Prayer- daily necessity not circumstantial practice.
Prayer is a necessity not circumstantial. • Sermon • Submitted
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· 18 viewsPrayer is not a product of our circumstances but a product of our sanctification.
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Luke 18:1-8
I have prayed over this day on and off for the last few weeks
-When we could get back to church and what exact message we needed from Gods word
-I have read 5 OT prophets this week and almost choose one of them for the next month
-However I think this is the correct passage for us
We have still have our Mens meetings on Thursdays thru Zoom which is interesting to see some of older population have no trouble with the technology
-Im proud of you - there is something to be said of your generation
-you are fighters and hold commitment
But 2 weeks ago we read over Luke 18:1-8
-I found me
-Its amazing how that always happens- Im trying to be faithful to Gods Word, teach others those truths as accurately as I possibly can and yet all the time Gods Word is breaking me
I sat back and thought of times of great uncertainty in my life nationwide and the one that glaringly stood out was 9/11 and to me it looks a lot like today
-People were scared- Whats going to happen?
-People flooded the church- Some of our first videos on Facebook had 1500 or more views on them
But give it time- Although we have had a very solid response to sermons online, it has not been 1500
But the interesting one is the almost immediate necessity to pray
-people praying at 7:14 every day as if the key to Gods heart is Praying at 7:14 in mass unison
-Thats not a slight at those who have done so or fell so compelled to pray at that time, let me urge you, please continue
I make these connections to bring us back to Luke 18:1-8—— where I found me
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?”
17:22- will indicate that he was speaking to his disciples concerning the Day of the Lord in that it will come quickly and severely
VS1- Jesus teaches them a parable concerning persisting in prayer and not to lose heart
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
-the story starts out awkwardly to begin with
-A judge that doesnt care about God nor man
-He would not seem to be good judge at all as he doesnt care about the people he serves
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.’ ”
We see just that as widow comes to find justice and help but instead find instead finds rejection
The widow is typically viewed in the Bible to be the among the helpless
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
the numbered among the fatherless and destitute
-Their husband is gone and they have no means of providing for themselves
In the parable, the widow is being harassed and persecuted from someone
-We know that because she is call them her advesary
-So she goes to the place where she can find certain help
-A judge
-Yet she finds nothing
-But her resolve is unwavered because she knows this is the only one who can help her in this situation
-So she continues her case daily
-The judge refuses to help but the persistence of the widow is stronger than the will of the judge
Vs 4-5 are interesting
-He doesnt care about godliness or being fair but he does care about his own personal pleasure
-So eventually he gives in to silence the widow
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?”
Jesus quickly takes this and quickly unpacks the spiritual truth
Vs 7- Jesus if the wicked judge who could careless about being righteous or fair, if that type of man would finally listen and appeal to the honest and sincere cry from one of the people under his command
Rest assured that God of all creation who sought and bought you
-The one who needed absolutely nothing but desiring to show his glory and love choose to create man, the world and all that is it
-The Sovereign God who knowing that Adam and Eve would fall in sin, subject us all to curse, but yet would still give the ability to choose sin or Saviour knowing and divinely planning to send His Son to die to redeem them back from their sin
-The Sovereign God who in his infinite wisdom continues to allow brokeness and pain because He knows that in the midst of this broken mess comes the greatest possiblity of joy, love and life eternal for his people
That God-Jesus says, rest assured- His credibilty is above reproach,
His purpose is flawless and His plan is perfect
-Rest assured believer that God hears and God will anwser
I love how verse 7 describes the elect- those who cry out day and night
-Where I found myself was when a fellow brother said this group of people didnt just start doing this when the situation came
-This is their default- Day and night- they cry to God trusting and knowing God hears and God will act
Where I found me was not necessarily in this crowd but more so in the group that I described that typically responded in prayer more consistently when things involved me or others near me
But also tended to give up when either no results were seen or it stopped directly affecting me
As my brother was reminding us of this truth I found me
I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
This Sovereign God who has condescended to send His Son and clothe him in flesh and blood instead of glory and honor promises to listen and work quickly
I know what your thinking, what do you mean quickly?
I have been praying for years for this to happen or this person to get saved
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
and also around the throne
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
As those marytred saints sit around the throne of God worshipping they to sit in the glory of Paradise the cry out to God when will you move?
When will you right the wrongs?
When will you reconcile our shed blood?
To which that very same Sovereign God said I know but my perfect time and my perfect plan hasnt occured yet.
But rest assured… It will and I will right the wrongs, Ill mend the broken, and Ill finish what I started.
But for us now church, we sit on the doorsteps of eternity.
We need God today as much as we needed every day of our lives
O our best days, we have never made our heart beat, lungs breathe, or added one day to our life
So as we come begin to move back into what resembles normal
May we not go back to our normal prayer life
May not go back to few more God bail me outs, God please forgive mes
But we go to God with all things, day and night, knowing that Sovereign God knows his elect and has promised to hear them and praise God He will answer and He wont be late.
Whether it was Joseph, 2 years in the pit, He was on time whe lifted him up, saved him, and saved the world of famine
Whether it was Moses at the Red Sea, when Pharoah was closing in and the cacophony of angry horsefeet caused the hearts of the Hebrews to fear, He was on time as the water was parted and they walked on dry ground while the Egyptians took their last bath
Whether it was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the fire is 7 times hotter than it has ever been, He was on time as their was 4th man standing in the fire and it was like unto the image of the Son of Man
Or whether it is the Garden of Gethesemane, and the weight of the sin of the world is weighing on Jesus’s shoulders, He was on time as the angels ministered to him and as the Sovereign God was satisfied as his Son Jesus broke the curse of sin in the fulness of time
We pray…
Spurgeon said We need not fear any peril as long as we have prayer.
Unbeliever, you have absolutely no guarantee of God hearing your prayer of help
Prayer is a gift for his people
There is only one prayer that God will answer from the unbeliever and that is one of repentance
-God will always respond in forgiveness when people cry out in genuine repentance.
So the only guarantee in ths life your are guaranteed is trouble and death
This life. this sin cursed, broken, evil ridden life is literally is all the good you are promised
For those who reject Jesus, eternity will be spent in Hell
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
or
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Unbeliever repent
Believer, may we remember that on our best day, we have needed God provision just as much as we have needed him on our worst
So with that, lets pray.