Original subtitles

Wow to echo what Bob Lapine said was

last night not magnificent unbelievable

unbelievable and so continuing in that

vein I'm gonna live you just a little

bit of Oswald Chambers did you forget to

pray this morning because God didn't

forget to wake you up this morning

sounds good in fact in that vein let's

go to him gracious Heavenly Father come

our hearts now and a true father our

hearts are filled to overflowing we've

been in your presence and yet again we

find ourselves in your presence this

morning so father as we open your word

let us plumb the depths of the riches

that we find there and take out your pen

and write your love letters on the

tablets of our hearts speak to us O Lord

anew deep in our relationship with you

quicken us father to follow you more

steadfastly and to be far more obedient

that we've been up to this point we love

you Lord knowing beyond a shadow of a

doubt that you first loved us in Jesus's

name we pray amen and in the church and

in the work of the Lord everything rises

and falls on prayer that's an important

point to remember you know there's all

kinds of famous prayers if you will

renowned prayers Nancy led us through

one last night the Lord's Prayer there's

also the serenity prayer god grant me

the serenity to accept the things I

cannot change courage to change the

things I can and the wisdom to know the

difference and then there is the

senility prayer god grant me the

similitude I never liked anyway

the good fortune to run into those I do

like and the eyesight to tell the

difference amen

probably won't last long in the annals

of history but I thought I'd share it

anyway I did look up some people some

famous people's thoughts on prayer very

interesting LM Montgomery who was the

author who wrote an of Green Gables she

said why must people kneel down to pray

if I really wanted to pray I'd tell you

what I do

I'd go out into the great big field all

alone or into the deep deep woods and

I'd look up up up into the sky into the

love

blue sky that looks as if there's no end

to its blueness and then I just feel a

prayer that good Christopher Hitchens

who now knows definitively that God is

real had this to say about prayer the

man who prays is the one who thinks that

God has arranged matters all wrong and

who also thinks that he can instruct God

how to put them right or Quinton crisp

who was an English writer and a rock on

tour said this I am unable to believe in

a God susceptible to prayer I simply

haven't the nerve to imagine a being a

force a cause which keeps the planets

revolving in their orbits and then

suddenly stops in order to give me a

bicycle with three speeds that's a man

who certainly doesn't understand prayer

John Bunyan did he said in prayer it's

better to have a heart without words

than words without heart Corrie ten Boom

said his prayer your steering wheel or

your spare tire oswald chambers again we

tend to use prayer as a last resort but

God wants it to be our first line of

defense we pray when there's nothing

else we can do but God wants us to pray

before we do anything at all Dwight o

moody said he who kneels the most stands

the best Ralph Waldo ever said even come

in and I'm prayer he said the wise man

in the storm praised God not for safety

from danger but for deliverance from

fear and Lily Tomlin well she had a

thought or two about prayer

she said why is it that when we talked

to God were said to be praying but when

God talks to us

we're schizophrenic Martyn lloyd-jones

Joe Jones said prayer is beyond that he

questioned the highest activity of the

human soul man is at his greatest and

highest when upon his knees he comes

face to face with God

powerful Robby Zechariah said I think

the reason we sometimes held the false

sense that God is so far away is because

that's where we've put him we have kept

him at a distance and then when we're in

need and call on him in prayer we wonder

where he is he's exactly where we left

him CS Lewis inimitable Lewis when I lay

these questions before God I get no

answer

but a rather sort of no answer it's not

a locked door it's more like a silent

certainly not uncompassionate gaze as

though he shook his head not in refusal

but waving the question like peace child

you just don't understand

precious well I'm from Washington DC we

live in a world of statistics so I have

a few statistics about prayer and

they're fascinating particularly because

they're indicative of what we think

about prayer more than half of Americans

say they pray every day according to a

Pew Research poll that was done in 2014

22 percent said they pray weekly or

monthly 23 percent say they seldom or

never pray and even among those who are

religiously unaffiliated they pray 20

percent of them do daily women are more

likely to pray than men 64 to 46 percent

every day and Americans ages 65 or older

are more likely than adults under 32 say

they pray daily maybe they think they're

closer to death I don't know for sure

but a Pew Research Center survey

conducted in 2014 found that forty five

percent of Americans and a majority of

Christians 55 percent say they rely a

lot on prayer and personal religious

reflection when making major life

decisions but here's a startling fact

that very same survey found that 63

percent of Christians in the United

States saying praying regularly is an

essential part of their Christian

identity that's good except you have to

