Coming to the Lord in Prayer (3 things)

• 1^st – Persistent in prayer… vs. 1-8 (3 things)

• 1^st – So we do not give up… vs. 1
  • Having given His disciples the signs of the rapture of the church…
    • Jesus gave them a parable concerning prayer – teaching them to not give up…
    • Jesus understood the reality of how hard it would be to wait for His return…
    • There’d be many days – when they would face impossible trials – and want to give up
    • How many days have you wished ‘today would be a good day to come Jesus’…
    • When we owe too much money – when we have nothing to eat – Maranatha!
  • Do not loose heart…
    • The Apostle Paul called these trials we face light momentary problems!
      • II Corinthians 4:16-18 – “We do not give up (same word)… For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for a… eternal weight of glory.”
      • Paul gives us a list of the ‘little problems’ he faced – II Corinthians 11:24-28…
      • 5 times he was beaten with 39 lashes / 3 times beaten with rods…
      • He was stoned – Acts 14 / 3 times he was shipwrecked – all night in the ocean…
      • He had many sleepless nights / was often hungry / cold from lack of clothing…
    • This Paul calls ‘little problems’ – if these are little mine are non-existent!
      • So often in life we think our problems are the WORSE than anyone else’s…
      • No one could possibly be going through anything more difficult…
      • I Corinthians 10:13 – “The temptations in your life are no different from others.”
      • It turns out – they are just light little problems – in the light of eternity!
    • Keeping our eyes on Jesus…
      • It is very hard for us to look beyond our circumstances – like HUGE wall…
      • We cannot see beyond them – we don’t know what will happen next…
      • But what we can do is look up and trust that God has a GREAT plan…
  • How do we keep our eyes on the Lord – always be in prayer…
    • Often when we face problems in life – our 1^st response is to fret and worry…
    • It is only as a last resort – when all else fails – we go to the Lord in prayer…
    • Philippians 4:6 – “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything…”
    • Yet when we praise God – we find whatever burden brought us to prayer is gone…
    • Our perspective changes – we see our circumstances in a new light…
    • We no longer see our problems – instead our God who is greater than any problem!
    • Our problems swallowed up in the praise of our incredible Lord!
• 2^nd – The parable of the unrighteous judge… vs. 2-5
  • There was a judge who did not fear God or man…
    • He was in a position of great power and authority – and he knew it…
    • A widow came to the judge DAILY asking for revenge against her adversary…
    • Why a widow – it suggests she was old and poor – she could not help herself…
    • She was looking for justice – and only the judge could give it to her…
  • But the judge would not listen to her – he did not care about her problems…
    • If you have ever tried to get paperwork from the government you understand…
    • ‘Fill out this paperwork’ – ‘go to this office’ – after a full day you still have nothing!
    • After a while he thought – ‘I do not fear God or man’ – but this widow keeps coming!
    • She was ‘driving him crazy’ – with her constant requests – so he gave in…
    • The widow’s relentless persistence wore down the stubborn unrighteous judge!
  • Jesus’ point – do not stop praying until you get an answer from the Lord…
    • So often when we pray we give up after a week – or a month – or a year…
    • But God does not call us just to pray – God calls us to be a people of prayer…
    • I Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing…”
    • Like a child who asks – OVER and OVER – until we give them what they want…
    • We need to be persistent in seeking the Lord – don’t give up!
    • I imagine we will be amazed at how much God wanted to do in our lives…
    • But it never happened simply because we gave up asking too quickly…
• 3^rd – God is our righteous judge… vs. 6-8
  • If an evil judge was willing to help out – how much more our Father in Heaven…
    • As we pray to Him day and night – He will grant us justice quickly!
    • Yet sometimes it feels like God is not answering our prayers…
    • We want Jesus to take us out of the trials of life – we want the easy way out…
  • But more often than not God does not take away the problems/trials…
    • Instead He gives us the grace to endure – go through the valleys of life…
    • The reason – it is in the midst of the trials we cling onto Jesus!
    • If life is easy we tend not to think about God – or take the time to talk to Him…
    • It is in the midst of the trial when we hit our knees – pray constantly!
  • When Jesus returns – will He find faith on the earth…
    • Jesus never leaves us in our alone in our trials – He is always right beside us…
    • Psalms 23:4 – “Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me…”
    • Even so Jesus asks His disciples – will He find any faith when He returns…
    • There are many who will not endure – many who will walk away…
    • They fall away – stop coming to church / stop reading the Bible / give up on Jesus…
    • Because their focus was not on the eternal – they did not continue in prayer to Jesus
      
