Quite often in moments of pain or fear we cry out to God & often the ? Becomes, “Can God hear me? Does He even hear me? Or we have been praying for something for quite some time & still we have not yet seen any tangible answer & again we ask, Can He even hear me? Does He hear me? Yeah He does.
Some ask, “If I dont get an answer to my prayer should I keep going or should I stop? My guess this morning is that some of you if not all of you are praying or have in the past been praying (and maybe stopped) for someone or something for an extremely long time.
Singles say, I have been praying for a God-loving person to form a relationship with for a long time – some that are married may be going through rough stretch in marriage & thinking about calling it quits – others have been praying to get pregnant, been trying, & trying, and praying and praying – others have been praying for a healing (self or someone) – others for a turn around in their career or develop a career – been praying and praying and praying & wonder if you've really been heard. Jesus told this story in Luke 18
"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 judgewho neither feared God nor cared about men. 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 about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' " vs.1-5
2 kinds of stories in the Bible – stories that have to do with contrast and stories of comparison. Stories of comparison say “this is what God is like"
then there are stories of contrast – This story in Luke 18 is a story of contrast – God our Father in heaven is not like this judge.The point is this: If a man who really doesnt care a whole lot about you will help you out – how much MORE will your loving Father God in heaven want to help you out with your wants and needs. - “Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should alwayspray and never give up.” Luke 18:1
Alternatives in Life
PRAY or GIVE UP
You get the choice (isnt God cool – it's up to you) you can pray or give up. When the job is not all it's cracked up to be – when your marriage appears to be on the rocks – doing everything known to humanity to have a baby, desiring a healing, you name it When push comes to shove you get 2 Alternatives – pray or give up. If life is beating you up, God wants to answer your prayers. The ? Then is “Why should I be persistent in my praying?'
Praying without Ceasing!
1.Persistent praying HELPS me to FOCUS on God
“Go to the Lord for help and worship him continually.”Psalm 105:4
When I pray for something over and over and over again it's not to remind God – He doesnt need reminding. It's to remind ME of who the source of all blessing is & God wants me to see Him and Him alone as that source. (Its not a blackmail thing – like the judge in our story)So that God will say, “OK, Ok enough” He wants us to recognize that He is the source – cause when it comes to pain, and hurt, and problems we'll go to everyone else, we'll look to our spouse, sibling, family, friend, counseling, even the government. God says, I want you to look to Me.
“Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that youneed these things, and He will give them to you if you giveHim first place in your life and live as he wants you to.” Matthew 6:32-33
He already knows my needs before I even ask Him.
Stormie Omartian - "God knows your every thought and desire, but He responds to your prayes."
2.Persistent praying CLARIFIES my request
A delayed answer gives me time to kinda clarify what I really do need. Most of our prayers are pretty vague until a problem occurs. “Oh God do nice things for me” Waiting on an answer can help define our prayers & make them more specific. The more specific we are (I believe) the quicker the response from God. “I (God) will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray and I will answer them.” Zechariah 13:9
A DELAY is not a DENIAL! God is saying, Not yet.
A delay separates a DEEP longing from a mere WISH!
If I cant pray about it more than once it must not be that big of a deal.
Let's get honest here – think about this, If you got every prayer answered instantly, would it be a good thing or a bad thing?
3.Persistent praying PREPARES me for the answer
It gets me ready. A little secret here – God usually wants to answer your prayer even better than what you're praying. He wants to answer in a greater way that we are asking. I think way to often we pull the ripcord and bail out to quick on issues & situations were praying for, because we dont receive a fast enough answer. We jump to our own hasty decisions. (emotions get involved) It may even be a good idea, but not a God idea. So what God may be wanting to do (I know in my life) is He's wanting to change me first before the circumstances.
Bumper sticker: Prayer Changes things – true – but prayer changes me in the process. God says, Im gonna give you an answer but 1st I want you to change your outlook or approach to this.
“Now, glory be to God, who by his mighty power atwork within us, is able to do far more than we wouldever dare to ask or even dream of...infinitely beyond ourhighest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” Ephesians 3:20
Prayer is not a tug-of-war where you are pleading with God, “Oh please do this, oh please do that” - God wants to do it already but sometimes He's waiting for something way bigger than we could imagine. He says, Think of the biggest dream you can think of & I can top that. So often He's waiting on US. When His answer comes – it is truly a miracle
“If a child asks his father for bread will he be given a stoneinstead? If he asks for fish will he be given a poisonous snake? Ofcourse not! If you...know how to give good gifts to your children,won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts tothose who ask Him for them?” Matthew 7:9-11
4.Persistent praying STRENGTHENS my faith
Faith is like a muscle – it develops when we stretch it, when we work it out. And what persistent praying does is it's a faith building exercise. Waiting is a test of faith. How long can you wait? Waiting can develop your faith – strengthen your faith. It is a mark of maturity. God is greater than any pain or any problem in my life – He is soverign – He has it all under control.
“We must not become tired of doing good. We willreceive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up!” Galatians 6:9
receive: it is a certainity. The Bible is full of examples of people who had to wait, to hang in there, in order to see God act – to keep on keeping on until they saw God do His thing.
“...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 What is God saying?
The LENGTH of my persistence is EVIDENCE of my faith
The SIZE of my prayers determines the SIZE of my GOD
little things = little God – med. = med. God – BIG = BIG GOD
Faith and prayer go together.I want you to think about right now something you've been praying for – for a long time. Get that in your mind. Now as you think about that look at this outline (go over points)
Verizon "Can you hear me Now?" Commercial: We go to great lengths to be able to connect w/ another human being – just another human. BUT how often do we give up when it comes to talking to the Almighty God. To what lengths do we go?
How do we pray persistently:
“I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you.Continue to search, and you will find. Continue toknock, and the door will open for you.” Luke 11:9
God is saying, keep asking.
Has anyone here ever been to someones elses house before? Do you knock once and leave? No... we knock for a while - we're persistent, we think there might be some surrounding circumstances keeping them from the door... bathroom?
How many other circumstances are out there that we know nothing about that God is factoring into our requests. Keep on asking, searching, knocking
The Question: How QUICKLY do I GIVE UP when I don’t get an answer?
When I feel like giving up, don’t DESPAIR turn toPRAYER!
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