Saved to Pray

Now let's take our Bible. Let's turn to Luke chapter 18 Luke chapter 18 and we're going to be in verses 1 to 8 now I will mention some others and Sometimes I do that rather fast and if you ever need those verses that I mentioned You can come to me and I'll give those to you you know other verses will come along in the message to shore up and to solidify a point or an illustration and So sometimes if we make sure we get those other verses that go along with the verses that we're studying It really really will help us, but we'll be in Luke 18 We're going to look at verses 1 to 1 to 8 of course tonight We are continuing in our study of the parables But these are certain parables and these parables were taught by Jesus and they're all focused on the theme of Christian living we are dealing with examples and lessons that teach and illustrate certain things Pertaining to true Christian living and I say this often But I'm saying it for a reason tonight at times We even have seen the faults and from the faults we have some very very valuable lessons now speaking of the faults Think back with me to our study through the parable of the Good Samaritan And we learned something here about the faults.

I know I said this in the message, but maybe you need to hear it again We should have learned and we need to learn that we all have a little Levite in us and we should have learned and we should remember that we are probably quite priestly and What I mean by that is this the priest and the Levite ignored their neighbor Their neighbor was in need He was beaten and stripped and left for dead. He was half dead and the Levite and the priest ignored their neighbor But no matter the reasons they were sinful They were sinful.

That's not how a Christian should be So that should be a good lesson for us from the faults and maybe we need the Lord to help us To see that we can be a little bit like the Levites. We can probably be a little priestly Now so far we've studied three parables in four messages All four messages from these parables have similar titles and we could say that these these messages are all really connected They are all really connected.

We studied what I called saved to serve that was out of the parable of the two sons We study what I called saved to shine That was the parable of the lamp and then we study what I called saved to love and that was the parable of the Good Samaritan and remember We're to love the Lord our God with all our heart soul and mind and strength first and then that enables us to love our neighbor as we should Now tonight we will look at another parable pertaining to the Christian life and this parable is centered on prayer some of you know that and This can be called and often it is called the parable of the persistent widow and we will look at prayer In the true Christian life and what this should be like Now I'm gonna say this again, but get this we're gonna look at the manner of prayer not the content This is all gonna be about the manner of prayer our approach in prayer our heart in prayer and how we get into this work of prayer Now whether you know it or not We're a little ahead of the game here in a good way Some of us are ahead of the game here for two reasons First of all we are ahead because a few weeks ago we studied prayer from a parable that Jesus taught in Luke 11 And note this these two parables the parable in Luke 11 on prayer and the parable here in Luke 18 are closely Related and if you are studying this series of parables on the Christian life And you have not gotten that message out of Luke 11 You need to go listen to that you need to go get that because these are very closely related and I'll go ahead and tell you There are times I preach on Luke 11 through the years and I'm really thinking that the next time I'll probably preach on Luke 11 and Luke 18 combined So I'm already making some notes there and hiding them away for maybe in the next Year or two or even three that we come back to these parables But we are also ahead for another reason and that is because we have been praying We have set aside some times of corporate prayer and they have been very very good for us as individuals And as our families and also as a church I think that what we study here in Luke 11 will resonate with some of you if you have been praying if you've been in Those prayer meetings and at the conclusion of the message when we look at some of our prayer needs I will talk about our final prayer meeting that is coming up this Sunday night So I want us to turn our attention to this parable Luke 18 this is sometimes called the parable of the persistent widow.

Let's read verses 1 to 8 Verses 1 to 8 Now he this is Jesus was telling them a parable To show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart the King James will say faint Saying there was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man And there was a widow in that city and she kept coming to him saying give me legal protection from my opponent and For a while he was unwilling But afterward he said to himself even though I do not fear God nor respect man yet because of this widow She bothers me. I will give her protection least by continually coming.

She wear me out And the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge said Now shall not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night and will he delay long over them? That's a question. I tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily However, when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth? Now let me show you how we're going to get started in this parable how we'll approach the parable in the first part of the message I want us to see that we will look at the purpose of the parable.

