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ALWAYS PRAY AND NOT GIVE UP! – ...See Sunday Message Archive

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Luke: 18:1 - 14
Key Verse: 18:1

Through the last week's passage, we learn that the kingdom of God is within us when God rules our hearts and we must take God’s warning from Lot’s wife who turned back toward Sodom. May God help us to repent if we have any desire of our old sinful way of life and make God King of our lives. May God be the King of our family and of this nation to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Amen.

Do you have prayer topics? If you do, you are in the right place at the right time. For today’s passage teaches us about prayer with two parables; the parable of the persistent widow and the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The parable of the persistent widow teaches us that we should always pray and not give up, which implies that we often do the opposite. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector tells us what kind of attitude we should have when we pray. May God help us to learn how we should pray through this passage. Amen.

I. Pray Persistently and Not Give Up.

Look at verse 1. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” During the later time of Jesus’ ministry, he concentrated on his disciples teaching them many things. Jesus wanted to teach his disciples how to pray. He knew that he was going to leave them, and they really needed to learn how to build their relationship with God through prayer. Jesus knew that they would have obstacles. They would pray with sincerity but give up easily.

Let’s think about why we give up our prayer topics. Based on this passage there are two reasons why we easily give up; outer reasons and inner reasons, which are closely related. We find outer reasons to give up when we depend on people or circumstances. Inner reasons stem from lack of faith in God’s love and promise. Let’s listen to Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow.

Look at verse 2, “He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.” This judge does not fear God, which means he would do whatever he wants and do evil and still feel fine. He also would not care about men; whatever others would think of him and have no sympathy but was totally self-centered. This unjust judge would sentence any case for his own benefit without concerning justice for another human being. What would you do with this kind of ruler? You would not vote for him at the next election. In Wisconsin they are in a bitter battle over a recall vote to remove their governor. Unlike today, at that time a judge was appointed by king or governor. So you have no choice but to live under this horrible judge. How terrible it would be living under this kind of unjust judge? You would try to avoid him as much as you can, especially being in the court and waiting for his sentence.

Why did Jesus use this kind of judge in this parable? It is because we have all been in a situation where we are under the authority of someone like this. Being under this kind of judge makes us lose our desire to do something noble and good for God. We don't want to pray thinking it is worthless and a waste of our time. If this describes your life, what are you doing in this situation, especially with your life of prayer?

Alas! There was an unfortunate widow who was sentenced by this judge. Even if she was right, there was no chance for her to seek justice. There had been no appeals. The judge would side with the person who could give him a bigger bribe. Obviously, the widow had limited resources and the judge granted the adversary victory. Therefore, she lost the case even though she was right. There was no way for the widow to appeal or get justice under this judge. What would you do if you were in her shoes? Most men would like to take revenge in their own way and punch the adversary square in the nose. Most women would cry until they pass out. People would have pity on her, but she cannot do anything about it.

Why did Jesus use the widow in this parable? It is because she was in the worst circumstances. At the time of Jesus, a widow is treated like an orphan, who needs help from the community, for both were under privileged with very limited resources. So when the widow lost the case, she had nothing to depend on; no social security, no welfare, or even Medicare. Often, we depend on the things of the world more than God. When we do so, we cannot pray persistently.

Let’s see how the widow responded in her situation. Look at verse 3, “And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’” Due to the court case, she might have lost everything she had. Now, she had no means to survive. She would starve to death unless someone would help her or the judge reversed the judgment and return the things she lost. Maybe no one would help her out due to fear of the unjust ruler. Now she has only one choice left. In order to reverse the judgment, she kept coming to him with the plea day and night. When he was having a delicious breakfast, he heard the voice, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” When he was on the way to work, she appeared, saying, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” When he was having a professional meeting with other judges, she was shouting outside, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” When he just fell into a deep and sweet sleep, the widow came outside of his window and said, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” How could she do that? She was risking her life under this unjust ruler. It is because she was right, urgent and desperate, and there is no other way.