flip that statistic around if 63 percent

say it's a regular part of their life

that means 37 percent of Christians

that's one out of three say the prayer

is not essential we have a prayer

problem

Newsweek knew but there was something

about prayer so believe it or not

Newsweek a secular magazine actually did

a poll and it was called is God

listening and this is what they found 87

percent believed that God answers their

prayers at least some of the time

eighty-five percent insist they could

accept God's failure to grant their

prayers that's an interesting dynamic 13

percent declared that they've lost their

faith because their prayers went

unanswered or they didn't recognize the

answer that they

got 82% don't turn away from God even

when their prayers go unanswered and 54%

say that when God doesn't answer their

prayers it doesn't mean much except that

it wasn't God's will that he answer

their prayer 20% of Americans 45 and

older are somewhat religious and they

cite prayer as their most satisfying

spiritual or religious experience the

numbers are not that good not that good

and yet the Bible talks a lot about

prayer there are 377 references to

praise and 375 references to prayer

praise and prayer are inexorably

connected and the Bible has a lot to say

about prayer in fact the very first

mention of Prayer can be found in

Genesis chapter 4 and as for Seth to him

also a son was born and he named him

Enoch then men began to call on the name

of the Lord

there's your definition of prayer to

call on the name of the Lord Genesis

chapter 4 and in the Bible we read where

people were on their knees when they

prayed we read where people bowed on

their faces before God in prayer we read

where they stood before God in prayer

and the Bible tells us you don't have to

have a lot of fancy words in fact

Matthew 6 says when you pray don't

babble on and on as people of other

religions do they think their prayers

are answered only by repeating their

words again then again Ecclesiastes said

do not be quick with your mouth do not

be hasty in your heart to utter anything

before God God is in heaven you're on

earth so let your words be few prayer

develops our relationship with God in

Zechariah we read this I will bring that

group through the fire and make them

pure just as gold and silver are refined

and purified by fire they will call on

my name and I will answer them I will

say these are my people and they will

say the Lord is our God John 15 says if

you stay join to me and my words remain

in you you may ask any request you like

and it will be granted

that's prayer Billy Sunday said if you

are a stranger to prayer you are a

stranger to power

well there's one little story in the

Bible with a

a big message about the power of prayer

special prayer painful persistent

passionate prayer and I would like to

you to open your Bibles please to Luke

chapter 18 do me a favor before you do

that hold your Bibles up hold up your

smarty pants phone if you need to too

because it might be on there

oh how wonderful just look around for a

minute and then add to your prayer list

thanks to God for the Liberty to be able

to own this book to hold it up and to

read it in the United States of America

that is not a universal Liberty enjoyed

by all our sisters around the world and

we need to be praying for them as well

but if you open up Luke 18:1 we want to

set the stage I like to read I use all

kinds of translations but when I'm doing

my Bible study I like to word work from

the ESV the English standard version and

when you read chapter 18 the first word

there is the word and now I don't know

about you but remember that man

artificially puts in these chapters God

didn't dictate it and say thus begins

chapter 18 we did that in order to put

this all together in form and substance

and so when I see the word and at the

very beginning of a chapter I want to

step back and say and is connected to

what what precedes it so I want you to

look back starting at Luke 17 and I'm

gonna hop skip and jump through this

part quickly to set the stage before we

get to and in verse 18 of chapter 18

verse 1 so what happens well there they

are

the religionists of the day or the

mainstream medium would call it the

mainline denomination of the day it's

the Pharisees and once again what are

they trying to do it's what they're

always trying to do they're trying to

trick Jesus and so they start asking him

about his kingdom thinking of course

that the answer is going to reflect on

some physical kingdom I love what Jesus

does Jesus decides he's going to give

him a short answer and I'll tell you why

because the Pharisees have rejected the

king standing in front of them why

should he tell them much about the

kingdom they don't believe in anyway so

then he turns to his disciples and he

gives them a much lengthier answer

because he understands they are worthy

and will understand but in his

compassion he gives them as much

information

as they can handle and tolerate at that

point in their walk with the Lord

because you see they don't yet

understand that the Son of Man is going

to have to suffer and be rejected oh but

they would soon come to understand that

in a profound way considering most of

them would lose their life for the cause

of the Cross so in 17 starting in 20

Jesus is warning them and us as we read

these passages that evil is going to

prowl across the face of the earth and

what does Jesus do being the superb