That's right in verse 1 then we'll look at the parable itself verses 2 to 5 and Then we will look at the point of the parable in verses 6 to 8 and then we're going to look at some comparisons and some lessons that we need to learn here and the Compare the comparisons and the lessons will be a lot of where we'll get our application So let's look at number one the parable or the purpose of the parable.

This is in verse 1 Number one we see the purpose of the parable now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart now right away in the verse Luke tells us the point of the parable the purpose of the parable Whereas in certain other parables, we might have to wait to see the purpose Here Luke gives us the purpose of the parable before he gives the parable and Luke tells us that the general Purpose of the parable is a lesson on continual prayer not continuous prayer Not continuous prayer as in non-stop prayer, but put but continual or consistent prayer He says that this parable is generally about remaining consistent and continual in prayer So as not to grow weary The English Standard Version the New American says lose heart the King James says faint now this losing heart or this becoming faint Speaks of growing spiritually weak or weary this can even be a weakness that can lead to failure This speaks of becoming spiritually weary Exhausted or even tired out even becoming totally spiritless So the general purpose is a lesson on prayer and notice this is not about our content in prayer This is about our manner the manner in which we pray.

This is not about Relaxing this is about not relaxing in prayer or not becoming inconsistent in prayer and not giving up in prayer This is a lesson on becoming and staying consistent and continual in prayer So as not to become spiritually weak or weary so as not to become spiritually exhausted and possibly becoming totally spiritless and Notice right here. We've got a couple of big lessons.

We need to see we need to see that a great part of our spiritual strength comes from prayer We need to see this because a lot of people will miss this part of the Christian life They think that spiritual strength and vitality only comes from the head studying God's Word storing God's Word Putting those things in the head but see these things here in prayer speak about the heart So it's about a head versus the heart.

It's the head and the heart If we pray and don't know the word, well, we're gonna languish in weakness there But yet what we see here is this prayer this speaks about about our Strength our spiritual strength it comes from prayer, but also the lesson spiritual weakness comes from a lack of prayer we can become terribly weak and Ultimately spirit less if we are that week this week in prayer Now we're gonna expound on this as we continue so we have this General purpose in the parable, but there is a more specific point to the parable that we will see at the end of the parable Really this purpose from verse 1 and the specific point at the end come together I'm gonna blend all of this together at the end so number 2 The parable you can say the parable itself this in verses 2 to 5 now.

I'm not gonna read it We've read it. It's easy for you to see here But within the parable within this parable we have two people it's obvious the unjust judge and the widow or a victimized widow and To see the truth or the truths within the parable. We need to understand this judge and this widow So we will examine the judge and the widow and then we will look at what's happening between them first the judge Now to understand the judge we must see who this is According to their day and their culture not according to ours This was not a judge like we are accustomed to in our day In their day the day in which Jesus was telling this parable Judges were magistrates who were appointed either by the Romans or by Herod who was the Jewish puppet king Set in place by the Romans.

I think you know that part of Jewish history or Israeli history and these Disregistrates or judges were notoriously dishonest And if the one bringing a case before the judge if he had no way to bribe his way to a favorable verdict He had no way of getting his case before a judge and settled in his favor Their reputations were so bad that the people literally had a name for them which meant robber judges. I thought about a Illustration in our day. We might use this term crooked lawyer I have some friends who are lawyers and just giving them a hard time.

I might call them a crooked lawyer Well in that day they were all crooked judges So when Jesus mentioned the unjust judge those that were listening Most likely thought of the judges that they had in their day. They were crooked. They were robbers They were in it for the money in it for the profit They did not actually care about justice or the ones bringing their cases before them unless there was a bribe involved and Scholars and historians tell us this was the case but notice specifically what Jesus said about the judge First he did not fear God and second.