This widow’s response urges me to ask three questions about our prayer; first, is our prayer right before God? When our prayer is not right before God, we should have not brought it to God in prayer anyways. Maybe that is the reason why we drop our prayer topics so easily that we even do not remember after few days, if not few hours. Then, how do we know that our prayer is right before God or not? I wish Jesus told us clearly so that I know what is right. In this passage, however, the widow and the judge knew that clearly she was right. This shows us that we need confidence in our prayers. How can we have that confidence? When our prayer topic aligns with the word of God, we will receive the confidence from God. For example, if we pray for someone’s salvation, is it the will of God that everyone should be saved? If so, we should pray persistently for the person’s salvation like the widow. For our personal matters, we need to learn from Jesus’ prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet, not my will but yours be done.”

Secondly, is our prayer urgent and desperate? Without this desperate heart, we will give up our prayer topics sooner or later. Maybe we only feel urgent for prayers of our own interest like the widow in this passage. Granted, but concerning another person’s salvation, maybe we would not feel that urgent or desperate. Only when we have the heart of God, who wants everyone to be saved, we will pray with urgency and a desperate heart. May God give us the heart of God so that we can pray for another person’s soul with a desperate heart. Amen.

Thirdly, do we believe that there is only one way? If the widow knew that there is another ruler she could go to in order to resolve the problem, she would not go to this unjust judge, risking her life. If we do not believe that only God will be able to answer our prayer, we are going to pray half heartedly. It might be the case, we pray but expect someone to resolve my problem. Then, we are not really praying to God. Even if God answered your prayer, you would not recognize that God answered your prayer. May God help us to know that God is the only person, not someone else, who will answer our prayer so that we do not give up and pray persistently. Amen.

What did the judge decide to do with her? Look at verses 4-5, “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” The judge refused for awhile, thinking that she would give up soon just like all others. But this widow was different. She kept coming again and again; too often to bear--wearing his endurance out. He could not take it any longer. Now even in his dreams, she appeared like the ghost from Hamlet, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” Finally, he decided, saying, “I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!”

What does Jesus want us to learn from this parable? What is the focal point? Look at verse 6. “And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says.’” Let’s listen to the judge. Not because he feared God or people, but he was sick of seeing her, he decided to grant her request. Jesus wanted his disciples to get the point; her persistency. Her persistent request was paid off in the end. In other words, if we pray always and not give up, God will answer our prayer. Amen. Jesus continued in verses 7-8a. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Even this unjust judge would grant the widow’s request for his selfish reason, how much more our God will answer prayers for his chosen people who cry out to him day and night like this widow. God is our heavenly Father, so Jesus told his disciples to start prayer, calling God, “Our Father in heaven…” Again Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” God is our Father in heaven who will listen to our prayers and give the good gifts. My daughter is very persistent like this widow. When she request something she wants, she mentions that to me and my wife day and night until we are sick of listening to her. How much more God the Father would not wait long but answer our prayer quickly! May God help us to pray always and not give up.

Only problem is that we do not pray persistently but give up much quicker than God’s time. Why? According to Jesus, we do not have faith in him. Look at verse 8b, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” When we do not have faith, we become impatient. We set our time and when God does not answer on our time, we give up. Sometimes, God’s time might be quicker than our time, but most of the time God’s time is not quicker than ours. When people do not have faith in God, they do not have faith in God’s promise, they depend on something else; such as people and circumstances. When people disappear and disappoint, so does their faith. And faith rides a roller coaster according to circumstances. Most people give up when it seems humanly impossible. This is the reason why Jesus said, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

What prayer topics do you have in your heart? I believe you have many. How can we persistently pray and not give up, especially at the time of trouble like the widow in this passage? First of all, we must examine whether the prayer topic is right before God. If so, we should not depend on anyone or any circumstances but God alone in our prayer. Finally, we should pray with urgency until God the Father answers our prayer. Apostle Paul understood this very well and encouraged our brothers in his letter, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We can be thankful when joyful things are at present. If you are joyful when you lost your loved ones, you are crazy. We know that there are times we cannot be joyful. Then why the Bible says, “Be thankful in all circumstances.” How can we be joyful and pray always? How can we give thanks in all circumstances? We cannot naturally do them, especially at the time of sorrow, but we can prayerfully find thanksgiving topics. When we pray to find what God has done, God will open our hearts and eyes to see God’s bigger picture drawn not by anyone but by his hands. Then we may be able to find thanksgiving topics and pray to know God’s guidance more. We may be able to pray always, seeking God in hard circumstances. Thus we build our relationship with God as a child and the Father.

