Understanding our Place in Prayer

Well, if you would, go ahead and take your Bible. Turn with me to this familiar portion of Scripture, Luke chapter 11. We will start off in Luke chapter 11 and then a little later on we will venture over into Luke chapter 18. Maybe mark chapter 18 so you can turn there easily a little later. Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter 18 and I will reference some other scriptures that I will challenge you to write down. Now for the last two weeks we have been in what I have called the school of prayer primarily out of Luke chapter 11. I thought about it like this last night. Luke chapter 11 is our cornerstone passage when it comes to the school of prayer.

Now in verses 1 through 4 we had what I called elementary school, maybe middle school when it comes to prayer. And then in our part 2 we were in verses 5 through 13 and I called that last week our higher education. Our higher education. Like I said it was a two part message. We have the title, our great need, learning how to pray. Of course this is all part of the message series, messages from the pastors heart. Now why do I take the time to teach on prayer? Prayer is vital for us in our personal walk. Prayer is vital for brother Keith and I. In our personal walk with the Lord and in our obedience to the ministry that God has here for us.

Prayer is vital for you and for us as a church. Prayer is vital for us to be part of God's sovereign plan as He has brought us all together. If you were to look into my heart and brother Keith's heart and if you were to search out and find key scriptures, key portions of the word of God, portions of the word that have meant a lot to us and God has used in a great way, you would see that Luke 11 has been used of God in my life and in brother Keith's life. As a matter of fact the teaching out of Luke 11 was an integral part of God bringing us here, bringing us to be a part of the work that God is doing here in Nola.

Now this morning's message we will conclude our messages on prayer. This will be a little bit of a different message. We will turn to a few places in scripture. I will not deeply divide the passages but I will make some observations. Now I'm not going to do what I normally do and that is put message notes on the screen for you because we're not going to divide it like we normally do. So I would encourage you to just pay very close attention. Something I say really strikes you. You jot that down. And if you need my message notes I'll be glad to give them to you. Now we're going to make application like we always do.

We'll make our major application at the end of the message. Now this application of this message will drive all that we've learned about prayer into our minds and into our hearts. And I believe under the spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit we will be held accountable for what we've learned. We will be held accountable in that God will enable us to put into action what we have learned. So let's look at our first portion, our first scripture and that is out of Luke chapter 11. I'm going to read the scriptures so I want you to read along with me in your copy and then we'll make some observations like I said earlier. Verse 1.

"And it came about that while he was praying," that's Jesus. He's praying in a certain place. We know that Luke gives us many instances where Jesus was praying. "And after he had finished one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' Just as John also taught his disciples." Here he starts them in the school of prayer in verse 2. "And he said to them, 'When you pray, say, 'Father, hallowed be thy name or praise your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us or his sin against us and then lead us not into temptation.'" Verse 5 changes.

Jesus starts to teach in the parable. "Suppose one of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, live me three loaves of bread.' For a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him. And from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me. The door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because of his friend, yet because of his persistence or boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs or asks for.

And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers, if he is asked by his son for a fish, he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he asks for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? And then here verse 13 we see the heart of the father. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Now we're familiar with these scriptures. I read them over and over purposely because we need to hide them in our minds. We need to know what is before us. But I want to make a few observations here. First we see that the disciples, they were in the very best place. What do we see in verse 1? One of the disciples says, "Lord, could you please teach us to pray?" I want us to see that they were experienced, far more experienced in ministry than you might know. If you go back in Luke chapter 6 verse 12, we have the commissioning of the disciples. Jesus has a band of disciples there and he chooses the 12 out of the group of disciples.

Mark's account in Mark chapter 10 starting in verse 1 gives a few more details. Now, let me show you what I mean. If you go back to Matthew, excuse me, not Mark, you will see that Jesus at the commissioning, he gives them the authority to cast out demons. Not only does he give them that authority, he gives them the authority to heal the sick. Then he says that he gives them the authority to preach the good news of the kingdom. Now, he gives them specific instructions. He says, "Do not go to the Gentiles. Do not go to the Samaritans, but only to the Jews." And then they were called and they were sent out to do this work.

