Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' 4 And he would not for a while; but afterwards he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'" 6 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (Luke 18:1-7)
1.To begin with, the woman was a stranger, but we are the children of God, and God cares for His children (Luke 11:13).
2.The widow had no access to the judge, but God's children have open access into His presence and may come at any time to get the help they need (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Hebrews 10:19–22).
Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. (Leviticus 16:2)
Today, because of the perfect atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we can come anytime before the presence of God, unlike Aaron in the Old Testament.
3.The woman had no friend at court to help get her case on the docket. All she could do was walk around outside the tent and make a nuisance of herself as she shouted at the judge. But when Christian believers pray, they have in heaven a Savior who is the Advocate (1John 2:1) and High Priest (Heb. 2:17–18), who constantly represents them before the throne of God.
4.Today, when we pray, we can open the Word and claim the many promises of God, but the widow had no promises that she could claim as she tried to convince the judge to hear her case. We not only have God's unfailing promises, but we also have the Holy Spirit, who assists us in our praying (Romans 8:26–27).
Persistence was also the key that got the widow her answer. Persistence in prayer is laying hold of God. Isaiah 64:7 tells us, "And there is none that calls upon Thy name, that stirs up himself to take hold of Thee."
The above verse indicates that those who lay hold of God in prayer are few. One of the characteristics of persistent praying is the one who "stirs himself up to take hold of God".
Will you be one of those who stirs up himself to lay hold of God, refusing to let go until you see the results you are seeking of Him?
Examples of Persistent Praying
1.Jacob (Genesis 32:22-28)
Jacob was on his way back home to face his brother Esau whom he had deceived some twenty years prior. His fear and anxiety of seeing Esau again caused him to wrestle with God in prayer until God blessed him.
2.The Blind Man
There was the bind man who just wanted to see (Luke 18:35-43). He cried out to Jesus to have mercy on him, the crowds tried to silence him, but he wouldn't be silenced.
We can pray for spiritual sight for ourselves. The Psalmist cried, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Psalms 119:18). We can pray for others to receive spiritual sight, even those who are in direct opposition to the gospel.
3.The Syro-Phonecian Woman
A Syrophenician woman, whose daughter was tormented by an evil spirit, "came and fell at His feet" and "kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter" (Mark 7:25-30). This woman was both desperate and persistent.
Let's lay hold of Him until we, our loved ones and all who are in need of deliverance are set free.
4.A friend at midnight requesting bread (Luke 11:5-10)
The tense here is, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking and knock and keep on knocking. Remain persistent and don't quit until you get what you are in need of.
a].Praying for the needs of others
We need intercessory prayer warriors who will lay hold of God in persistent prayer until their needs are met. Apostle Paul said, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).
b].Filling or baptism of the Holy Spirit
The context deals with us asking for the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus went on to say, "Suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish, he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:11-13)?
When seeking the infilling or baptism of the Spirit, we must keep asking, seeking and knocking until we have all that we have come to Him for.
5.Elijah
After Israel repented, Elijah knew God would send rain. He was divinely directed in his prayers (1 John 5:14-15). He kept praying and sending his servant to look for any sign of rain. He did this seven times until his servant returned saying, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea" (1 Kings 18:44).
That was all he needed, he knew God had answered his prayer. He was persistent until he saw the answer was on its way. When we know something is God's will, we must pray persistently until His purposes are fulfilled.
Yet when the Son of Man comes back, will he find this kind of persistent faithfulness in his people? (Luke 18:8)
This suggests that when the Lord comes again, many will not have a strong prayer life. Prayerlessness is another sign of the end times.
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other
'God, I thank You that I am not like other men.
He judges his character not by the holy character of God, but by the character of other men. Whenever you judge your character not by the holy character of God, but by the character of other men, you are walking in pride.
The pharisee went home 'satisfied' but the publican went home 'justified'
only self-satisfied. To be "justified" means to be declared righteous by God on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (Rom. 3:19—4:25).
The Pharisee and the publican represent two great classes into which those who come to worship God are divided. Their first two representatives are found in the first two children that were born into the world - Cain and Abel.
Cain came to God with an offering of vegetables, indicating no confession of sin, and acknowledged no need for mercy. But Abel came with the blood that pointed to the Lamb of God—pointing out to himself that he needed mercy from a Holy God. Scripture says, the Lord respected Abel's offering.
For everyone who praises himself will one day be humiliated before all, and everyone who humbles himself will one day be lifted up and honoured before all."
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I was once invited to this conference as a speaker. Before I could speak, a pastor was asked to pray. He started praying. "Lord have mercy on us; we are all donkeys, we are dogs before You Lord, we are all filthy worms Lord" On and on he went degrading himself (and unknowingly us also who were on stage). After the meeting, I made it a point to meet him and speak to him. Some people think by degrading themselves in prayer, they are humbling themselves. This is not what the scriptures say. Let me tell you: You are the one for whom Christ Jesus shed His precious blood, and by degrading yourself, you are definitely not glorifying God. That's false humility.
To humble oneself is to recognize our need for God more than anything else.
"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:16)
Foundation scripture for children's ministry
Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." (Luke 18:17)
Jesus wants us to be childlike but not childish.
Learn this well: unless you receive the revelation of the kingdom realm the same way a little child receives it, you will never be able to enter in." (Luke 18:17 TPT)
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 18:18)
In spite of the fact that he came to the right Person, asked the right question, and received the right answer, he made the wrong decision. How can you do that? When you are not honest with yourself.
So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (Luke 18:19)
The rabbis were called teachers but it was most unusual for a rabbi to be called "good." The Jews reserved the word good for God (Ps. 25:8; 34:8; 86:5; 106:1). This explains why our Lord asked the young man what he meant, for if he really believed that Jesus was "good," then he had to confess that Jesus was God.
By asking this question, our Lord was not denying His deity but affirming it. He was testing the young man to see if he really understood what he had just said. There are times when we say what we don't mean - it amounts to flattery.
Jesus did not quote the law to him as a means of salvation because obedience to the law does not save us. He held the law before the young man as a mirror to reveal his sins (Romans 3:19–20; Galatians 2:21; 3:21).
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