Let's pray.
[Prayer] Heavenly Father, we thank you that Christhas done it all and that because of Christ we have access to your throne. Wepray in this time that you would teach us how to pray and increase the heartdesire for prayer. For it's in Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. [End]
Please open your Bibles to Luke chapter 18. Lukechapter 18.
Prayer is one of the greatest sustaining graces thatwe enjoy in this earthly pilgrimage. The fact that we can go with our needs,our prayers, our petitions, our requests to the very throne of God Almighty, toexpress to the One who controls every molecule in this universe and hasdeclared His love and affection for us in the sending of His Son that we canbring our needs to His throne. It's one of the greatest graces in this life.
And yet, one of the hardest disciplines to maintain.We've been invited to the very throne of God, and yet arguably there is nospiritual discipline that Christians find harder to be regular in, to bepersistent in, to be genuine in, than prayer itself. Martin Luther said, “prayeris the most difficult of all works.” “Prayer is the most difficult of allworks.” And that feeling that many of us have felt is intensified when life inthis world is hard, and even more so when the world itself is attacking.
In 2008 in India, riots broke out in Odisha. WhenChristians were killed, thousands of homes were destroyed, nearly 400 churcheswere burned in attacks fueled by religious hostility. In Pakistan in 2013,there were twin suicide attacks at All Saints Church in Peshawar, killing 127Christians and injuring hundreds during that Sunday service. In Pakistan in2023, following rumors and allegations that proved to be unfounded about theKoran being desecrated, mobs broke out and attacked Christian neighborhoods, burningmultiple churches, vandalizing homes and forcing Christian families to flee.
In China, just last year, Chinese authoritiesincreased their hostility against Christian underground churches and repeatedlybroke out in arrest of unregistered Christian pastors, church leaders, as partof a crackdown restricting religious worship and any expression of it. InJanuary, just a few days ago, in Nigeria, armed groups attacked multiplechurches in Kaduna State, seizing worshipers during church services and puttingthem into captivity. North Korea today, there is systematic, regular persecution.
Christians are classified as being hostile to thestate. Many are in prison or in brutal labor camps. Many are executed forpracticing their faith. Tens of thousands are believed to be held in captivitysimply for the desire to practice their religious belief.
The most recent data from Open Doors Ministry, justcome out here, 2026 data, says on average over 13 Christians are killed everyday for their faith, totaling about 5,000 Christians annually that we know ofthat are killed in this world. Roughly 117 Christians are physically ormentally abused, beaten, threatened with death daily, 117 daily. Over 11Christians are arrested Detained without trial, put in prison daily. More than10 Christians are kidnapped daily. Roughly 11 to 14 Christian women are raped,sexually harassed, or forced to marry non-Christians daily. Roughly 10 churchesor Christian properties are attacked daily. Over 600 Christians are forced toleave their homes or to go into hiding daily.
I understand when we are here, and we should be sothankful that we live in a part of this world where we have religious freedom,where as much as we like to complain about hostility, we are so much protected.We have brothers and sisters around this world whose experience is altogetherdifferent. They're on the front line of experiencing daily this type of notjust rumors or a coldness, but active persecution. And yet there is also anaspect where we do have some sense of some of these things, even if it is in asmaller scale.
Maybe our children get laughed at school. Yourhonesty or integrity in the workplace actually becomes a thing of ridicule. Oursexual ethics as Christians, evangelical Christians, very much is demonized bythe society we find ourselves living in. And then you add in other very realhardships, cancer, bereavement, financial worries, family discord. And whenthese types of things are understood, it begins to become easy to understandthe sentiment that Scripture itself testifies to. For example, Psalm 13 verse1, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide yourface from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in myheart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
When life is hard, that already shaky discipline ofprayer becomes all the harder, all the more difficult. The practice of prayerbecomes something that is under threat. Thankfully, we have a wonderful Savior,and He knows us full well. And so here in Luke 18, in the first eight verses,Jesus speaks to that tension. He speaks to that reality. He speaks to thatdifficulty. So please stand with me while we read Luke 18 1-8. Luke 18 1.
(Scripture Reading) "And he told them a parableto the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, in acertain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. Andthere was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give mejustice against my adversary. For a while, he refused. But afterward, he saidto himself, “though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because of thiswidow, because she keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she willnot beat me down by her continual coming.”