perfect teacher that he is he uses two

Old Testament stories to help quicken

their hearts to help prepare them for

what's going to happen and he first

talks about the days of Noah this is so

interesting and he said during that time

the people were eating drinking marrying

and being given in marriage and then we

know what happens the flood comes and

everyone and everything is destroyed

except Noah and his family now I don't

know about you but I read that passage

and I thought eating drinking marrying

are those sins that's are they specific

sins addressed in Scripture well not

necessarily so then what's the issue and

why does Jesus delineate that out and

say eating drinking and marrying the

point that Jesus is trying to make is

that the people in the days of Noah were

so planted in the moment they were not

preparing for the future

they were self-absorbed they were

complacent they were content with their

material goods to the point that they

ignored God's warning and that's pretty

difficult to do when your next-door

neighbor is spending 120 years building

an ark how do you ignore that warning

they've been warned that destruction was

coming

they watched neighbor Noah built his ark

for a hundred and twenty years and yet

they paid no attention this is important

because this tells us something about

the nature of God he is a gentleman God

and he is not willing that any should

perish

so what God does before judgment comes

is he warns us and warns us and warns us

again so you can't say you ain't been

told and he told the people in days of

Noah judgment is coming and here is this

show-and-tell item the arc that says get

it it's coming it's coming so I asked

you women at the 21st century is God

sending us warnings today is he trying

to get our attention are we likewise in

the days of Noah

are we complacent and comfortable and so

bound in the moment we are not preparing

for the future oh and for followers of

Jesus Christ what a future that is so a

second story he goes to the days of lots

lots aanchal Abraham tries to intercede

for these infamously awful cities Sodom

and Gomorrah he's pleading with God for

mercy but the inhabitants again in

rebellion and disobedience turn their

back on God they live out sinful lives

to the point were in the 21st century we

still associate Sodom and Gomorrah with

licentiousness and sin what a reputation

for cities but they acted like

everything was normal

so God warns and warns and warns and God

commands lots to leave the wicked cities

and don't look back so what do the

cities of these in the citizens of this

infamous City do they choose rebellion

over God and the valley notes that they

were reduced to dust and a little salt

God said don't look back look forward

turn away press on follow me this

reminds me of Paul forgetting what lays

behind I press forward that's important

for us and I walked with Jesus Christ

looking forward evermore Hebrews 12:1

through 3 the only way we're effectively

going to get through this life is how by

keeping our eyes on Jesus the author and

perfecter of our faith we will grow

weary if our perspective is anything but

on him that's impairment imperative so

God says don't look back who looks back

Lot's wife looks back and what happens

God keeps his word

you'd been warned she turns into a

pillar of salt you see her past was more

important than her future she clung too

tightly to what was and lost what was to

be

her old life meant death her new life

meant hope and redemption and she let it

slip through her fingers Kurt Vonnegut's

who was the author of

slaughterhouse-five said in Lot's wife

of course was told not to look back

where all those people in their homes

had been but she did look back and I

love her for that because it was so

human she turned into a pillar of salt

so it goes that's I don't know about you

but that's my problem

I am so often so human I get into

trouble I want to be more like Jesus and

less human I want Jesus to be soand weld

in me that through the power of His Holy

Spirit I choose him over the world every

moment of every day until he calls me

home Chuck Swindoll said people will

continue to live in blissful ignorance

rejecting the testimonies of godly men

and women until the world undergoes

cataclysmic change

may God quicken us with the ears in our

heart to the testimonies of those around

us who are telling us let me share what

God has done in my life and then let's

tell someone else what God has done in

our life are we like the inhabitants of

those ancient towns are we rebellious

today are we turning our backs on God

are we desiring the here and now over

the there and when we hardly need more

evidence that the world is on fire when

we need to move with haste evidence

abounds that Jesus is coming soon are we

ready for his arrival

so before he comes the Bible tells us

dopes we're gonna go through some wicked

times we're told to get ready we're told

you prepare how do we do that well these

previous verses set us up perfectly to

the story that Jesus is about to tell in

chapter 18 verse 1 Jesus is about to

tell a parable now this is a fancy word

it simply means if you look it up in the

dictionary that it's a story in fact

here's what a secular dictionary says

parable a short story that teaches a

moral or spiritual lesson especially one

of the stories told by Jesus Christ and

recorded in the Bible Jesus and parable

go hand in hand he's a superb