He did not respect men or a man But second the widow now to understand the widow We must see who she is in light of their culture in time and not ours. This widow was not like the widows that we are accustomed to in our day at all in The day in which Jesus was telling this parable a widow was the ultimate in the poor and the vulnerable the ultimate Other than a widow it would be an orphan The widows were actually seen as a symbol of the destitute and the defenseless That was because in their day women basically could not work as a man So if a woman's husband died they were left to languish in poverty Unless they could remarry or unless they had other family to care for them Also within their legal system women had no standing so without a husband to defend them or a man to defend them Women were defenseless in society So when Jesus mentioned a widow those listening most likely thought of the destitute the defenseless widow Or the widows that they knew in their culture a widow was a symbol of the poor and the vulnerable So they knew exactly who and what she was talking about This reminds me of years ago when I was in India We were way off the beaten path and one of the poorest or the poorest states in the country The state of Manapur excuse me not Manapur at Behar It's in the north that borders Nepal the state of Behar and we were working there in an orphanage And it was a widow that worked there literally when her husband died she had nowhere to go So she lived at an orphanage and served there because she was poor and vulnerable But notice specifically what Jesus said about the widow this particular widow kept coming before the unjust judge Seeking justice or legal protection from her adversary Now third I want us to look at the interaction The interaction between the judge and the widow in verses two to five We can see this back and forth interaction between the widow and the judge Clearly this widow was the victim of some sort of an opponent or adversary This widow repeatedly went before the judge asking for justice that she might be delivered from her Constances or her adversary and there are two words or phrases that show us how she went before the judge First this phrase or this word bothers me this phrase or this word bothers me It speaks of reaching out or going before in great grief It is even pictured as beating on the breast in grief So this is the manner in which the widow went before the unjust judge She went repeatedly she was in great grief even beating her breast in Grief and then second this phrase of the word wear me out the new American uses that phrase The English standard says beat me down This speaks of hitting someone in the face literally hitting them under the eye So this is the manner in which the widow kept coming before the unjust judge Now obviously this wasn't an actual physical application or assault This is more figurative Figuratively the widow was going before the judge in great grief and beating him up with her repeated requests She was beating him black and blue with her repeated demands for justice against her adversary And all of this came out of her great great grief and sorrow But at first the judge was unfazed He was unfazed even though she was a widow and a helpless widow in her circumstances He was unfazed.

He did not care that she was helpless He did not care that she was a victim and was being abused somehow He admitted that he did not fear God and that he did not respect men but But but because this widow would not give up this Unjust judge grants her a decision in her favor Eventually this powerful Seeming immovable judge was moved not because he cared but because he was beaten down by this destitute and defenseless widow He moved to give her the legal protection or the vindication that she sought Because he was worn out and he was beat up by her great grief and her continual insistence So we have this victimized widow and this unjust or Unrighteous judge in the parable and we have this interaction between them I think we can see and understand what is happening here in the parable.

So this is the parable and Then number three. I want us to see the point of the parable We see this starting in verse 6 the point of the parable Now I said earlier that the purpose From verse 1 and the point from verses 6 to 8 are connected in verse 1 Luke says that Jesus was telling them this parable to show them how they should pray He was telling them that they ought to always be about this work of prayer that they should remain consistent and Continual in prayer so as not to become spiritually weak and even becoming spiritually lifeless they should remain consistent and Continual in prayer so as to grow strong spiritually and to maintain their spiritual strength So that was the purpose or the general purpose here But starting in verse 6 Jesus adds to the purpose of the parable more specifically He gets to the point in the points of the parable.

Let's look at the verses verse 6 and The Lord said here what the unrighteous judge said Now shall not God bring about justice for his elect who cry out to him day and night? And will he delay long over them? I Tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily Jesus just told him the parable We've seen that verses 2 to 5 and notice he pivots from the parable and he says listen listen to what this unjust judge or Unrighteous judge is teaching us Now to get into the point here. I want us to look at four things.

I want us to look at four things the unjust judge teaches us First we have God First we have God the parable teaches us about God God's character in God's work in relation to his people Now God is not unjust Is the opposite? He is perfectly holy perfectly just and perfectly righteous he is not like the unjust judge in that he does care for his people and God is not like the unjust judge in that he does bring about justice for his people Verse 8 says that God even does this quickly But we've got to remember something here Those of you who were here for our study of Luke 11 will remember this Remember that in these parables at times we have this argument or this reasoning from the lesser to the greater Luke is not telling us that God is like the unjust judge, but the opposite Simply God loves his people and he brings about justice for his people swiftly But I'm gonna put it if they're if Let me say that again God loves his people and he brings about justice for his people swiftly if Some of you are already wondering what I'm gonna say here.

