Prayer That Gets Results
Luke 18:1-8
Joke: A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I don’t know what to say," the little girl replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the woman said. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
Joke: Two men arrive at the Pearly Gates at about the same time, both wanting to know if they will be admitted to heaven. St. Peter asks the first man his name, where he is from, and what he did in life. The man answers that he is John Brown and that he was a taxi driver in New York City. St. Peter looks through his book, then gives the man a luxurious silken robe and a golden staff, and bids him welcome into heaven for his eternal reward. St. Peter then asks the second man the same questions. He replies that his name is Reverend Smith and that he was a Baptist preacher in Atlanta. St. Peter looks in his book, then gives him a cotton robe and a wooden staff, and bids him to enter into heaven for his eternal reward.
Rev Smith says, "Wait a minute! Why did that taxi driver get a silken robe and golden staff while I, a Baptist preacher, and a man of The Lord, got a cotton robe and wooden staff?"
St. Peter says, "the rewards in heaven are based on results, and while Preacher Smith preached, people slept, but while John Brown drove, people prayed!"
Do you believe that prayer gets results ? Let me personalize this a little more. Do your prayers get results ? Can you look at your prayer life, and see God at work answering your prayers ?
If you can’t look back on your prayer life, and see direct answers to prayer, it could be that you are not praying to get results. Many people pray, but it’s just a ritual...a routine ! Jesus condemned the Pharisees for vain repitious prayers. When we pray...why are we praying ? Are we simply just throwing up words ? Or are we praying for results ? This morning I want to share with you a message on "Prayer That Gets Results".
In our text this morning, Jesus gives us principles for "Prayer That Gets Results" , and shares with us a story about a lady that prayed and got results. Notice this morning that......
I. By Being Persistent In Our Prayers We Can Get Results.
In the story of the widow, she keeps coming to the judge with her petition...her request ! And she keeps coming......and coming........and asking.........and asking !
This lady had an adversary. We are not given any other details, but that she had a problem ! And she would not be satisfied until the judge heard her request, and took care of her problem. She would not be denied !
Notice the words of Jesus.........V6 "Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them ?
The judge in the story was a unjust judge. He did not fear God nor regard man. So what was it that persuaded him to finally hear the widow, and answer her request. It was her perseverance. And if that unjust judge was persuaded by the persistence of the widow, then don’t you believe that a just and loving God shall be persuaded by his children ? Yes, he will...........but notice the words........."which cry day and night"
What is the message Jesus wants us to hear ? It is..... don’t give up praying ! Don’t get weary in praying ! Pray persistently !
II. By Being Precise In Our Prayers We Can Get Results.
This little lady knew what she wanted ! She had a definite request ! She was precise in what she wanted the judge to do !
We must be precise in our prayers ! We must be specific !
I know there are sometimes when we must be pretty general in our prayers ! But if we want to really develop a prayer life, and see that prayer life be one of power, and one that gets results, then we must be precise in what we’re asking God !
Remember Hannah’s Request ! Talking about being bold in prayer, and being precise, Hannah was ! Here was a woman who was without child, and you would have thought that she would have simply asked God for a child, but she prayed specifically for a boy ! Why ? Because that was what she wanted ! She was precise in her prayers ! She was specific !
III. By Being Passionate In Our Prayers We Can Get Results.
Passion is that which drives us. It is that energy which fuels us to overcome insurmountable difficulties ! Passion is what drives us in our conquering of goals, and passion is what is needed in our prayer life !
The widow in the story was gripped by her request ! She cared about the issue, and the outcome. She was persistent in her desire to achieve results, and we must be as well if we are to receive answers to our prayers.
No one was ever so passionate as Christ was in his prayers.
Heb 5:7 "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
His passion for praying, and in praying was obviously what compelled his disciples to request......."Lord, teach us to pray " They had observed the Lord Jesus in prayer, and saw the passion with which he prayed, and seeing this they realized that they needed to be taught by the master !
If we are to pray and get results, then we must pray as our Lord did........with passion !
James speaks of the importance of passionate prayers !
In James 5:16 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. "
The word "fervent" means hot, boiling, glowing !
James then, gives an example of passionate praying !
V17-18 "Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."
How do we get passionate in our prayers ?
We become passionate when something is important to us.
We need a vision of God’s will for our lives. We need to see lost people as they are ! We need to see what God longs to do in their lives, our lives, our families, and our church !
IV. By Being Pure In Our Prayers We Can Get Results !
We cannot separate the relationship of prayer, and purity ! If we want to be powerful in our prayers, if we want to get results in our prayer life, then our lives must be pure !
Psa 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
The word "regard" means "to see, or perceive". If there is iniquity or wickedness in my heart, then God will not answer my prayers !
Sin in our lives breaks fellowship with God. It comes the line of communication to heaven, and before that line can be repaired, there must be confession, and repentance of sin on our part !
2 Ch 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Have we the desire to become effective in our prayer life ?
Do we want to pray and get results ? If we do, then we must be persistent in our prayers, precise in our prayers, passionate in our prayers, and pure in our prayers !