he knows how to tell a story to make a

point and he's telling us something here

with this story so he's telling us pay

attention I want to teach you something

so Jesus begins with this fictitious

story it's a little story with a very

big message about prayer and we start

with Luke 18 verse 1 and he was telling

them a parable to show that at all times

they ought to pray and not lose heart

underline that so important in Scripture

because with this parable what the Lord

does is he lays out the pattern for

prayer and it's thus consistent

insistent persistent let me say it again

the pattern of Prayer is consistent

insistent persistent and with verse 1 we

hear the directive to pray at all times

that is the very definition of

consistent prayer for the believer it is

constant regular longtime permanent

activity in our life

well what keeps us from being consistent

in our prayer life well I found a little

story that I think makes the point so

this journalist was assigned to

Jerusalem he moved to the city he got an

apartment it overlooked the Wailing Wall

the western wall and after several weeks

he realized that whenever he looked out

of his window down at the Wailing Wall

there was this old Jewish gentleman

standing there praying vigorously so the

journalist wondered if he might find a

story there so he goes down to the

Wailing Wall and he introduces himself

to the man and he says you come here

everyday what are you praying for and

the old Jewish man replies what am i

praying for well in the morning I pray

for world peace and then I pray for the

unity of all people and then I go home I

have a cup of tea I come back to the

wall in the afternoon and I pray for the

eradication of illness and diseases in

the world

well the journalist was flabbergasted he

loved the man's consistency he loved the

man's sincerity and he said wait a

minute

you mean you've been coming to the wall

to pray for these things how long have

you been coming the old Jewish man said

well maybe 2025 years

the journalist was flabbergasted he said

you've been coming to this wall every

day for twenty to twenty-five years to

pray for peace the unity of people the

eradication of disease the old man not

and the journalist said well how does it

feel to come and pray every day for so

many years for those things and the old

man replied how does it feel it feels

like I'm talking to a wall sometimes we

feel like we're talking to a wall when

we pray and it causes us not to be

consistent prayers we are reminded that

the value of consistent prayer is not

that God will hear us but that we will

hear from him if prayer is the love

language between a father and his

children and it most assuredly is

consistency should be a natural activity

why would we apportion a part of our day

to someone that we loved we wouldn't do

that with our spouse or our children or

someone who meant something to us why

wouldn't we want to spend as much time

as we possibly could with them why would

we not want to spend as much time as we

possibly can with the unconditional

lover of our soul what breaks up our

consistency Martin Luther said it

beautifully to be a Christian without

prayer is no more possible than to be

alive without breathing Andrew Murray

said prayer is not monologue but

dialogue God's voice in response to mine

is its most essential part consistent

prayer is constant daily communication

and sometimes it's work it shouldn't be

but to get started sometimes it's work

CS Lewis knew this he said relying on

God has to begin all over again everyday

as if nothing had yet been done and yet

consistency in prayer is the hallmark of

a vibrant Christian life when Jesus

tells them not to lose heart he knows

that hard times are coming for his

disciples in the short term for us as we

approach the Lord's return and his

impending judgment and so Jesus does not

want us to get discouraged by the way my

mom used to say discouragement is the

devil's favorite tool

I absolutely believe that so verse one

tells us that consistent prayer is not

dependent on our circumstances we are

not to stop praying when we're

discouraged or afraid rather consistent

prayer works us to keep us from being

discouraged and afraid after Jesus sets

the stage for verse 1 he then moves into

the story verse 2 in a certain city

there was a judge who did not fear God

and did not respect man I love this

maybe it's because I gave birth to a

lawyer and married one but I love the

legal part of this judges play an

important role in Israel they were God's

representative representing God's

character by administering judgment to

those who needed it and in Israel people

would take their disputes to someone

respected in the community or a council

of elders because these people were

thought to be the most respected among

all the people because their word meant

something let your ABA scripture tells

us write well-worn words be described it

this way and discussing the legal system

of the day he said the courtroom was not

a fine building but attempt that was

moved from place to place as the judge

covered his circuit the judge not the

law set the agenda and he sat regally in

the tents surrounded by his assistants

anybody could watch the proceedings from

outside but only those who were approved

and accepted could have their cases

tried this usually meant bribing one of

the assistants so they could call the

judges attention to the case now just

