Lessons on Prayer (6)

Over the last number of weeks we’ve been focusing on prayer on a fellowship, looking at passages that model prayer or teach on prayer. The plan is to have today and 2 more on this topic, and again I want to urge you all to pray with me that God might in His grace stir our hearts to see our dependence on Him, and therefore seek Him in prayer, individually and corporately!

This morning in our passage it is the Lord Himself that is teaching on prayer, and what a vital lesson He has for us! One of the hardest things when preparing to preach is trying to see clearly why any given passage has been inspired by God and given to us? What is it He wants to do through the truth He has spoken! So when we come to passages like this, it’s such a help because Jesus tells us exactly why He’s telling this parable, He tells us beforehand what He wants to work in us by His grace, and we see that in v.1…And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (be discouraged, grow weary).

This morning in MBC God is speaking, and we need to hear what He’s saying, He wants us to always pray and not lose heart! So let’s answer 2 questions this morning as we think on this...

Why does He want us to always pray and not lose heart?

How does this Parable help us to always pray and not lose heart?

Why does He want us to always pray and not lose heart? (v.8)

I want you to notice what Jesus says in v.8b… Jesus here is speaking about His second coming, and if you remember as we read from 17:20 - that was the very topic of conversation that He was engaged in with the Pharisees and with His disciples. They were asking about the coming Kingdom, and Jesus is explaining that wherever He (the King of that Kingdom), reigns in the hearts of men, there the Kingdom has begun to come. But there is also a fuller sense in which this Kingdom will come, and that will be unmissable! For as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day (v.24).

And when that day comes, life will be going on as normal, just like in Noah’s day, just like in Lot’s day. Imagine that, people will be stuck in traffic in Moira, there’ll be people going into SuperValu, sitting in Moira Primary school, and walking round the park, it’ll be just a normal day and then....the end!! And Jesus warns, remember Lot’s wife! She turned and looked back, she loved the world and desired the things of the world and paid the price! She didn’t have faith in what God had said and was lost. And we all need to hear the warning of that, it’s easy to lose faith, it’s easy to love the world, remember Demas, For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…() Within all of us there is the proneness to drift, grow cold, and lose heart!! Everyone of us here can think of people who have fallen in this way and even now live away from the Lord! And as the time of Christ’s return draws near, that will only increase!

And so when we read v.8 we see Jesus ask this question, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? When I return, in all my glory, not to suffer but rather to be marveled at among my people, will I find faith, will you be trusting, will you be following, will you be believing, will you be earnest in your love for me? Or will you have grown cold, become discouraged, turned back, loved the world, lost heart?

So where does prayer come into it? Prayer in Jesus mind here is the means by which our faith is strengthened, that’s why He teaches here on prayer. Isn’t it so interesting that just straight after mentioning the fact that those who turn back will be lost, they won’t be ready on that day, some will be taken and some left for the vultures, then He moves to teach them on prayer! As though, here is how to fight against that turning! Here is what will be central to your continuing on! But it’s not only the means of strengthening, it’s the evidence that our faith is real! It is central to the fight in keeping us from turning like Lot’s wife, and is central to the evidence that we are part of His people, one of His elect. Do you see in v.7…And will not God give justice to His elect who cry to him day and night? Evidence of our saving faith, evidence that we are part of God’s elect and therefore will continue to have faith right to the end, is perseverance in prayer. That’s the way God’s elect act, that’s something that marks them! We’ve said that prayer is like breathing.... If you stop breathing you’re going to die, a sign of being dead is you not breathing! If you stop praying, spiritually you’re going to die, if you don’t pray you’re giving evidence that you’re dead!

So why does Jesus want us to pray and not lose heart, because prayer not only builds our faith, but it also proves our faith, it gives evidence that we’re His, that we’re continuing in faith. In so many things the Christian life is a mystery, God has His elect, His chosen, those He has called and will keep, no one will snatch them from His hand! But an evidence that we are part of that number is our continuing faith, our continuing dependence, our continuing prayer!! We must work, we must strive, it’s a fight, a battle!! It’s a mystery!

Cand stop calling upon His name, we give clear evidence that we’re no longer depending upon Him in our lives!

John Piper...’Faith is the furnace of our lives. It’s fuel is the grace of God. And the divinely appointed shovel for feeding the burner is prayer. If you lose heart and lay down the shovel, the fire will go out, you will grow cold, and hard and when the Son of Man returns be lost!’

So why must we keep praying and not lose heart, because it fuels our faith and keeps us from becoming like Lot’s wife, or being like those left to the vultures, and it proves our faith as God’s elect people!

What does your pray life say about your faith this morning? What does the prayer life of the church say about the faith of the church? Even in this past week I’ve seen serious short comings in my own heart. Ways in which I have neglected that perseverance in prayer, and begun to lose heart, grow weary, be discouraged, and then with that, doubt!

Maybe you’re here this morning and you feel the same! Maybe you lost heart a long time ago, maybe you set down the shovel years ago and have seen your heart grow cold and your love for the world grow hot. God wants to change that this morning, He wants to work in your heart by His grace through Christ and make you ready for His return. Will you respond in faith, will you pick up that shovel again and turn to Him. Will you begin the process again by lifting your voice in confession before Him? We have a responsibility to act, to believe, to work, knowing that if we do it’s all of His grace! Maybe you could pray with someone else here this morning, maybe you could confess that you haven’t prayed for a long time but want to come back? Jesus wants us to always pray and not lose heart!