Follow me Second we have God's elect we have God's elect. That's what the text says This parable teaches us about God's elect or his people God's elect or his chosen ones That's what that word means the elect are the chosen ones and they believe in Christ Jesus and God's elect are continuously being treated unjustly by the devil and his demons and demonic forces really all of this evil world Now it can seem that God's elect are just like the helpless widow, but that is not the case But God's elect are victims in that their adversaries Satan his demons his demonic forces really this sinful world are against them So we have God's elect they can seem to be like the helpless widow But there are two more things I want us to see here and I'm just continuing in the verses third We have God's promise We have God's Promise verses 6 to the beginning of verse 8 and we can easily see that these verses are loaded with promises From Jesus about God.

Let's read them again And the Lord said hear what the unrighteous Judge said now shall not God bring about justice for his elect Who cry out to him day and night and will he delay long over them? I'll tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily Notice Jesus says that God will bring about justice for his elect He says that he will bring about this justice and he will not delay. He will bring it about speedily. I Like what Albert Barnes says here? And I'm quoting him.

He says suddenly unexpectedly Suddenly unexpectedly he God will surely vindicate them and that at a time Perhaps when they were nearly ready to give over and to sink into despair That's so true So we have God's promise here I think Barnes is right even when God's people may think they can't make it Even when God's people think that they can't make it and that God will never answer he does But remember that word if hold on to that word if Fourth we have the elect and their responsibility We have God's people the believers and their responsibility Here is where I see this if coming into play God says he will bring about justice for his elect who name it and claim it God says he will bring about justice for his people who say that God is sovereign and he will do what he's going to do No matter what?

That's not what he says. I Mean really look at the verses and look at what they're saying God is saying that he will bring about justice for his elect who do what? Who pray as the victimized widow came before the judge? Just judge who pray as they ought to pray who pray as they ought to always pray not losing heart See where the if comes in So God's people have a responsibility God's people have a responsibility to God and to God here God's elect are responsible to pray and to pray continuously and consistently They are to pray not giving up so as not to become spiritually weak and even spiritually lifeless They are to pray and to not give up in prayer so as to become strong and to maintain their strength So notice what we have here in the point of the parable We have God and his character in his relationship to his people We have God's elect people and Jesus tells us that God promises to bring about justice For God's people he is not like the unjust judge.

He is kind and loving and gracious But the elective God have a responsibility That is they are to pray consistently and continuously not giving up therefore becoming weak like the poor widow They are to approach God not giving up. They are to go figuratively Guarding God even assaulting God in great grief and if they do God promises to do what? God promises to do what? He promises to give justice and without delay speedily Again, Albert Barnes.

I like what he says here suddenly Unexpectedly he God will surely vindicate them That's God's people and at a time perhaps when they are nearly ready to give over and to sink into despair And if you notice here with this summary that I've given you we see the purpose of this parable and the point of the parable The purpose was to say this is how God's people should pray and the point is about God's elect praying like this widow and God bringing about justice for his people that crowd to him day and night Now an application right here, I want to just go ahead and tell you this is a lot when you open up this can it's a lot Now how should we respond to this?