know that that's all in Jesus's mind as

he's telling the story about this

fictitious judge he knew that graft and

corruption was a part of the legal

system of the day so he didn't have to

go to much of a stretch to define this

fictitious judge in truth they were

probably all around the disciples so you

can bet this point hit home one of the

most discerning only the most discerning

and wise men were designated as arbiters

and settling dispute in Exodus all the

way back to Exodus 18 Abel men who fear

God men of truth and those who hate

dishonest gain there's the job

description of a judge in second

chronicles we read the instructions King

Jehoshaphat gave when he appointed

judges and he leaves no ambiguity

consider what you do for you judge not

for man but for the Lord he is with you

in giving judgment now the

let the fear of the Lord be upon you be

careful what you do for there is no

injustice with the Lord our God or

partiality or taking bribes this was a

lofty and important position but that's

not the character of this fictitious

judge in fact if you break down the

Greek word that goes to describe this

judge the language is used to describe

the most wicked and rebellious of people

who had no regard whatsoever for what

God demanded this juggs violated the

first commandments of loving the Lord

your God and he violated the second

commandment of loving your neighbor as

yourself

this judge didn't care this judge broke

the law the story continues in verse 3

there was a widow in that city and she

kept coming to him saying give me legal

protection from my opponent now I did

that but when you read the word you

can't hear inflection but Jesus was a

storyteller do you ever just stop

sometimes and take a deep breath and the

stillness of your quiet time before the

throne and think to yourself if Jesus

used the power of a story to tell a

story I bet he used inflection so what

was it like when he told his disciples

the story do you think he said very

plainly give me legal protection from my

opponent he wants to make a point so she

says give me legal protection from my

opponent but Jesus doesn't give us the

particulars of the problem even if I

have inferred maybe bad I said Jesus but

if I inferred what the inflection was on

this we can pretty much infer what is

going on with her problem how can I

infer that because you're reading

scripture contextually scripture is

replete with directives on caring for

widows and orphans we read in an exodus

we reasoned Psalms we're reading in

Isaiah we read it in Jeremiah all the

instructions on caring for the rights

and the welfare of the helpless

including but not limited to widows God

knew they would need protection why why

did God know that widows would need

protection this is me a good God looks

out for all of us because it was not at

all uncommon for unscrupulous people to

trump up debts against a widow and they

did it to put a lien on her property and

take away everything she already had

that was difficult enough because by

very definition is a widow she didn't

have a husband and in some cases she

didn't have children to help her bring

in revenue or to produce props the only

place a widow could turn for help was

for a judge for legal protection and

that's what this widow does the widow

represents the idea of insistent prayer

because her prayer is specific and

direct she role models the pattern of

prayer that reminds us that God loves to

hear all of our prayers but he loves

specific prayers why because they make

us go deeper in our conversations with

God mark 10:15 shows us a specific

prayer Jesus sees a blind man along the

road Jesus says what do you want from me

and the blind man says to him rabbi let

me recover my sight he didn't stop and

say give me world peace he said I want

my vision back so let our prayers be not

only consistent but let them be

insistent and here's a pragmatic in our

walk with the Lord keep a prayer journal

write down specific prayers and then

note how God answers when he answers

what he answers and this fallacious idea

that God doesn't answer our prayers will

be eradicated simply by looking back

over the annals of your life and saying

there he was my king here's my king

listens my King acts so keep a prayer

Journal also important is that the true

woman should Spurgeon said this a true

prayer is an inventory of needs a

catalogue of necessities an exposure of

secret wounds a revelation of hidden

poverty this Prince of preachers

understood the power of prayer we

continue with verses 4 and 5 for a while

he the judge was unwilling but

afterwards he 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 otherwise by

continually coming she will wear me out

this judge is obnoxious what hubris he

boldly says he doesn't care for men he

doesn't fear God I don't have any

respect for anybody but myself and he

actually thinks it might be advantageous

to turn a blind eye to the widow when in

fact the widow

giving him a black eye now I wish I

thought of that that's actually what the

idiom is in Greek wears me out literally

in the Greek means giving you a black

eye it's the same idea of so many

pummeling somebody else in a boxing ring

he finally relents out of sheer

frustration with her relentless please

he didn't relent because of his being a

good man or a good judge he relents

because of the consistent insistent and

yes persistent pleas of the widow IAM

bounds who wrote with powerful eloquence