And he gave them instructions as to what to do when they go out and they did this work successfully. They cast out demons, they healed the sick, and they preached the good news. So that's what I mean by experienced. They had quite a bit of ministry under their belt. They weren't as green as we might think. And what do we see in verse 1? They were awestruck by Jesus' example. I believe they were awestruck by John and John's disciples. And what did they say? "Lord, would you teach us to pray?" They were in the very best place. Then we saw, starting in verses 2 through 4, Jesus deals with them in their personal life.

Now, notice how relevant and powerful this is. How in the world could they be used of God if they cannot worship God and adore God and say with every fabric of their being, every breath in their lungs, "Lord, I praise you for all you are and all you represent and all you've done for me"? How in the world could they be involved in the school of prayer and in kingdom work? If they will not trust Him in their daily needs? How in the world can they be used of God if they will not forgive others as Christ has forgiven them? See, this is the elementary portion of prayer. And this is just dealing with their personal wealth.

And then we see that Jesus gives them this parable, this parable that teaches on prayer. Verses 5 through 6 is perspective. What does He say? "There is a friend and he has a friend and he is in need." It is seeing and understanding and comprehending that there is one who has a very, very important need. Then he really gets to the heart of what he's trying to teach. And that's persistence in prayer out of verses 7 through 8. This word, this key word, persistence can be translated boldness. It can be translated shamelessness. One Bible commentator said that this is a hyper word. It is loaded with meaning.

It literally means that it takes a lot of nerve. They have gall to come in this manner. What do we have in the parable? A friend who has a friend who has need, he needs bread and he goes to another friend at midnight when his whole house is asleep and he has the nerve, the gall, the audacity to beat on that door till he gets that bread. But then connected with this persistence is the progression. This is not a one time event. It's all tied together and what does he say? Ask and seek and knock. This is not repetition. This is a progression because to seek is greater than to ask and to knock is greater than to seek.

So in the parable he teaches perspective, he teaches persistence in prayer and progression and then he teaches the principle. That is the loving heavenly Father. What do we see in verse 13? "If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" Remember this type of argument here? This is a lesser to a greater which emphasizes the principle. If number one is true, what's number one? Verses 11 and 12. If a Father knows how to feed his children, yes, if that is true, how much more is number two and that is the heavenly Father.

See the lesser to the greater? Emphasizing the principle of the loving heavenly Father. So what do we see in this teaching? What's the heart of these verses? The disciples who were experienced in ministry following Jesus, chosen of God, all were born again except for traitor Judas. They were in the very best place that they could be and they were teachable. And Jesus says this is how you should pray. You pray boldly, you pray shamelessly, you pray progressively. You have the gall and the audacity to pray like I am teaching you. He's teaching them to ask and to seek and to not. He's teaching them to be bold in their prayer.

He is saying, "Come to the door of heaven and ask for bread boldly." Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking persistently. Now this leads us to a very important question and it leads us to a question that we must answer. What gives us the right to bombard God this way? Isn't that what he's teaching? I mean think about that. What gives us the right to come to God in this manner? Now think about it. We're fallen, we're sinful, we're depraved creatures, are we not? We're wicked people outside of the grace of God and even when we're born again, we are still sinful creatures because we've not been carried over into glory.

We are the created beings and we are not like God. He is not the created, God is the creator. God is holy. Now that word holy needs to be understood. That means he is separate. He is not like us in any way. He is righteous. He is not sinful in any way. All of his ways are right and true. He is sovereign. That means that he is in complete control and his ways are predetermined. His ways cannot be thwarted and so what gives us the right to bombard God in this way? I want to move on to that other passage. I want us to turn over to Luke 18. Luke chapter 18. I'm going to read verses 1 through 8.

This isn't as familiar to us because I have it taught on Luke 18 as much as I have Luke 11. I will change that in the future. Luke chapter 18 starting in verse 1. You will notice some similarities so let's look at the verses. Now he was telling them, who? Who is the them? These are the disciples. He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart. The King James says faint. There was a certain city and a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city and she kept coming to him saying give me legal protection from my opponent.