And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judgesays. And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to themspeedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Heavenly Father, we thank you that you knowus full well, that all parts of Scripture are useful to us, and we know thereis very real need for us to understand this section of Scripture and to putthese things into practice. We thank you for the sustaining grace of prayer. Weask, Lord, that you would cause us, even through our study, to crave thatmoment, that opportunity to be before Your throne all the more. So, Lord, weask that You would increase our desire where it needs to be increased, and Youwould instruct us through Your Word, and You would help us to understand allthat You call us to be more through it during this time of study. For it's inJesus' name we ask it. Amen. [End]
Have a seat.
Well, I want you to remember the context. Do youknow what comes before chapter 18? That's right, chapter 17. And if youremember last week, when we came to the end of chapter 17, there was a veryparticular situation that was being explained. There was something that thedisciples needed to hear. And I want you to notice, first of all, if you turnback one page to chapter 17, notice, first of all, who Jesus is speaking to,verse 22.
And He said to the disciples, He's speaking to thosewho are following Him. He's not talking to the crowds general. He's not talkingto the Pharisees and scribes. He's talking to His committed followers. And inthat context here in chapter 17, as Jesus talks to those who are following Him,He talks about a time, a time that is coming. Look at verse 22.
He said to His disciples, “the days are coming whenyou will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not seeit.” There is a time coming when life will be difficult for His followers. Whenthere will be circumstances in this world that are not in their control, yes,in God's control, but not in their control, and it will be hard. And it willcause them to long, to be filled with a desire, to have a craving for that timein the future when the Son of Man, when Jesus Christ, will be here. And Hisreign, His kingdom in a physical, real, tangible way will be established hereon earth when His justice and His righteous rule will be realized here in thisworld. And the disciples will have moments in the interim where they crave thattime. When they long for His coming, but they do not yet see it, when itdoesn't yet happen. In fact, look at verse 23. And they, these false teachers,will say to you, look there or look here. Do not go out or follow them. Sostrong with that craving be in the hearts of the disciples that there will beopportunists that come in and try and take advantage of that.
Oh, Jesus has come back, but it's in secret overhere. Oh, there is new helicopters being purchased in Russia, and that meanswhatever it means. There will be opportunists that come in and prey on the veryreal craving that exists in the heart of His disciples, those who follow Him.Now, what Jesus goes on to do in the rest of chapter 17 is He assures Hisdisciples that He will come. And not only will He come, but He will take to HimselfHis followers.
They will be taken out of this world, taken to Him.Two will be in a bed, one will be taken. The follower will be taken. Two willbe out milling corn. One will be taken, the one that is His follower will betaken. And the principle is no man left behind, or woman, no one is leftbehind. No mistakes are made. His final work will be a perfect work. And all ofhis children will be built into that. And yet, That's what's coming.
And Jesus is telling this to the disciples here andnow that will face persecution. James, the brother of John, will very soon,Acts chapter 12, have his head chopped off. All the rest of the disciples, barJohn, will all face their own martyrdom. John himself who will not be killedwill be exiled to Patmos. The hostility that they will face is a real andactive and aggressive hostility and, in the time, when that comes there will bea longing in their heart, Jesus please hurry up and come.
Come Lord Jesus, come. And in light of that, withthat craving in mind, with that awareness that this life will have moments ofdifficulty and hardship, and there will be an anticipation, a burden for thedays that are promised to be realized here and now, Jesus continues in chapter18. Look at what verse 1 says, and He told them a parable.
Who are the them? Sorry? Oh, that was good. That wasvery good. His disciples. Remember that audience is so important. We know whoHe's talking to. He's talking to his followers, filled with that longing, andalso notice the conjunction at the beginning, the first word, and. In otherwords, we're not in a new topic here. We haven't switched. He's still speakingto that longing, that craving, that mindset. He's got something more they needto know if they are going to be able to stand, if they're gonna be sustained inthis life. And so to them, those who are gonna have moments where they long forhis coming, but don't yet see it, those who will experience suffering in thisworld, who like Jesus himself, verse 25 of chapter 17, who will experiencerejection by this generation, He comes and he speaks to them. And he tells thema very simple point. And this is the point.
When life is hard, keep praying. When life is hard,keep praying. those who are longing for the Lord to come back because of thedifficulties of this life, to them He says, verse 1, He told them a parable tothe effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. The point Hewants them to get from the parable and the application He'll give concerning itall the way through to the end of verse eight, is that you ought to always prayand not lose heart.