When I look back my life of faith, I cannot but confess that I had many prayer topics, which I do not remember now but a few. Among the few, I would like to share my prayer for my family. When I was called to go as a missionary, I was very happy and thankful except one thing, my family. My parents took care of me until I graduate college at the age of 26 after the army service, but I had done nothing for them. At that time, I cried out to God with tears, not knowing what to do, and God gave me Acts 16:31, saying, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Based on this verse, I prayed for my family, believing God will save them and bring them to the kingdom of God. Though I could not do anything, God would give them the most precious gift, the eternal life. But it did not happen in few weeks like some people but over the course of many years. It is interesting how God moved people’s hearts. My sister opposed me the most, and my father and lastly my mom, but God started moving my sister’s heart first, and then my father and finally my mom. When I look back my life of prayer, God answered all my prayers when I found them through the word of God. All other prayer topics I even do not remember them. May God bless you to find prayer topics that come from the word of God and pray persistently, not giving up. In case, if you are struggling in life, may God help you to find prayer topics based on the word of God and to be joyful with many thanks. Amen.

II. Humble Prayer (9-14)

Look at verse 9. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable.” There were another group of people who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else. Who are they? Probably, they were people who kept all regulations of prayer, thinking that they did everything about prayer and so God should answer their prayers. They are like some government workers who punch the clock but basically do nothing and yet expect a paycheck. Jesus gave them another parable, which teaches us what kind of attitude we must have when we pray.

Look at verses 10-12. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” The Pharisee prayed not to God but about himself, thanking that he was not like other sinners and boasting about what he was doing, giving a tenth. His real problem started from comparison; he felt more righteous than the other, so he could not find himself a sinner before God. So he did not need to repent his sins for he was better than his neighbors around. To him, a sinner is a generic term for everyone but did not really mean himself. Though he had problems in his life, he would not share with others to pray for him. What a miserable man he was, living in self-righteousness!

But there was a tax collector praying. How did he pray? Look at verse 13. “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” The tax collector knew who he was, a traitor of his own country for money. He came to the temple but he could not look up to heaven for his sin of betrayal. He knew that God’s judgment was on him for his sins, so he beat his chest and earnestly asked God for mercy to forgive his sins, maybe with tears. I do not know whether the tax collector felt he was forgiven by God or not.

What did Jesus say about the prayer of the Pharisee and of the tax collector? Look at verse 14a. “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.” Jesus said that the tax collector was justified before God. It is because he came to God as a sinner and asked God’s mercy for his sins. Therefore, he was justified. But the Pharisee did not come to God as a sinner but as self-righteous.

Jesus concluded in 14b, saying, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus was encouraging his disciples to be humble before God. When we come to God, we must humble ourselves. We may have done many good things and in some points we are righteous, but to God our righteousness is like a filthy rag according to Isaiah 64:6. When we come to God as a sinner, we will be forgiven. Our righteousness does not come from ourselves but from God alone through Christ. When we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. But when we insist that I am a little more righteous than my neighbor, we are exalting ourselves before God and before men. Then we do not need God’s forgiveness and then God will humble that person. May God bless us to come to God as a sinner always and receive his forgiveness. May God help us not to depend on our own righteousness comparing to others but come to God as a sinner, asking his mercy through prayer. Amen.
Through today’s passage, we learned how we should pray. First of all, our prayer topic should be right before God. When we receive prayer topics from God, we should pray persistently and not give up. Our prayer should not depend on any human being or circumstances but God alone. When we pray, we cannot depend on our own righteousness but God’s righteousness as a forgiven sinner. God answers not because of our righteousness but because of our faith in God’s grace and power. May God bless us to pray until our God the Father answers our prayer. May God bless this nation to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Amen.