For a while he was unwilling but afterward he thought said to himself even though I do not fear God nor respect man yet because this widow bothers me I will give her legal protection least by continually coming she may wear me out. Verse 6 the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now shall not God bring about justice for his elect? That's the born again people who cry to him day and night and will he delay long over them? I tell you that he will bring about justice for them speedily. However when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth? Now here we have another parable. Another parable obviously on prayer.

Now some call this parable the parable of the unjust judge. I really don't like that title because the point is that the unjust judge. The point is prayer. I like the parable on prayer. Jesus is teaching his disciples on prayer again. Now what do we see in these passages? Again a few observations. First immediately we see that Jesus was telling them a parable so that they would know how to pray. The point of the parable is to illustrate truth. Look at verse 1. Now he was telling them a parable to show them that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart.

A parable is an earthly story cast alongside a spiritual truth to illustrate that truth. So Jesus is teaching on prayer again. What do we see? Immediately in the parable he's teaching. And here he tells them that they should pray at all times. That they should not lose heart. The King James reads faint. This means not to turn into a coward, one translator or commentator said. This means not to give up, not to grow weak. One commentator said this means not to grow weary and to fall into evil. So immediately he says I'm going to teach you a parable on prayer and this teaching is so that you would stay strong. Now what do we see in the parable?

I call these the main characters. This is obvious. This parable is a little more simplistic than Luke 11's when you compare it. But we have in the parable the unrighteous judge or unjust judge and the widow. Now the judge would have been considered a man of the world. This judge would have been one who though crooked prided himself on shrewd judicial decisions. Now this judge would not be in a courtroom like we are accustomed to. In that culture it was a lot different. This judge would have held court in a tent and he would have gone from place to place. We might call it from circuit to circuit or district to district.

Now this judge would have held court and he would have set the agenda. What I mean by that in his court it wouldn't have been a written law that set the agenda. It would have been the authority of the judge. Now as that judge traveled he had many assistants who would have kept people away much like this widow. And these judges in this day and time were notoriously corrupt. They were notorious for taking bribes for favorable decisions. And then the widow. This widow would have been common in that day culturally. There were lots of widows. Now this widow had three hindrances that are very obvious. First of all she was a woman.

Now what I mean by that is in that day women had no rights. She would have had no standing in that court system in that day. And then second she was a widow. She had no husband to represent her in court and in society. Most of the time in that culture widows were very poor. There was provision through the law of Moses for widows but most of them were destitute. And then third she was poor. She had no money to offer a bribe which was very common so as to get that favorable decision. Now remember it was the judge who set the agenda not necessarily a written law. Now we do see Jesus teaching and He teaches them from this parable.

First He teaches them a humble position in prayer. Is it the widow very humble? Yes. So we see this humble position in prayer. Then He teaches persistence in prayer in this chapter, in chapter 18. Exactly like we see in chapter 11. Then He teaches a principle in this parable. The Father is not like this unjust judge. Remember all of these things can't be stretched. God the Father is not like this unjust judge. Jesus uses again this argument of the lesser to the greater to bring about an emphasis. If this unjust judge brings about justice for the helpless widow, will not God bring about justice for His own? Yes.

We must see that the emphasis here, this principle here is of the heavenly Father. Go back to the verse. What does He say? And the Lord said, verse 6, hear what the unrighteous judge said, "Now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, His people?" So what do we see? We do see Jesus is teaching them out of the parable. Now, what is the heart here in this teaching? Jesus is showing them how they ought to pray. He is saying that they should pray at all times. Go back to verse 1. There's a Thessalonian passage that talks about prayer without ceasing. That they should cry out to Him day and night. Verse 7.

And just as the widow would not stop bothering the unjust judge, Jesus is teaching His disciples that they should not stop coming to the heavenly Father. Sounds exactly like what we learned in Luke 11. This leads us to that question again. It's very important and we must answer it. What gives us the right to bombard God this way? We are fallen sinful creatures. We are wicked people. We are not the Creator. We are created beings. God is the Creator and we are to serve Him. But how in the world can we come to a holy and righteous and sovereign God like this? His ways are predetermined. His ways are planned.

