Series: What He Said
Title: What He Said About Prayer
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Title: What He Said About Prayer
Text: Luke 18:1-8
Thesis: Intercessory prayer is an expression of faith in which we ask God to intervene in a circumstance in our life with the understanding that God in His perfect will and wisdom may answer or delay or deny our request.
Introduction:
Larry Crabb wrote in his book, Great Expectations, When I was 10, I first heard Matthew 21:22, where Jesus, who never lies, said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." It was the "whatever" model of prayer, ask for whatever you want, and it's yours.
I remember running outside, standing on our driveway, closing my eyes real tight, and praying: God, I want to fly like Superman. And I believe you can do it. So I'll jump, and you take it from there.
I jumped four times—and each time landed half a second later and half a foot farther down the driveway. I had believed and I had asked, just like Jesus said. But I didn't receive. Thus began my 50-year journey of confusion about prayer. (Larry Crabb, "Great Expectations," Pray! magazine (November/December 2006), p. 34)
If we are to understand that persistence is the key to answered prayer, ten year old Larry Crabb should have kept on praying for the ability to fly and should have remained in his driveway jumping up into the air until God caved and granted him the ability to fly.
Who among us this morning has not asked God for something and did not get it or to do something that did not come about? Who among us has not experienced the disappointment of unanswered prayer?
Of course we can discount a childhood prayer to fly as a silly thing to ask of God but what about the job that did not come through or the illness that was not healed or the marriage that failed or the miraculous financial gift that did not arrive in the mail just in time to pay the mortgage?
This morning I will be talking about what Jesus said about prayer from two texts in which Jesus specifically teaches about the subject of prayer. The texts are Luke 18:1-8 and Luke 11:5-10. The texts are very similar as we will soon see.
In Luke 18:1 the text begins, One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show them they should always pray and never give up. And then he began to tell the story, “There was a judge…”
In Luke 11 Jesus’ disciples had come to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” That is the text in which Jesus proceeded to teach them how to pray by modeling The Lord’s Prayer in verses 2-4. Then in Luke 11:5 it says, Then, teaching them more about prayer he told this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight…”
Both of the stories Jesus told are stories in which there is someone who has something and someone who needs something and of how the person who needs something persists until they get what they want from the person who has what they need.
Seemingly the point Jesus is making is that we should pray and pray and pray and pray and never give up praying until we get what we want.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the text and see if we can get some clarity into what Jesus has to say about prayer.
Can we say unequivocally that Persistence in Prayer Moves the Heart and Hand of God? In other words, is it persistence that moves the hand of heart and hand of God and if we do not persist, i.e., if we do not ask and ask and ask and ask and ask will God not answer our prayers?
I. Does Persistence Move the Heart and Hand of God?
Jesus told his disciples a story to show them they should always pray and never give up. Luke 18:1
A. The Story of the Persistent Widow, Luke 18:2-5
“There was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow came to him repeatedly saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I am going to see that she gets justice because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Luke 18:2-5
The judge in our story has absolutely no moral compass. He doesn’t give a rip about God or what God thinks and he cares even less about people. The widow, who is among the least influential in the social order, has absolutely no clout with this judge. She has no political status. She has no socio-economic status. She brings no hope of bribery to influence his decision. She is nothing but a nuisance. He dismisses her repeatedly but she repeatedly reappears in his court pleading her case.
In short she is driving him nuts and he ultimately decided that the only way to get rid of this woman was to give her what she wanted, so because of her persistence, he granted her request.
Similarly, in the story of the Story of the Persistent Midnight Caller… persistence is the key to getting what you want.
B. The Story of the Persistent Midnight Caller, Luke 11:5-8
“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ Suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night and my family and I are in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this, though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” Luke 11:5-8
Hospitality was and continues to be highly valued in Middle Eastern Culture. If someone comes to your home you welcome them and you feed them and you offer them overnight accommodations.
When I was a kiddo my Uncle Artie and Aunt Shirley, both deceased now, often stopped by our home late at night on their way home from a night on the town, so to speak. My mom and dad would get out of bed and welcome them into the kitchen where mom would whip up batch of pancakes and perk a pot of coffee before sending them on their way. That’s what you do when you have midnight callers… better that than have them wake up the neighbors banging on the door and calling out under your bedroom window.
In this story you receive such a late night visitor. You are caught without anything to offer your guest to eat… so your only option is to pop over to a friend’s house and ask if you can borrow three loaves of bread so you can be a good host to your late night guest. It’s a little late, midnight to be exact, but no matter, he’s a friend and friends help friends out in a jam so you go knocking.
His house is dark. They are obviously all in bed. In the Middle East in Biblical times homes were often one room with an elevated area for cooking and eating. Everyone slept on the floor on mats that covered the entire floor area including in front of the door. In Biblical times families sometimes even brought their livestock into the house for the might so there might have been a goat or two in the mix as well.
So you are knocking on the door at midnight. Your friend tries to ignore you. Finally, he caves and tells you that he and his family are all in bed and they are all asleep and you need to go home and leave them alone. But you really need the bread and you are counting on your friendship being stronger than the imposition…
Ultimately the friendship does not win the day! It is however, the shameless persistence that does. It is the endless knocking and knocking and calling out in the middle of the night and the waking of all the neighbors that gets the guy to get up and give you the bread.
Why is persistence so important? Is persistence just a thing necessary to get God’s attention? Is persistence a thing God deems necessary on our part to prove the sincerity of our requests?
When we hear Jesus tell these two stories: the story of the Persistent Widow and the Persistent Midnight Caller, in light of Jesus’ earlier comment regarding teaching them how they should always pray and never give up, we might assume that if we want God to intervene or act in our behalf we have to drive him nuts and badger him into submission in order to get what we want.