about the power of prayer said this

there is neither encouragement nor room

and the bible religion for feeble

desires listless efforts lazy attitudes

all must be strenuous urgent and ardent

flame desires and passion done weary

insistence delight heaven God would have

his children incorrigibly in earnest and

persistently bold in their efforts

heaven is too busy to listen to

half-hearted prayers hard to respond to

pop calls oh I love that so good so good

and I also love this Widow I love I know

she's fictitious but I love this Widow

she's no wilting Wallflower now I don't

know about you but I might have been

tempted to once coated the judge your

honor I may have maybe a few weeks later

going back a second time Your Honor

could you help me with my legal problem

I love this woman

Jesus paints the picture of this woman

every day coming boldly knocking on the

door hear my case give me what I'm

asking for

and she's welcomed not by this

unrighteous judge but I love her

tenacious Ness

house wall chamber says most of us would

prefer to spend our time doing something

that will get immediate results don't

want to wait for God most of us to

resolve problems in his good time

because his idea of good time is seldom

in sync with ours all right he is she

knew where to go for help she knew where

help was available she knew to keep

asking until she got an answer she was

focused intentional purposeful committed

to the idea that her petition would and

must be heard

that's why in first Thessalonians we

read rejoice always pray without ceasing

oh that I had another lifetime to learn

Greek pray without ceasing without

ceasing has the idea of no intermission

it can refer to a nagging cough I have

something in the back of your throat and

any minute you're about to cough Jesus

tells us to be ready to be on guard to

be watchful it's the idea of being in an

attitude and an atmosphere of Prayer at

all times George Muller who dedicated

his entire life to prayer who didn't

take the next step forward without

committing it to God and waiting for his

answer said this the great fault of the

children of God is that they do not

continue in prayer they do not go on

praying they do not persevere so these

short verses reveal a very powerful

pattern for effectual prayer consistent

insistent persistent despite our

circumstances without losing fault what

an example for us to follow as we enter

the chambers of the greatest judge of

all Jesus the great teacher by the way

doesn't just tell a story to entertain

us

he doesn't just tell us a story to tell

us a story he tells us a story to make a

point and so he moves from the parable

to the application and we pick it up in

verse 6 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 well in these short little verses

we've already seen the pattern of prayer

consistent insistent persistent but now

in verses 6 & 7 we go from the pattern

of prayer to the perspective of prayer

and the perspective of prayer is him God

Almighty is the focus of our prayer and

why can we keep our focus on him because

of his great character hint prayer is

not about us it's about him it's always

been about him and this is the point

that Jesus wants his disciples and us to

understand in this story if an

unrighteous judge is going to relent and

provide justice for a pleading

consistent insistent

assistant widow how much more is the

heavenly judge the perfectly righteous

judge going to answer his children God

is by nature just his character is

perfect verse 7 tells us something else

God will not delay long in providing for

his children but to understand this we

got to set our watches am I the only one

in this room who thinks God's clock is

off it's always slow am i right am i

right well no his timing is perfect

second Peter says do not overlook this

one fact beloved that with the Lord one

day is as a thousand and a thousand

there is one day I got to set my watch

Galatians 4:4 when the fullness of time

had come God sent forth his son born of

a woman born under the law Asian's 1:10

as a plan for the fullness of time to

unite all things in him all things on

heaven and earth God's timing is always

perfect his character is perfect his

timing is perfect but there's something

else in verse 7 he answers the prayers

of his elect who are the elect if we

confess with our mouth that Jesus is

Lord and believe in our heart that God

has raised him from the dead we will be

saved that's who the elect are his

children and nothing and no one can

separate us from the love of God we have

been written in the Lamb's Book of Life

and there is no eraser big enough

anywhere to take our name out of those

books we are so blessed to have a father

whose love is perfect his character is

perfect his timing is perfect his

character and his rhyming and his love

are perfect that's the perspective of

prayer our focus is on God we pray

because we long to be in his presence

more than we long to have our prayers

answered Dietrich Bonhoeffer said prayer

does not mean simply to pour out one's

heart

it means rather to find the way to God

and to speak with him whether your heart

is full or empty Wow radical rearranging

what our perspective on prayer is

so we've seen the pattern of Prayer

we've seen the perspective of prayer but

thou and verses 7 and 8 we see the

product of prayer will not God bring

about justice in his elect 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 quickly however