And they cannot be thwarted by any man or any power. So what gives us the right to bombard God this way? Now I want to make some application here. And then after the application I'm going to give us another scriptural example that will help flesh this out. Now a couple of questions. In this type of prayer, Luke 11, Luke 18, we've divided the scriptures adequately. What we've learned in this type of prayer, are we getting God, the sovereign holy God of the universe to change His plans? In this type of prayer, Luke 11, Luke 18, are we giving God information that He does not have?

In this type of prayer, Luke 11, Luke 18, are we getting God to change His plans? Maybe from a plan A to a plan B? No. The answer is no to all of those questions. We must see and understand that God has foreordained all things. His plans for time, the universe, and mankind are not changing. His plans are not going here and there and then finally to the end. The end is predetermined. The end is fixed. If they were not, then He would not be in control. Now you need to think about that. If His plans were not predetermined and fixed, then He would not be in control. I serve a God who is in control of all things.

If He were not, He would not be God. If He were not in control of all things, then I would not want to serve Him. Why? Because He would not be God. The Proverbs is full of this teaching. I encourage you to go through the book of Proverbs and look at how many times you see the fact that God is in control. I'll read you two passages. One in Proverbs and one in James. Proverbs 19.21 reads, "Many are the plans and the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." What is the Proverbs saying? The purposes and plans of God are predetermined and no matter what man does, His plans stand. James.

We went verse by verse through the study of James. James 4 verses 13 through 15. See if you can see who's in control here. "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.'" Verse 14, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then it vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'" What is James saying? God is in control. Now, this leads us to another question or two.

If God is in control of things, if all things are predetermined, then what role do I play? What role do we play? We're sinful creatures. We're fallen. We're depraved. We are the created. Well, then if everything is predetermined, what role do we play? If this is true, then how does this teaching on prayer fit into God's predetermined plans? We must see that we are the foreordained means to get to that end. We are part of that predetermined plan. We as the children of God are His instruments. We are not responsible for the end, the predetermined plans of God. We are responsible to the means to get to that end.

God has entrusted His work to us, although we do not see His plans fully, although we might not see His plans at all. We are called to be a part of His work. We are the means to get to that end. Is it that example of Nehemiah that we've been studying? Just a wonderful example. Nehemiah was the means to God's predetermined plan. Now, I want to flesh this out in some examples for you that will help you see where I'm trying to go. First of all, the salvation of souls, mankind. We know that all men are not going to be saved. If all men were saved, that would mean that we believe in universal redemption. We do not believe in universal redemption.

The Bible does not teach in universal redemption. John chapter 10 verse 26 reads, "But you," Jesus is talking to the Jews, "do not believe because you are not among my sheep. They were not born again." Romans 8, 29 through verses 30 reads, "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Verse 30, "And those whom He predestined, He also called, and those whom He called, He also justified, and those whom He justified, He also glorified." So what do we see? Not all of mankind will be saved.

It's a sad reality, but there are some who will die and go to hell. The Bible clearly teaches that. But we also know that God desires that all men be saved. The famous John 3, 16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, who had ever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life." There's hope in Christ. There was enough blood shed on Calvary that all would be saved, but all are not saved. First Timothy 2 verses 3 through 4 reads, "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." Now what is my point?

God has determined to whom He is going to reveal Himself. That is not our job. It is not our job to reveal God to people. It's only the power and the work of the Spirit that can do that. And God has determined whom He will reveal Himself to. But our job is to be the means to take the gospel to the lost and to pray for those souls that God would reveal Himself to them. Some of you are dealing with a lost spouse. Could it be that it's the Lord that wants you to take the gospel to them one more time? Some of you are dealing with a lost son or daughter, a neighbor or a friend.

Could it be that God has entrusted this work that you would take the gospel to them? Now is it you that opens up their eyes to their sin? Do you have the power to bring them from death to life? No. It's only the power and the work of the Spirit. But God entrusts His work to men. I've shared this many times, but when I was converted at 20 years old, I discovered immediately the means that God used to bring me to Himself as a church. I was converted on a Saturday night and walked into the door of Highland Baptist Church in Larr, Mississippi on Sunday morning.