He points so clearly to that temptation, that whensuffering comes, especially prolonged suffering, when this life is hard, whenit feels like our back is against the wall, there will be a temptation to giveup on prayer. And the reason that is so concerning is to give up on prayer is asign of something else. To give up in praying to God is a sign that our heartis wavering in its commitment to God. The individual who stops praying stopspraying because he doesn't think God hears them or because God can do anythingfor them. And it's that temptation that Jesus speaks to, that there will be atemptation to lose confidence that God cares for us, that He is engaged in ourpresent circumstances.
And again, this is one of the wonderful examples ofhow Scripture is so honest, isn't it? Like, of course you should pray. Ofcourse, you should have unwavering confidence in the God who is perfect. Ofcourse, that God is consistent in His control and His love and His sovereigntyand all of these things, which He is.
We shouldn't even need to talk about this. But theproblem is, our hearts. And Jesus is so kind to condescend to our felt needsthat He speaks to what should be obvious but is a very real struggle that wehave. That individuals in this life will have moments where they begin to loseconfidence, forget His care, and feel overwhelmed by their presentcircumstances. And because God doesn't want our heart to wobble, because Hedoesn't want our confidence to come to Him to wane, He gives us this parableand the application of it. So, please understand what we're saying. God isalways on the throne. He has full sovereignty, full control over every aspectof this life. That's the foundation that this is sitting upon. None of thatchanges.
But what Jesus is speaking to here is how sometimesbelievers feel. They will go through seasons. that they don't feel His control,where they don't sense His love. And those feelings can cause them to stifle.That losing heart will stop them praying. Please understand, He is in control.Those feelings are not true. They don't change any of the externalcircumstances. Just because you feel something doesn't speak to the reality ofGod. Your feelings lie to you. But they're felt. They're experienced.
And that's why Jesus so kindly speaks to it. In themidst of wrong feelings that we will be tempted to feel in this life, he says,don't stop praying and don't lose heart. Prayer is that great barometer of ourconfidence in God. When you have great confidence in God, you talk to Him alot. And when our heart becomes attached to the things of this world more thanGod, or the heart becomes full of fear of the world, you will be slow to pray.It's a very immediate test, isn't it? How are you doing today, Christian? Well,let me ask you, how are you praying? How are you praying? I don't think it'spossible to be warm towards God and prayer to be absent from our life. Thosetwo things go hand in hand.
If you don't pray regularly, that's a sign thatthings are not where they should be. in your relationship with God. If youdon't have a sense of needing to come to God, that's a sign that you have toomuch confidence in yourself. You know, we talk, don't we, about grace alone,faith alone, but if you don't pray, There's no alone in it. There's still fartoo much of you going on in this story. Those who feel a dependence on God willpray. So, what does your prayer life say about your relationship with God?
So, sometimes non-Christians, maybe some of you whoare here, we're so thankful that you have come and you are here in our worshipservice, but there's a sense where if you are not a Christian, if you haven'tyet asked God to forgive you for your sin, and aren't yet trusting in JesusChrist as your Lord and Savior, you think of prayer as anybody can do at anytime. Well, that's not true. Anybody can say words anytime. But do you know thebeliever, the reason they have confidence God hears them, well, it's reflectedin something we say at the end of our prayer. Before we say amen, what do mostChristians say? In Jesus' name, amen.
Because it's only through that sacrificial work thatChrist has done that the individual has access to God. So, because of Christ,because He bore the wrath that should have been mine, because He was punishedin my place, because His righteous life has been credited to my account, now Ihave access to the throne of God. And so, if you're not a Christian this morning,prayer's not something that you can just dip in and out of as you want. Youdon't have confidence that God hears you unless you come with that dependenceupon Jesus Christ.
We'll see more about that next week. But again,remember the big point of this section. Jesus tells us in verse 1 up front, inthe face of repeated difficulties in this life, with the reality that thosedifficult circumstances won't necessarily go our way, you will find prayerhard. And so, in everything that follows, verses two through eight, we need tobear in mind Jesus has already told us what we're to get from this thismorning. You are always to pray and not lose heart. So, the point, when life ishard, keep praying.