We also assume that in these stories everyone is someone so in order to fully understand it we need to know who is who.
If we look at stories like this or parables, we believe that someone in the story is God and someone in the story is us. So we assume that the judge is God and are the widow. We would also assume that we are the one asking to borrow three loaves of bread and the guy with the three loaves to lend is God. In order to get justice the widow persists until the judge finally caves and gives her what she wants. In order to get the bread the guy pounds at the door and shouts until the guy inside caves and gets up and gives him the bread to get him to stop pounding on the door and waking up the neighborhood.
Speaking comparatively… that is what these stories t each us about prayer. God is like unfeeling judge and the reluctant friend, neither of whom is willing to help us out unless we drive them nuts and wear them down to the point of exhaustion so they finally cave and give us what we want.
In Luke 18:6-7 Jesus said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?
II. [Perhaps] Our Persistence is Not the Point, [Perhaps] God’s Provision is the Point
“So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? Luke 18:6-7
Maybe the thing we need to get hold of is the simple fact that when we pray God hears us and God in his perfect will and wisdom will answer.
A. The Story of the Persistent Widow
“I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Luke 18:8
God unlike the unjust judge acts quickly in behalf of those in need of justice.
B. The Story of the Persistent Midnight Caller
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
Now we hear Jesus affirming the idea that we are to persist in praying but not in the manic manner of the guy who pounds on his friends door and demands bread until he gets what he wants… he says praying is like asking and seeking and knocking and trusting that God will provide. When you pray you ask or seek or knock and you get what you ask for and are seeking or knocking about.
When we look at these text comparatively we see God as a reluctant God… a God we have to bother and badger until he gives us what we want. So perhaps we need to look at these two stories through a contrastive lens. Comparison / Contrast is a common literary devise that is often helpful in clarifying our understanding of some issues.
Perhaps rather than comparing the unjust judge and the reluctant friend with God we should contrast them with God. Rather than God being a reluctant God who has to be badgered into giving the poor widow justice God is a good and gracious and just judge who moves quickly in behalf of the woman. And perhaps rather than being the reluctant friend who is unwilling to get up in the middle of the night to lend his friend three loaves of bread, God is a good and gracious friend who leaps from his bed and passes the bread out to his friend.
But is that all there is too it? Just Ask? Just Seek? Just Knock? God’s good and kind and hasn’t a reluctant bone in his body… God is gracious and God wants to intervene in your behalf. All you have to do is cry out to him and God will provide.
But does God promise to make 10 year old boys fly like Superman?
R. L. Russel tells a story in his book, Triumphing Over Trials, When my son, Rusty, was five, he wanted a ball glove. So I took him, and we went to three or four stores to get a glove to fit a tiny hand. No store had such a glove. Rusty was getting impatient. We walked into a drug store and saw one mangy-looking glove on the shelf for $4.95.
Rusty said, "There's one, Dad. Get that one."
I said, "No, Russ, I want to get one that will last."
He said, "No, we've looked, and we can't find one. Get that one."
He started to cry, not a temper tantrum, but one of those pitiful weeps that little kids get. People were coming by, and I know they were wondering what kind of a father would refuse his kid a glove. He was in tears as I dragged him out of the store. We found a sporting goods store with a ball glove for about $10.95. He was elated, and the glove lasted for several years.
Sometimes God lets us go through some hurting experiences in life because he has something better in mind for us. (R. L. Russell, "Triumphing over Trials," Preaching Today, Tape No. 119)
Sometimes, as in the case of Mr. Russell’s little boy, we just have wait until that something better that God in his perfect wisdom and will has in mind comes about. But sometimes God in his perfect will and wisdom just flat-out says, “no way!” and it’s a good thing.
In his song “Unanswered Prayer” Garth Brooks reminisces about how he and his wife bumped into his high school sweetheart and of how he had at one time prayed that God would “make her mine” and if he did “I’d never ask for anything again.” But the next stanza is pure gold. It is a big fat “phew!” Thank God, I dodged a bullet on that one.
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
I don’t believe God is at all like the mean old judge or the unfriendly friend but neither do I believe God is sitting on a cloud tossing out winning lottery tickets and great job offers and get-well free cards and free-passes for bad behavior.
Intercessory prayer is an expression of faith in which we ask God to intervene in a circumstance in our life with the understanding that God in His perfect will and wisdom may answer or delay or deny our requests.
Conclusion
The 20th century Norwegian pastor [Ole] Hallesby likens prayer to mining as he knew it in Norway. Demolition to create mine shafts took two basic kinds of actions. There are long periods of time, he writes, "When the deep holes are being bored with great effort into the hard rock." To bore the holes deeply enough into the most strategic spots for removing the main body of rock was work that took patience, steadiness, and a great deal of skill. Once the holes were finished, however, the "shot" was inserted and connected to a fuse. "To light the fuse and fire the shot is not only easy but also very interesting …. One sees 'results.' … Shots resound, and pieces fly in every direction." He concludes that while the more painstaking work takes both skill and patient strength of character, "anyone can light a fuse."
This helpful illustration warns us against doing only "fuse-lighting" prayers, the kind that we soon drop if we do not get immediate results. If we believe both in the power of prayer and in the wisdom of God, we will have a patient prayer life of "hole-boring." Mature believers know that handling the tedium is part of what makes for effective prayers. We must avoid extremes—of either not asking God for things or of thinking we can bend God's will to ours. We must combine tenacious importunity, a "striving with God," with deep acceptance of God's wise will, whatever it is. (Adapted from Prayer, Tim Keller (Dutton, 2014), page 137)