This teaching and this parable and these insights and these phrases and these words These are the things we should meditate over and study and read and we need to let this Form our thinking and our understanding and how we approach we must study and meditate over these things Not to just get them in our mind, but to understand how they should affect our manner of prayer This is to be our manner of prayer our approach to prayer and our understanding Really this cuts against the grain of a lot of people's understanding of prayer So maybe you need the Lord to help you and to readjust you in your understanding Your you could be completely false and how you understand prayer And if your understanding is proper, then you can have the proper approach and then you can have the proper manner in prayer so an application I'm just saying we need God to form us here and Sometimes that takes prayer and meditation and more prayer and confession and even help, but we need God to do that Now at this time I want to transition to some Comparisons we have already seen some comparisons is that we've worked through the verses and we've worked through them rather fast But I want to give us some comparisons that I picked up last week from Warren Wiersby These pair comparisons jumped off the page and I set them off to the side and I really knew that we would use this Material after we got through the verses now, I like how his comparisons brought up some good application So look for some application.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due, but there's some of my teaching in here as well So I want us to see the first comparison and notice that praying is contrasted with spiritual weakness That's out of verse 1 Now the King James uses the word faint. Of course, this is not physical fainting. We know that that's not what we're talking about This is a spiritual Weariness, this is a spiritual weakness this is a spiritual weakness that can even turn into spiritual exhaustion a spiritual fainting and a spiritual lifelessness I've seen people spiritually faint and For one to lose heart Describes a believer who gets so discouraged that they may even want to quit Have you ever seen a believer want to quit?

In the trial in this struggle In life they become spiritually weak and they can even get to the point where they want to give up But here's the comparison the one who prays the one who always prays the one who prays consistently The one who prays like we see here. They don't cease to pray they persevere in prayer They do the opposite they grow strong in their trial. They grow strong in their difficulty They go strong in the Christian life.

It's not like their Christian life is easy and The one who prays and continues to pray they become strong and the one who does it they become weak so praying consistently and continuously is Contrasted with spiritual weakness or losing heart spiritually spiritual weakness is contrasted with prayer and continual prayer Which brings about spiritual strength? Now what about you Have you ever grown weak? Or you wanted to quit and give up? Other been times in your life where you've been strong Listen folks. We've got it pretty easy in a Christian life today This reminds me of me I've shared with you my Christian journey and my journey in ministry.

I Did 10 years of full-time ministry and when I left that last church there The Lord wouldn't let me go to a church and serve and boy. I didn't like it. I didn't like my job I didn't like my circumstances Man, I if I gave up for one second in prayer. I didn't just become weak. I wanted to quit There were a couple of times when I did Now I didn't throw out my Bible and I didn't leave the faith and go down to the bar room That's not what I mean, but I became so weary. There were two times in my life. I came home from work I hated my job.

I missed ministry I couldn't understand why God wouldn't let me do what I was called to do But he kept saying Psalm 40 verses 1 2 & 3 he kept saying wait. He kept saying wait I'll never forget one time I came home from work. I was dirty in my work clothes. I just got in the bed Pull the covers over my head So I quit Then I heard a knock on my door My bedroom door It was Keith He had his Bible my wife had called him said you got to come over. He said you can't quit.

I Got a heavy Two times I did that Now was I praying yes But there was spiritual weakness And look folks we're gonna have trials and difficulties some of those tragic things might come to you But look we cannot allow ourselves to become spiritually weak praying is contrasted with spiritual weakness and Then number two the widow is contrasted with God's people God's elect We see that in verses 2 to 5 the widow was contrasted with God's people now notice Jesus did not say that God's elect are like the poor widow Think about this it can seem that that is what is happening here, but that is not the case and Because God's elect are not like the poor widow God's people should be encouraged in prayer Again, remember the style of argument.

This is an argument from the lesser to the greater now follow me and I'll show you what I mean Weirzbe goes on with contrasts and I'm abbreviating his teaching Notice what he says the woman was a stranger, but God's elect or his children The widow had no access to the judge But God's elect have open access to God and may come to God at any time to get help Ephesians 2 18 Ephesians 2 12 Hebrews 4 14 to 16 Hebrews Hebrews 10 19 to 22 The widow had no friend at court to help her in her case But God's children have a Savior in heaven who is their advocate before God first John 2 1 Weirzbe goes on to make what he calls the greatest contrast.