• 2^nd – Humble in prayer… vs. 9-13

• Jesus gave His disciples a second parable about prayer…
  • Two men went up to the temple to pray – a Pharisee and Tax collector…
    • The Pharisees were the most ‘religious’ of groups in Israel…
    • They saw themselves as the self appointed spiritual guides of the people…
  • The Tax collectors were considered the greatest sinners in Israel…
    • A profession that was hated and despised by the Jews (Traitor for Rome)
    • To be a Tax Collector meant money was your god – you did not care about others!
• The Pharisee prayed with himself…
  • He began his prayer by thanking God he was NOT like other men…
    • He wasn’t a robber / unrighteous / adulterer / or EVEN a Tax Collector (worst of all)
    • The assumption was he was better than other men – less of a sinner…

• Most people assume they are good because they compare themselves to others…
• Because they are not a bank robber / or murderer – they are a good person…

• But that is their standard of good – God standard is perfection – Matthew 5:48…
• There are no levels of sinners with God – you are either perfect or a sinner…

• He went on to list all his good deeds…
  • He had ‘two’ – he fasted twice a week / gave a tithe of everything he possessed…
  • The Law only required Jews to fast once a year – Yom Kippur – Leviticus 16:29
  • Meaning he went beyond the law in this one area – making him feel self-righteous!
  • This Pharisee thought he fulfilled the Law – because he kept these two commands…
  • But the question is not which laws he kept – but how many did he brake…
  • A lot of people think they are ‘super Christians’ because they keep certain laws…
  • They think because they never miss a church service / give money every week…
  • Because they do not eat certain foods / or listen to certain music – they are better…
  • What they tend not to talk about at all – is the areas where they make mistakes…
  • It only takes one sin to make us a sinner – James 2:10 / Romans 3:10
• The Pharisee prayed with himself…
  • The Pharisee assumed he was righteous – but he could not have been more wrong… 
  • He was having a conversation with himself – God was not listening…
  • Since he did not acknowledge his sin – God could not deal with it…
  • Instead it acted like a wall between him and the Lord – separating him from God!
  • People who think they are holier than others – only fool themselves…
  • If we are not honest with the Lord – admit our sin – God can not take it away…
  • Our prayers hit the ceiling of our sin – and we end up talking to ourselves!
• The Tax Collector stood far away…
  • He would not even look up – but beating his chest – ‘God have mercy on me the sinner’…
    • The Pharisee saw others as sinners – the Tax Collector saw himself as THE sinner!
    • It is easy to look at others and see their flaws – but how about ours…
    • II Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you.”
    • It is not nearly as easy to admit to our own flaws – look at our sin…
    • But when we see we are THE sinner – then the Lord can forgive us!
  • This man went away justified…
    • If you exalt yourself – you will be humbled / humble yourself – God will exalt you…
    • James 4:6 – “God resists the proud – and only pours out His grace on the humble…”
    • If we are willing to examine our own hearts – correct the sin that is there…
    • Then in humility we can come before the Lord with our prayers – and be heard!
      
• 3^rd – Childlike in prayer… vs. 14-17

And we are to be like little kids – in simplicity coming to our Father in heaven!

Many people brought their babies to Jesus – so He could touch them…

The idea was they wanted Jesus to pray for their children – to bless/dedicate them…

But the disciples rebuked the people – told them to leave Jesus alone…

They did not think the children were worthy of Jesus attention…

Do not forbid the little children…

Jesus rebuked the disciples – the children were INCREDIBLY important!

It is sad that many churches today still do not understand how important kids are…

Perhaps because children are not seen as having anything to ‘give’ to the church…

But by ignoring the children we sacrifice the next generation…

Rather than teach them about Jesus – we ignore them and let the world have them!

Then we wonder why there are no youth in the church – no growth in the body!

We need to invest in our children – take the time to teach them…

We send the kids upstairs every Sunday – not just so that we can listen to the Word

We have children’s church to teach the kids about Jesus at their age level…

We have VBS / summer camps / values education in the High School

Children between the ages of 4-14 are the most likely to accept Jesus as their savior

75% of those who receive Jesus as their savior – do so before their 21^st birthday!

Jesus said it best – the Kingdom of God belongs to the little kids!

We are to receive the Kingdom like children…

The way we are to pray to God – is like a little child…

Not in the sense that we are immature – but simple in trust and faith…

If you ever listen to a little child pray – it is the simplest of conversations…

They do not try to impress anyone / they do not use big fancy words…

They just share their heart openly with God – saying what is on their mind…

Having simple faith that God is listening – and that He will answer!

So while we are waiting for the soon return of Jesus – facing the challenges of life…

We are to be in constant prayer – so we keep our eyes on Jesus…

We are to examine ourselves – not leave sin in our heart – so we are heard…