Weekend Sermon

     I know that I said earlier this week that I would not be posting a sermon.  I just didn't feel right about not posting anything.  When I wrote that update, I was very depressed about something.  I will go into that more next week.  Just let me say that I need everyone's prayers about finding work.  I need to keep praying.  There is so much to be praying about in this world.  There are so many needs.
     With that in mind, I wanted to post a sermon I wrote as part of the Jesus' Teachings on Prayer series I did a few years ago now.  It is about persistence in prayer.
      I will do my best to get back on the regular blog schedule starting Monday.



Luke 11:5-13
Luke 18:1-8

     For the past three weeks, we've been focusing on Jesus' teachings on the subject of prayer.  Part one was an examination of Jesus' example of prayer and the importance of prayer.  Part two and part three were discussions of the importance of praying the Lord's Prayer and the way in which the Lord's Prayer can be used as a pattern to construct our prayers around.
     This week, I would like to focus on Jesus' teaching on being persistent in our prayer life.
     In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a very interesting parable about prayer.  Jesus said that there was a judge in a certain land who didn't honor or fear God , and this judge didn't care what any human being thought about him.  A widow lived in this judge's jurisdiction who kept coming and coming seeking justice from the court from someone who had treated her unjustly.  This judge didn't care about this woman or her problems and put her case off time and time again.  However, after this widow kept coming, and coming, and coming back to his court, the judge finally got sick of it.  He ruled in her favor just so he didn't have to see her in his court room one more time.
     Jesus said that we as His followers could learn a lesson from this tale.  First of all, God is not like the judge in this parable.  God cares about all of His children all over the world no matter their nationality, race, ethnicity, age, or economic status.  Jesus clearly states this in Luke 11:11-12 where He says, "You fathers-if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?  Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion?  Of course not!  If you sinful people 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."
     Secondly, God wants us to not give up on our prayer life.  Just as this widow didn't give up, God wants us to continue in prayer. 
     Jesus makes this same point about persisting in prayer in Luke 11:5-9.  In this passage, Jesus talks about a man who went over to his friends house at midnight to borrow a few loaves of bread.  At first, the man didn't want to get out of bed and get the bread.  However, the friend kept knocking at the door and making his request over and over again.  In order to get any sleep, the man got up and got his friend some bread.
     Jesus says that we should keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking because as Jesus says, "For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
     I know that in my own life there have been times when I had to keep praying in spite of the fact that things didn't look like they were getting any better.  When Toby was still with me, he had a lot of very bad medical problems.  One of his problems was a bad skin condition.  This condition made his life pretty miserable.  I prayed for Toby day after day.  I'm glad I kept praying, because Toby's skin got better, and for the rest of his life he had no more trouble with this problem.
     In the church I use to preach at, we always prayed for peace in the prayer time.  I remember at one time the war in Bosnia was terrible.  We prayed for peace for that troubled area every Sunday.  After many weeks, peace came to that part of the world.
     Sometimes, we pray and pray and our prayers aren't answered in this life.  I prayed for my Mom everyday for five years that she would recover from the effects of her bad stroke.  She never got any better.  I know that she is with Jesus now, and all of her problems are over.
     Many of the things we pray about will not have their ultimate answer until Jesus comes again.  Then all things will be made new.  Everything will be the way it was always intended to be.
     Keep praying.  Keep trusting.  In this world, or the next, God will come through. Amen