Secondly, I want you to notice the illustration. Andnotice it's a bare minimum illustration. And the big point in the illustrationis this, the judge acts, okay? So the bare minimum illustration shows the judgeacts. Look at verse 2. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neitherfeared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who keptcoming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while herefused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God norrespect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justiceso that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
That's a strange parable, isn't it? There are a lotof weird characters in this particular parable. And Jesus, as he so often does,you get a sense sometimes in these stories that our Lord has a wonderful senseof humor. He's a good storyteller, but he also, he loves to use exaggerationand extremes to make his point. And here there's a point being made by a veryobvious contrast between an unrighteous and unjust judge and our HeavenlyFather. They're not one and the same. There's meant to be a sense of profoundcontrast and yet a very simple point that links them together. So, think aboutthe people he talks about in this particular parable.
You have the widow. Now, today we have widows aswell, but thankfully, especially in the society we find ourselves in, widowsare in a very different situation in life than we find here in the ancientworld, in the New Testament world. In the world that Jesus existed in, widowswere so vulnerable. They needed somebody else to look after them. Do youremember Naomi and Ruth, both widows? When they come back to Bethlehem, if itwasn't for the kindness of Boaz, they would be in such a vulnerable situation.They were meant to be cared for, but they were dependent to survive on thecharity of others, the kindness of others.
They were so open to exploitation. And especiallywhenever you think of the fact that a widow probably had a house or a field orcertain things. Now all of a sudden, if another man, not her husband, has toget involved in the affairs, there is a temptation of him to exploit a veryvulnerable lady. In fact, we see that all the time, even in Scripture. Turnover to Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20, the end of Luke 20. Look at verse 45.Luke chapter 20 and verse 45.
And in the hearing of all the people, Jesus said tohis disciples, beware of the scribes. Now pause there. The scribes were thosewho worked with the Bible all the time. The scribes were the people that youwent to with your ethical questions. The scribes were the people who were thereto guide people in the expectations of Scripture, what God would want. ButJesus says, verse 46, "'Beware of the scribes who like to walk around inlong robes and love greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogue,and the places of honor at feasts.
And then verse 47, who devour widows' houses, andfor pretense make long prayers, they will receive the greater condemnation. Whydoes he say that? Verse 47, who devour widows' houses? Well, I don't think thedisciples heard that statement and went, oh, who's he talking about? Jesus addsthat statement in as an obvious. Everybody in that society knew widows getexploited. Even the religious leaders, in order to line their own pockets, wereexploiting the widows.
Here were individuals who largely, because they weremeant to be protected by the religious and by the structures of society itself,they were vulnerable. They were dependent on others, and others were not whatthey should be. And so, they are powerless. They're open to exploitation. Justas the disciples in the future will find themselves vulnerable, open toexploitation, dependent upon the will of Roman governors, of city officials,of, well, mobs, completely unable to enact and protect themselves. And then inthe story, there's also this judge, and he's a strange character. He has reallyno morals, and that's made clear in the text.
Verse 2, there was a judge who neither feared Godnor respected man. Do you remember when Jesus tells us the summary of the law?The Old Testament law is summarized in two points. Love God and love yourneighbor as yourself. Well, here's an individual who has no fear of God, andwhen it comes to his neighbor, anybody else, he has no care towards man.
He's a lawless character, that's the point. He's nomorals, no ethics. Here's a terrible individual, and not only is it said once,it's reinforced in verse 4. He said to himself, he knows his heart, though Ineither fear God nor respect man. It's not just that he's a bad guy, but heknows he is and he's content in it. It's who he is and it's his identity andhe's embraced that identity in total.
And yet, he experiences something at the hand ofthis widow. an unusual persistence. Verse 3 says, she kept coming to him andsaying, and the idea is, this is continual action, again and again and againand again and again and again and again and again and again and again andagain. She kept coming.
You get the idea? I don't need to do that again. Infact, verse four, look at verse four. The language is funny. For a while herefused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God norrespect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justiceso that she will not beat me down.
That language, it literally means, give me a blackeye. Like, bruise my face. Some translations are trying to be very literal,actually translate it with that idea that she's going to punch me. She's goingto get me physically. That's not the idea of the text though, is it? Youunderstand this. It's the, I have no experience of this, the nagging wife. Thatshe goes on and on and on and on and on in such a way that eventually theunrighteous husband just gives in. Like, that persistence. And this guy is so, it'sjust exhausting. He feels bruised. I can't listen to it one more time. It'swearing him down, you get the idea.