He says and I'm Abbreviating and putting into my own words this widow came to a court of law Whereas God's children do not come to a court of law, but they come to the throne of grace and She made her plea out of poverty whereas God's children make their plea out of God's great riches that are available To them to meet every need Philippians 4 19 now you see why we as God's elect can't be like the poor helpless widow. I Like how weirzbe puts it here and I'm quoting him here If a poor widow got what she deserved from a selfish judge How much more will God's children receive what is right from a loving heavenly father?

Now what's the lesson here? The lesson here is this We fail to realize who we are Now I know I'm gonna open a can of worms here We're living in a world where all of this transgenderism is going on Now I know I'm overly simplifying it but you've got men who are dressing up and pretending to be women and Men women who are dressing up and pretending to pretending to be men. It's just a charade They're pretending and acting like there's somebody that they're not Now I know it goes deeper than that But what I'm trying to show you is this we as believers are not like some poor widowed lady We've got to realize who we are.

We are God's chosen people chosen in Christ Jesus Notice who we are and sometimes we are far more like the widow than we know Oh I'm just so pitiful. God. I could God won't help me. We're acting like the widow So my question for you is this do we do we see who we really are? And then the third contrast the judge is contrasted with the father The judge is contrasted with the father starting in verse 6 now notice this If we do not see that Jesus is making this argument from the lesser to the greater And if we do not see that Jesus is making comparisons from that argument We can make the mistake of thinking that God is like the judge And if that is the case or if we are in error here even a little We can think that we have to argue with God we can think that we must somehow bargain with God We can think that we have to somehow bribe God and let me show you something If we come to God and we think we have to argue with God if we come to God and think that we have to bargain With God or bribe God we're assaulting his character How many times do people say oh God if you'll get me out of this jam I'll do this for you That's an insult to his character It's just the opposite see God is not like this unjust judge He is a loving heavenly father who is very attentive to the needs of his people He is concerned with the needs of his people.

He desires to give his children good gifts He is ready willing and able to answer his people when they come calling But a question or two here These are legitimate questions and here's where we could go further in the message. What do we do when God delays? What do we do when God does not answer our prayers or seemingly doesn't answer our prayers? I? Like how Warren Weirsby addresses this question.

He helped me summarize it He says that God delay God's delays are not the delays of inactivity, but a preparation God is always answering prayer God works in all things at all times Causing all things to work together to accomplish his purposes for his people Romans 828 So notice two lessons here first who God is Who God is he is a loving heavenly father who loves his children and listen this really?

Emphasizes for us who God is and the second lesson is this the moment God's people pray According to God's will he as at work The moment that God's people pray according to God's will he is at work first John 5 14 and 15 Now as I close I want to offer What the main point and purpose of the teaching is this is simply a summary of all that I've tried to summarize Because if you notice my teaching style I try to teach it and dig it out and then summarize it And if you're like me, you need to hear it more than once But notice God's people should pray and must pray at all times Just like what we see here in Luke 18 verses 1 to 5 and back in Luke 11 Verses 5 to 13 God's people should pray so as not to become weak and we should pray So as to become strong and maintain our strength.

I Love what John Gill says here. I'm quoting him very loosely He says that many are the adversaries of God's people Many are the adversaries of God's people sins Corruptions of the heart Satan his demons his demonic forces wicked oppressors and persecutions and if that is the case and it is We should pray Psalm 55 verse 17 tells us that the Jews prayed three times a day If they needed to pray three times a day, what about us?

And do we pray and do we pray three times a day or do we say well God's gonna do what he's gonna do And do we wait till we're in a jam and then we try to argue with God bargain with God and bribe God But notice Psalm 55 verse 16 to 17 and then we'll close But I call to God and the Lord will save me I call to God and the Lord will save me Evening and morning and at noon.

I utter my client complaint and I moan and he hears my voice Oh the psalmist echoes what we see in the parable But I call to God and the Lord will save me Evening and morning and at noon evening and morning and at noon evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and I'm on sounds like the widow and he hears my voice What's the title of the message? I've got to keep it the same as the other ones.

So I'm calling it saved pray saved pray So this is what I say and then I'll close folks if we're really born-again people we got to learn to pray We need the Lord to teach us to pray and I think this is Far more needed in your life in my life maybe then we know