I got a Bible that a girl gave me in high school, and I marched myself right into Sunday school and I discovered a whole host of people who knew who I was and they had never met me. Oh, but they prayed for my soul and prayed that God would save me, and they were the means that God used to bring me to Himself. You see? Another example is the building of His church. We know that He, Christ, emphatically stated that He will build His church. We don't have to build His church. To be honest with you, if Brother Keith and I build His church, we will ruin His church. It's Christ that builds His church.

Matthew 16, 18 reads, "And I'll tell you, you are Peter." And in the original language, He says, "You're a small stone." See? He was one of the apostles, a chosen instrument of God. But then Jesus turns and He uses a different word, rock. It's a cornerstone. And He points to Himself and He says, "Upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What is My point here? God has determined that He will build His church. No man, no culture, no government, and no demonic power can stop the building of His church.

You know, it's amazing if you do a little study in recent church history on some of these countries who were under the rule of communism and they were shut out to the world. When communism began to fall, the church was eager to go in and see how the church was doing. And you know what they found out? The church was thriving. You know why? Because even communism can't stop out His church. And so in our prayer, when we pray for the church and we pray for the work of the church and her future and her growth and God's will and purpose for us, what are we doing? We are the means to carry out His predetermined plan.

I'll give you another example, world missions. We know that Christ commanded the apostles to take the gospel around the world. The church of all ages has understood that this call is universal to the church. Matthew 26 starting in verse 18, Jesus came and He said to them, "Jesus is fixing to go back to the Father. This is after the crucifixion. He is empowering them and calling them to be the church fathers to go out and start this thing called the church." What does He say?

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." Verse 19, "Go, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing Him in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the very end of the age." What is He saying? "You go and I will be with you and I will do that work through you. I have determined that I will build the church and reach the nations and you are the means by which I will do that work." That's the point.

God has determined that the church would grow and be founded in these men and the church is called to be the means. So for us, when we pray for the nations, when we pray that God would get us to a place where we could go around the world, we will be the means to do that work. We can't just write a check and expect someone else to do it. Now I want to give you an Old Testament example. I want to be careful on time. I want to respect our time, but I think this is needed. I'm not going to go read it because of time. This is your assignment. I would encourage you to go and read 1 Samuel chapter 1. It's a very easy read. It's not a long chapter.

There are three main characters. In chapter 1, you have Hannah, you have the priest Eli, and you have a little baby, his name was Samuel, and you have some other characters, half-nigh and phineas and others, Hannah's husband. But in the story of Hannah and the birth of her son Samuel, we have a beautiful example of God's predetermined will, a person's participation in that will and in that plan, and how their prayer mattered in the Word. Now what's taking place in the chapter? Hannah had a husband named Elkanah. Now in that day, there were many men who had more than one wife. God never blessed that. He was never a part of God's perfect plan.

But Elkanah had two wives. He had a first wife and he had children with her, and he had Hannah. Now Hannah was barren and could not have children. If you study very far, you'll see that they go up to Shiloh, they go up to worship God, and Hannah was broken because she was childless. And year after year, year after year, year after year, she went brokenhearted praying for a child. Now through that work, God did bless her with a child. Now the first observation. This is from the human perspective. Hannah was barren, childless. In that day, that was a disgrace. Shame won. She wanted a child.

In that culture, they did not understand things biologically. We understand the blame and the shame would have been on her. And she wanted a child and she prayed and prayed year after year, year after year. And that burden got greater and it got deeper. And that burden was so great that finally one day, Eli the priest thought she was drunk. Now imagine a woman at the altar praying and the man of God thinking she was drunk. She was broken. She was distraught. And this burden was ruining her life. What did she want? She wanted a child. Now let's look at this story from God's perspective.

God had determined that he was going to judge the house of Eli. Eli was the priest and Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phineas. And they had sinned greatly. The sons, Hophni and Phineas were doing wicked, wicked things in the house of God. And Eli would not restrain them. He loved his sons more than he loved God. And God came and said he was going to judge his house. He was going to kill his sons and he was going to remove Eli. Eli ultimately died. And none of his descendants would be the priests. God seemingly, if I can say it like this, was in a predicament. If he was going to judge Eli's house, who would serve as priest?

