The Power of Persisting in Prayer

A. Persistent Prayer Overcomes Death
Most of us have electrical power in our homes

• your home has been wired to carry that power throughout your home
• every wire needs a point of contact (switch or plug)
  o just because you have power, doesn’t mean your lights are on
  As believers in Jesus Christ, we are connected with the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of God’s Word
• all of this comes from God and His heavenly realm
• our new nature in Christ has wired us to receive heavenly kingdom power & authority
• but there must be a point of contact
  o that point of contact is called: prayer

Series Text Colossians 1:9 …
since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.

• in this series we are going to receive what the Word and Spirit reveal about the effect and impact of prayer …especially prayer that persists (does not stop)

Main Idea: It is persisting prayer that keeps us connected to God’s power and authority, and ultimately overcomes all opposing powers in the name of Jesus.

Key Text: Luke 18:1-8 v.1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

• ‘give up’ means to let discouragement rule me
• I give up when I see my circumstances as beyond hope
• Jesus is very clear about why he is going to tell them this parable
  The word ‘then’ at the beginning of verse 1 connects us with the last verse of chapter 17
• Jesus has been teaching them about the day when ‘the Son of Man will be revealed’
• before that revealing ‘the son of man must suffer many things’ 17:25
• prevailing prayer keeps us aware of kingdom realities
• one of these kingdom realities is about suddenness that the day of the Lord will come
• the disciples ask: ‘Where will all of this take place?’
  Jesus answered: ‘Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather’ (Luke 17:37)
• what does prevailing prayer have to do with dead bodies and vultures?
• vultures can smell death from far away
• they descent on dead carcasses because that is their realm

Jesus says: ‘Where there is death, there will be vultures’

• the context indicates that Jesus is using a physical reality to speak about a spiritual reality
• where there is the absence of God, demons take up that space
• the demonic realm descends because their realm is the realm of death
• demonic vultures are descending on a dying society because they can smell it

Point:
‘Because we live in the realm of death and demonic vultures, we are to pray and not give up’

• the reason we need prayer to persist is that the environment in which we live is full of death and dying
  our world has spent a long time listening to daily reports of new cases of Corona -19 virus, and the number of related deaths
• when culture has a spiritual virus – the spiritual vultures are attracted
• whatever the problem was, it is now much more serious

Antidote: pray and persevere

• Jesus tells a story to define what he means by ‘pray’
• story is about a widow: poor, defenseless, and alone
• she comes to a judge: ‘Grant me justice against my adversary’
• she needed legal protection
  We are going to look at two questions within this parable:

1. Who is the judge?
2. What matters to this judge?
   Luke 18:1-5 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

Who is this judge?
‘this widow keeps bothering me’

• she is ‘getting on my nerves’ (translate)
• in the New Testament times they had what we call ‘circuit judges’
• these judges travelled from town to town

1. What matters to this judge?
   This judge ‘neither feared God nor cared what people thought’

• didn’t care about heaven or earth

• he cared only about money and position
  ‘I will see she gets justice so that she won’t eventually attack me’

• a widow is not going to physically attack a judge

• but she can ‘attack’ his reputation

• this judge cares only about his reputation

Note this phrase: ‘see that she gets justice’

• the woman went to the judge and said: ‘Help me out according to the law’
• you are the one who represents the law
• even though you don’t care about me or anybody, you do care about the law
• and you are obligated by that law
  Jesus takes this story and spins it 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Same two questions:

1. Who is this judge?
2. What matters to this judge?
   ‘Will not God’ who is a righteous judge care about you?

• God’s reputation is called his ‘glory’ = manifestation of who he is
  o so, when we pray, pray with God’s reputation in mind
  o Lord, I am praying that this matter will result in your glory being revealed
• God is just and so is His Word
  o His Word is his standard
  o when we are on the right side of His Word, we are on the right side of answered prayer
  o when we are on the wrong side of His Word, we are on the wrong side of answered prayer
  Jesus said: ‘Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night?
• are you beginning to hear Jesus speak about those who persist in prayer?
• they are able to pray before the throne with confidence in who God is, and in what matters to Him

Psalm 138:2-3 (Passion Translation) I bow down before your divine presence and bring you my deepest worship
as I experience your tender love and your living truth. For the promises of your word and the fame of your name have been magnified above all else! 3 At the very moment I called out to you, you answered me! You strengthened me deep within my soul and breathed fresh courage into me.

In Conclusion there is more reward in persisting in prayers regarding our afflictions
lets pray always as advice by Jesus and not to fain nor sleep
selah.