And so, the picture's really funny that you havethis really powerless, vulnerable lady, and you have a wicked judge with nomorals, and yet, verse five, I will give her justice by her continual coming. So,she's been wronged, she has this adversary, whatever he's done, I'm assumingit's a man because of the world that she's living in. She has this adversary.and she's not able to defend herself, and all she can do is go continually tothe unjust judge. What a terrible one to be able to go to. If only she hadsomebody with a bit of moral sensibility, but she doesn't. But she goes to theunjust judge, and she goes continually, and she gets what she needs. Because ifyou go enough times, you'll get it.
In Ireland, they have socialized medicine. And thething I hate about socialized medicine is it only works if you're pushy. So,people who need treatment don't get treatment because they try to call up onceand they're put at the bottom of a list. But the people who get treatment arethe ones who call up again and again and again and again and again. Andeventually, the person at the other end of the phone gets so fed up, they bumpyou up the queue.
And that honestly is how it works. Like, it wasweird, as a pastor, you would go and you'd visit people who needed help, andyour advice, your practical advice, was gotta keep calling. You've gotta bepushy. And you said that because you know how it works. It doesn't work outsideof that. Well, this woman knew how it worked. She was pushy, and she got helpverse six.
And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judgesays. Like, if an unrighteous judge who has no care for others, if even he willhand out justice through the persistent request of a widow with no power and noinfluence, here's the idea, how much more will God not hear and respond to thepersistent requests of His children? Again, remember the point in verse 1. Hetold them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not loseheart. Look, if the most unjust situation in the world still operates by aresponse to persistence, friends, we go to a generous God. Will he not answer?Will he not respond? Of course he will. He loves not the widow. He does lovethe widow. But the ones who come to him are his children. And so, the point,when life is hard, keep praying. The illustration, the judge acts. And now thetruth, I want you to notice thirdly the truth.
Why should you keep praying? Why should you keeppraying? Well, first of all, Jesus tells us, because God will answer. Soundsvery simple, but it's important. You need to remember as you'll face hardshipin this life and long for the coming of the Lord, you feel lost and helpless.You need to remember He will answer those prayers. Look at verse 6 again.
The Lord said, "'Hear what the unrighteousjudge says, and will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day andnight? You see the rhetorical question there? The point is clear. Look, if theunrighteous judge does this, how much more will God not give justice to hiselect, to those he's chosen, to those he's set his affection upon, to those hehas moved heaven and earth in order to bring into his family to secure. Will henot give justice to those who cry to him day and night? He knows. His dispositiontowards us has been clear from the very foundations of the world. All ofhistory, he has been unfolding this great salvific plan to secure the elect tohimself.
Friend, when you pray, He hears. He cares. He willrespond. That's the point. He will respond. So why should you keep praying?Because he answers, that's the very simple point. He does hear. It may feellike nobody hears, but he does. That's what Jesus is saying. You are going tobe tempted to stop praying, to lose heart, but remember, he hears. He answers.He's engaged. Why should you keep praying? Because he keeps listening. That'sthe point. And not only that, but why should you keep praying day and night? Becausehe's patient. Because he's patient.
Now, there is a confusing part here. The last partof verse 7 says in front of me, it's translated, will he delay long over them?The language there, it's hard to get a sense of because of the context. It'sjoined to the last statement, it starts with a conjunction, but the main wordthat is there is patience. And though a lot of the Bible versions don't getthat word reflected in it. Delay, they're trying to get to the sense of what'sgoing on here. And I think they're reading too immediately into it, and that'swhy they end up with the translation sounding the way it does. The idea that,you know, He will act now, that He will act fast.
But that's not the context. That's not what He saidin chapter 17. In fact, it's not what he's going to say in the next verse. He'sgoing to talk about when the Son of Man comes. Well, friends, that isn't today.The verse is not saying, look, if you pray, He'll do it right away. Lord, takeaway that enemy and He does it right away. That's not the promise in the text.The promise in the text is the adversary he will deal with in that time.
Justice will not be shortchanged. It will come.That's what he's saying at the beginning of verse 7, and will not God givejustice to His elect who cry on Him day and night? Look, friends, He will.Those who have murdered. Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, North Korea, andother parts of the world, He will hand out justice. That's what verse 7 issaying. He will do what is right. Don't think they are going to get away withit. Either they will be met with eternal judgment. Or grace will be shown, andChrist will have borne judgment on their behalf. But either way, justice is notshortchanged.
And then He's saying, as you pray, as you seek notto lose heart, also know He's patient with you, with those requests. I thinkthe picture that we're meant to get here, the sense of what we're meant to gethere is that you can't pray too much because He's so patient. He loves yourprayers. He loves to hear from you.