God had predetermined what he was going to do. He needed a substitute. And we know the rest of the story because the little baby Samuel served God in Eli's place. Now from the human side again, Hannah did not know these things. Hannah did not understand these things. She just had a burden for a child. She prays and prays and prays and keeps on praying. She prays in great humility and great brokenness. But oh, this is where it gets good. As she prays and lives with this brokenness, God begins to change her heart and God begins to mold her prayer. In the story, her prayer and her desires change. First she prays for a child.

Second she prays for a son. And finally, she prays and says, "God, if you will give me a son, I will give him to you." Now, I've said this before. I know I'm humanizing God. I believe that's when God stood up and said, "I've got you right where I want you." God answered her prayer. God gave her a son. Now think about how crazy this is. She took him to Shiloh when he was weaned. She had fulfilled everything in the law. And she gave him to Eli and said, "I promised God I would give him my son." This was God's predetermined plan all along. And I had participated in his plan. She was the means to facilitate God's Word. There's a warning here.

I want to warn you not to fall into one of two theological traps. And I see people fall into these traps. Now the first trap is this. To believe that if you pray, then God will always answer your prayer. Now many of our charismatic friends fall into this kind of a theology. And that's like this name it or claim it theology. What they believe is this. God exists on his throne just waiting to be at our beck and call. I've gone to church with people like this. They believe that if they prayed, God was bound to do it. And what they've done is without knowing it, they have put themselves on the throne.

God does not exist to answer our prayer for us. God desires to answer prayer for his predetermined will that will give him glory. There is a danger here. And what happens is many times they will move away from biblical authority. They will de-emphasize the authority of God's Word. And they just believe if they pray it, God will do it and it will happen. That's a theological trap. Now the second theological trap is to believe that your prayers do nothing. Things are predetermined. We're prayed just because we're commanded. This is completely heartless. This removes the responsibility from man.

And this removes the man from being a part of God's work and therefore God working in his life. Do we see this kind of a heartless prayer taught in the parables? No. This absolves man of their participation in God's plan. Well, God is going to do these things they will say. They will say, "Well, God is sovereign so they just sit back and they just wait." People like this cannot and do not pray. And they'll say they pray because they're commanded to and their prayers are flat and heartless and they're never used in God's will. So beware of those two traps. Now as I conclude the message, I want to ask you this question. It's real simple.

What's the point? You know my question that I always boil it down to. So what does this mean to me? No matter what I teach and preach, we always need to come back to that question. So what does it mean to us? What does it mean to me? How is this fleshed out in our lives in this new year? We go home and we pray like friends who need bread for another friend. We have lost people all around us. Who's going to give them the gospel? Who's going to tell them the good news of Jesus? They're dying all around us. Some of you are living with people who are lost. Some of you have children who are lost. Some of you work with individuals who are lost.

Listen, who's going to tell them about Jesus? We're to go home and we'll be like the poor widow. Humble and we're demanding justice. We're to be like this friend who needs bread and like the widow who won't go away. We're to go home and we are to pray shamelessly, never giving up and never going away. We pray in humility but with a great brokenness. We pray and we first look for God to work in us. That is our greatest obstacle is ourselves. We must see that through the prayer God wants to change us.

He wants to change our affections and our personality quirks and ultimately He wants to change our heart and He's drawing us to make us more like Jesus. Then second, we look for God's will. We begin to recognize His plan and His predetermined will. I don't know how long it took but there was a day Hannah stepped back and said, "Now I know what God was doing. Now I know the whole story." And then third, we realize that we're participating in God's predetermined, never thwarted kingdom purposes. Now what's the title of the message this morning?

Titles can be difficult because the title of this message should really wrap up what we're looking at. I call this understanding our place in prayer. You see how it all fits together? Understanding our place in prayer. We're beggars in need of bread for a friend. We're poor, helpless widows, destitute and in need of justice. We're broken. We're humble. We're bold. We have the audacity to come to God in humility, never demanding because we know God is God and we're seeking to be a part of kingdom work. Understanding our place in prayer. Let's pray and we'll dismiss.