our wants and desires in prayer it makes it easier for us to trust in His outcome for the rest of our life.

This is proof of God’s concern for you. This is proof of God’s love for you...

Because this is true we must earnestly seek out God’s perfect will through constant and consistent prayer.

Not Marginal and Sporadic prayer

Not just prayer on the way to work…not just prayer as a last resort…not just prayer when it fits in our schedule…not just prayer when God is doing what we ask when we ask it.

Constant prayer as an individual and as a body is what leads us to a place of deeper spiritual awareness... Constant Consistent prayer as a group is when we see God manifest himself even if it does not seem to be the answer we were looking for.

This is where things get a bit confusing because the parable seems to imply that if we bug God enough He will give into us. However this is not the point at all!

Yes the widow was wearing out the judge…but she was wearing him our for justice! She was not asking for a favor. She was not asking for anything out of the ordinary. She was asking for justice. And that is exactly what the judge granted her.

... I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ”

When we are constantly consistently communicating with the Father crying out for loved ones, crying out for the salvation of our world…crying out fo the elimination of suffering in the world…crying out for the increased presence of Holy Spirit and His manifestations in our lives God will grant those request.

3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ”

...don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Consistent prayer is not wasted time…

Consistent prayer

Prayer consistency will lead to receiving Justice

I have been reading a book on the

It is through the consistant crying out to God as an individual and as a body that we will be able to decern God’s will and perceive when He has done great things.

Prayer Closets without Prayer meeting lead to spiritual droughts.

People that pray only when they think that need to are generally the people that see the fewest answers to their prayers.

When we pray only when we “NEED TO” we are only seeking relief. When we pray consistently and passionately in private and in community we are seeking God’s will and God’s presence.

If we are seeking these two things God WILL provide them…if we are seeking our own will we will continue to languish in our brokenness.

We need GOD’S WILL more than RELIEF.

Dedicate yourself to prayer individually and corporately.

You need a regular time of prayer during your day…Can you get up 30 min earlier to spend time with God?

You need a regular time of corporate or Congregational prayer…If we were to have a weekly prayer meeting here at the Church would you be willing to make that a priority? Or would you make it if you can?

Something happens When God’s people gather together for Prayer…(Palmer Prayer meeting)

The atmosphere of a church changes dramatically when people come together on a regular basis desiring God to move…Right now we do this the First Tuesday of every month…

COMMUNION