You can't wear Him out. Every home, there seems tobe, like in a mum and dad, one who just can't cope with that weird stage thechildren go through where they just say the same thing over and over and overand over and over again. Normally it's dad, his patience is just too short, andhe just can't cope. And normally mom, sometimes dad, normally mom, just hasthis ability just to let it all wash over. To hear, to give the pat on theshoulder as it's needed, and to do it again tomorrow, and again the next day,and again the next day, and just to be so consistent. Well, here's the idea inthis text.
He's so patient. He's so consistent. You can'texhaust him with your prayers. He has patience towards you. You can't pray toomuch. You can't wear him out. He is so patient towards the persistent requestsof His children. In fact, not only that, He's endeared to the persistentrequests of His children. That's why this is given, that you ought always topray and not lose heart. That's what He's inviting, and that's what He'srequesting.
And I will see later in verse 8 why God sees it assuch an important thing, but the point is you can't exhaust God. He's invitingyou to pray day and night, to pray often, to pray all the time, to not stop.And so, the very obvious application is you can't pray too much to God. Keeppraying. Keep praying. It doesn't become redundant.
Yes, He is infinite in His wisdom. He knows all. Whywould you even pray to begin with? Because He invites it. He requests it. Hedoesn't need your prayers, but for the sake of the relationship, He hasprovided the gift of prayer that we can express our heart to Him. To the point,when life is hard, keep praying. The illustration, the judge acts in theillustration and the truth. Keep praying because he will answer, because he ispatient, and lastly, because he longs for that expression of faith. Because helongs for that expression of faith. Look at verse eight. I tell you, why? Whywould He want me to pray all the time? I tell you, He will give justice to themspeedily.
Now, speedily there isn't necessarily speaking aboutquickness. It's not a chronological statement necessarily. I think maybe itwould be easier for us to get it if it was translated suddenly. The idea isthat when it comes, it comes fast. The idea is, if you remember back in chapter17, he gives the example of the days of Noah, and judgment took time, but whenit came, it came fast. The days of Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, there was timegiven, but when the judgment came, it came fast, suddenly. And I think that'sthe idea here in verse 8. I tell you, He will give justice to them suddenly.When it comes, it's coming fast. It's coming speedily then. Nevertheless, whenthe Son of Man comes, that links it all together. We're talking about thesecond coming. This is what He's got in mind, that day when justice will bemet.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will Hefind faith on the earth? Will He find faith on the earth? What is faith? Sorry,what is faith? It's confidence, isn't it? Confidence in God. And again,remember the context. All of this is linked to the reality that you oughtalways to pray and not lose heart. If you begin to wane in your confidence inGod, when your heart starts to wobble, it'll express itself in a lack ofprayer.
And so, what he's saying is when Jesus comes again,will he find a confidence of praise? Will you be so overwhelmed by thedifficulties of this life that the mouth stays shut? Will you be so busyrunning away from your enemies that your knees never get to hit the ground?Will you be so busy calling out all the injustices around you that you neveractually call out to God?
Martin Lloyd-Jones He acknowledged the perplexity ofprayer by calling it the supreme expression of our faith in God. I think that'sthe idea that is being revealed here in verse eight. Prayer is the supremeexpression of your faith in God. So when that day comes, and our Lord calls usto be by His side and snatches us out of this world, will He find you praying?Will He find you expressing, because that's where we do it in prayer,expressing our faith in Him?
If not, why? Why do you not pray? It probably saysless about your discipline, and this first one makes clear more about yourheart. You ought always to pray and not lose heart. Let's ask that the Lordwould help us to examine our own hearts now. and to ensure that we haveconfidence in Him.
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for thecandid way Your Word speaks to our own weakness and frailty. Lord, You know howslow we are to pray. And we ask that You would forgive us for those times whenwe are overwhelmed by the things of this world and forget that the King of theuniverse, the one who is sovereign, the one who so loved the world that he senthis one and only Son, that in those moments where we are tempted to look onlyin the events of the here and now, we ask that you would cause our hearts tosteady and cause our faith to grow that we would call upon the name of the Lordand know the joy of that listening ear, that awareness of your ongoingshepherding care of us, and your insistence that in the end, you will do whatis right and ensure the good of your children. Lord, give us greaterconfidence. Help us to grow in the discipline of prayer. For it's in the nameof Jesus Christ we ask it. Amen. [End]