when the Son of Man comes will he find

faith on the earth oh that's what a good

teacher does asks a question gets his

pupils thinking not just the disciples

but we are as pupils as we open his word

when he comes will he find faith on the

earth that stops me in my tracks when I

read it I don't know about you Oh Lord

find me faithful find me faithful I pray

Oh God Jesus is reminding him in these

verses that it's not just about our

petitions in prayer but it's about

building up our faith that's what prayer

does he knows the night is coming when

muscular Christians are going to be

exemplary in both courage and strength

else they will faint Jesus is warning us

that in these latter days true faith is

going to be very rare to find sit up

awake o sleeper pay attention Matthew 24

tells us that these days are going to be

marked by persecution more Christians

have died for the cause of the cross in

the 20th century than all previous 19th

centuries combined when Isis in their

publication yes terrorists have

magazines

it's called dabiq and the cover story of

dabiq is break the cross and how with

specificity isis is going after

professing christians as we gather here

today hacia Bibi is languishing on death

row in a Pakistani prison for the false

crime of apostasy

she said yes Lord and landed in prison

speaking of apostasy Jesus said oh

that's coming to true faith is gonna be

hard to find apostasy is going to be

rampant how many churches in America are

drifting away from biblical truth

we have strange bizarre ideas now about

sin about Satan about Hell

we've written it all all over again from

the pulpit we have created a christ of

our own construction rather than the

messiah revealed in scripture because

it's more politically correct to offer

that kind of a sanitized jesus give me

jesus as he is or i don't want him at

all the Bible says that not only are we

going to see persecution and apostasy

but unbelief is going to increase just a

few months ago in my town we had the

reason rally atheists from around the

country gathered and beat their chests

and wanted government to know you will

reflect us in your public policy so as

the cameras panned the crowd we saw

signs like hey mom I'm an atheist or in

science we trust or impeach God we look

at data number of Americans who don't

identify with any religion continues to

grow at a rapid pace 1/5 of the US

public 1/3 of adults under 30 are now

religiously unaffiliated today the nuns

as they are called is growing faster

than any other religious affiliation

sleeper awake check your watches Jesus

is coming when Jesus comes Oh justice

will be meted out swiftly in the

twinkling of an eye like a thief in the

night Jesus will return to vindicate his

elect the body of believers and the

Great King will set in motion all the

mystery and all the majesty of the last

chapter of his book even so come Lord

Jesus

so John Knox John Knox was very burdened

for the nation of Scotland and knife

after night after night he lay prostrate

on the floor of his hideout from Queen

Mary who said I fear John Knox more than

any army that can be raised against me

and his wife would say to him get some

sleep

stop praying and Knox would be this

chest and say how can I sleep when my

land is not saved lord give me Scotland

or I die

so God shook Scotland and God gave

Scotland to John Knox fast forward to

the 1940s a little Church in Scotland

struggling to keep the doors open

and two elderly in affirmed invalid

widows said we can't minister in the

church anymore but oh we want to

minister so they decided that they would

become people of prayer they knew their

church their community their world

needed God and so they began to pray

fervently and pray they did they turned

their house into a house of prayer and

around the clock they continued to pray

that God would do something powerful and

then one day the women got the idea that

they should be part of a revival at

their church so they went to their

pastor and they said pastor there's a

revivalist by the name of Campbell ask

him to come and join us

the pastor reached out to evangelist

Campbell Campbell said it can't come my

calendars full sorry the women said

we'll continue to pray so they banged on

the doors of the righteous judge give us

our church give us our church and they

continued to pray and just like that

some of Campbell's meetings started to

be canceled and the next thing you know

Campbell came and he preached for five

weeks in this small country Church in

Scotland five weeks hundreds came to

know the Lord as their Savior and all

the pubs shut down because there were no

more customers these were women who

changed the world through the power of

prayer there's an interesting story when

you and I struggle with this idea of

being consistent insistent and

persistent we get instant money out of

an ATM we get instant popcorn out of a

microwave you can even file for instant

divorce if you want to we flipped

through a website we flipped through an

iPhone we flipped through the TV channel

and we expect God to be just as

responsive and in so doing we are weak

flabby muscular less Christians but God

wants us to press forward to press on

and to grow up in him get off the milk