How does this Parable help us to always pray and not lose heart? (v.2-5)

So what is it that Jesus says to help work this in us! He tells his disciples and us a parable. In this story there are 2 characters, a judge and a widow. The judge is the one with authority, power, the ability to make rulings and grant justice where needed. The Widow is the one in need! She has nothing, no rights, no protection, no income! She is amoungst the most vulnerable of society!

But she wants justice! She has been wronged in some way, and her only hope of justice is this judge! Now in Israel God was clear in how widows should be treated because of their vulnerability, and the punishment if they weren’t looked after as they should be! ...Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ () But there’s a problem here, and it’s a big one! The judge neither feared God nor respected man. He had no regard for what the law of God said, He didn’t fear God! And He had no compassion as to care for this woman! Not actually the qualities you would want in someone who is in a place of authority!

But there’s a problem, and it’s a big one! The judge neither feared God nor respected man. Not actually the qualities you would want in someone who is in a place of authority!

Think about it, much of the good we do will be as a direct link of our fear of God. We want to obey Him, we want to please Him, we fear dishonoring Him! But even in the hearts of those who don’t fear God, there can still be a respect for man. People will feel compassion, want to help and do what’s right. You think of the amount of charities and humanitarian programs that people volunteer for who have no notion of God. But when there is no fear of God, and no respect for man, what are you left with? Self seeking and self obsession!

So what does this widow do? Well she comes asking for justice, the judge had to listen to her case, he had to follow procedure and allow each case by law to be brought before him! So as often as the judge took his official seat, the widow was there! She asked for justice, then she would come again and ask for justice, and come again, and again, and again!

And look then at the outcome, v.4-5...

He denies her for a time, but eventually he gives her what she asks for! And it’s not because he’s had a change of mind, Jesus is clear that he still neither fears God nor respects man! Rather he’s so worn down with her persistence that he fears for himself and his own well being!!

I’m sure we can all think of people that are like the widow with their persistence! I remember when I worked in Tesco and there were a number of people who would come in around a certain time of the evening to get the reduced items. But they’d come earlier than the time in which the reductions took place. Then they would find the worker who had the yellow stickers and they’d ask, ‘are you marking things down now’, ‘no’, would be the reply. A few minutes would pass, ‘are you marking things down now?’ ‘No’ would be the reply. And a few minutes later, ‘when are you marking things down’? And on and on it would go until finally before the proper time the worker would get fed up and reduce the stuff!

In our house we have certain members of the family that are very skilled in this type of persistent asking!

So how does this help us in prayer? v.6-8...

We’re like this widow! One of our biggest problems is that we often don’t realise it! But just like her, we are completely dependent on another, we are helpless, powerless! Every single person in this room this morning is at the complete mercy of God! Without Him we can do nothing, it’s in Him we live and move and have our being! If the widow had another way to get justice then she wouldn’t have been pestering the judge continually! But she didn’t, she knew she didn’t so she kept on asking!! Prayer is often so neglected today because we don’t really believe we need Him! We’re so self sufficient that it often takes times of real crisis to feel that need!! But if we’re to continue on in the faith, if we’re to not lose heart! We must pray, we need Him!!

I wonder this morning do you feel that need?

Now Look at this unrighteous, godless, selfish judge! He gives justice to the widow who persists in asking! We too have a judge, one who has complete authority, the only One who can give us what we need! But He is not unrighteous! He’s not some selfish, distant ruler! He is the Lord, all He does is right and just, all He says is true and perfect! He is full of compassion and grace! He is rich in mercy and kindness! And we don’t come to Him as some unknown widow, we come to Him as His elect, His chosen people, His treasured possession, His children!

I remember when we were in Burma years ago, and in one town there were so many beggars! They were persistent, aggressive, relentless! And in many cases you gave to them just to get them to go away!! If truth be told it wasn’t out of real compassion or fear of God! But think how different it is then when it comes to giving to a loved one? We delight to give what we can when they ask! We love to be able to meet their needs, it’s a joy to do!

Our Father delights to give to us, He doesn’t need His arm to be twisted, He knows the good we need and loves to give it to us! And remember, He will only give His people that which will be good for them, He’ll only give His children that which will keep them persevering, will keep them trusting, keep them depending upon Him! That when He comes He might find faith on the earth!

Maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve cried to God for something day and night for years upon years! And as time has gone by without the answer you’d wanted you’ve grown weary, you’ve lost heart! Don’t give up, don’t stop, keep asking, keep searching in His Word to help you’re requests be more in line with His will! Keep remembering that He isn’t some unrighteous Judge, but our Father! In prayer God gives us something greater than just the requests we make of Him, He grants us the faith to keep trusting until the end! He keeps us mindful of our dependence on Him! And when He comes, every longing for righteousness for justice will be fulfilled perfectly!

I’ve mentioned before that since I came back to the Lord at 19, I’ve prayed about something pretty much continually sense that time. I’m now 36 and as yet God has not given me what I’ve asked for! At times I’ve been tempted to lose heart, and if it were down to me, I would have long ago! But in those years God has given me something different to what I’ve asked, He given me a greater sense of need, a greater sense of dependence! I can’t do anything about what I ask, I’m helpless! And He’s made me more aware of that as the years of gone by! Now I’ll still keep asking, day and night, but what I need even more than His answer is His grace to keep me trusting.

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

So how does this parable help us to always pray and not lose heart? It teaches us that just like the widow, we are dependent upon another for absolutely everything!! But the One we depend on is not some unrighteous judge, who doesn’t know us or care for us! He is our Father, who loves us, and will give us everything good that we might keep trusting, right until the very end!!