get on the beat and be grown up women of

God so let me tell you a story that

proves this because we never know oh oh

oh oh how I use my imagination last

night to pretend that I got to peer over

the edge of heaven to see what it must

have been like to have that sweet aroma

of prayer wafting up into the nostrils

of our Most High King from around the

world praising his name

oh that's a people into heaven a people

into heaven what is that going to be

like so I want to tell you the story of

how we'll never know God doesn't have to

tell us everything now we've seen

through a glass dimly my momma used to

teach me when I was growing up honey

when you take a shower and the mirror

fogs up that's what that verse is

referring to kind of have to wipe the

steam off to be able to see through you

can see shadows and images but you can't

see clearly at all but that day is

coming that day is coming today was May

seventh

Roger Sims had served in the great war

and he was coming home he was tired he

had a suitcase and he couldn't wait to

get home so he went along the highway

outside of Chicago and he was hitching a

ride and he waited and eventually along

came a mr. Hanover driving a sleek long

Cadillac he got in the car and the two

of them exchanged conversation what was

it like to serve in the war and tell me

about your business they went back and

forth and then Roger began to feel the

press of the Holy Spirit don't get out

of this car until you've told him the

good news so he gulped and shared the

gospel of Jesus Christ with mr. Hanover

mr. Hanover pulled over his car to the

side of the road buried his hands on the

wheel of the car and poured out his

heart to the Lord sobbing asking God to

forgive him and in the proclamation of

his sins Jesus wiped the slate clean old

things passed away all things became new

and this man was forever going to be in

the presence of our most hiking they

parted companies five years went by mr.

Simms had business in Chicago and going

through his old duffel bag he found the

card for Hannover enterprises he said I

think I'll see if I can find mr. Hanover

so he went to Hanover enterprises saw

the receptionist and he said I'd like to

speak with mr. Hanover please

receptionist said well can't speak with

mr. Hanover but mrs. Hanover is over

here would you like to speak with her he

said yes sat down extended his hand

across the table shook her hand and said

nice to meet you and began to explain to

mrs. Hanover the encounter he had had

with mr. Hanover five years before on

the day he was discharged from the Army

and she said could I ask you a question

what was was the day May 7 and he said

yes and she said well was there anything

special about that day now here was

where Rogers stopped because he thought

I did share the gospel

maybe this wife isn't going to be

- happy to hear this news so he took a

deep breath and he explained to her that

he had shared the gospel of Jesus Christ

and that mr. Hanover had accepted Christ

as his personal Savior she burst into

tears she lowered her head on the desk

and started to sob she said I'm so glad

to hear this news and she got a grip of

herself and she said I have prayed for

my husband's salvation for years and

years and years and I believed that God

would save him so Roger goes well

where's your husband mrs. Hanover mrs.

Hanover said after he dropped you off a

few miles down the road he was killed in

a car crash I never knew I never knew he

never got home you see I thought God

didn't keep his promises I thought God

didn't hear my prayers so I stopped

living for God five years ago because I

thought he hadn't kept his word to me

amazing story think when we get to

eternity am I glad we have an eternity

it's gonna take that long to hear these

stories

oh the stories we're gonna hear about

the end result of consistent insistent

persistent prayer God doesn't require us

to know the outcome and we cannot

require of him to know the end results

he is God we are not we are called to

pray in obedience faithfully faithfully

let's be like the persistent Widow who

didn't go to the judges house one time

to plead for help and over and over and

over again knowing that the judge would

eventually hear her cry you and I had

been permission to go before the judge

of all judges boldly the scripture says

having been given permission by the

judge himself to consistently cry out to

insistently cite our petitions and

persistently day by day hour by hour

moment by moment breath by breath

persistently speaking to the great king

who hears our pleas regardless of how he

answers just being in his presence makes

prayer time worth it all and your White

said something very powerful no prayer

no faith no Christ in the heart little

prayer little faith little Christ in the

heart

increasing pair prayer increasing faith

increasing Christ in the heart much

prayer much faith much Christ in the

hearts praying always faith always

Christ always what a powerful statement

raise your heads lift your hearts dear

sisters the day is coming when we shall

speak to our most righteous our most

loving judge face to face and until that

day all honor and power and glory be to

his name amen and amen