Mother’s Day Sermon: Persistence in Prayer: Luke 18:1-8: 5/10/15

I thought this Mother’s Day that we ought to turn to a woman whom Jesus uses to demonstrate two important Christian truths.

 

One, that God is ultimately more powerful and more good than we give Him credit for, and two, that faithfulness in prayer is a virtue we should continue to strive.

 

It is because our God is good all the time and all the time He is good, that this should draw forth from our souls this loving desire to be in constant prayer with Him.

 

Whether it is in repentance over our own wrongs, bringing requests before Him on behalf of others, thanking Him for His many blessings, drawing spiritual strength in our daily lives, crying out to Him in need, and so much more.

 

The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer life as well, and we must take advantage of that.

 

Friends, I have said this before and I will say it again: Just as our physical bodies are strengthened because we gather nourishment on earthly food, so too our spiritual lives are strengthened because we gather nourishment through spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible and prayer.

 

His grace comes first, and He awaits our response. His faithfulness calls forth our faith. It is important not only that we answer God’s goodness,

 

We ought to take from this story that God is infinitely more good than we can imagine, and He will give mercy and justice, that He will show compassion to us believers who suffer, so we should be encouraged to pray in all kinds of times, lifting our requests before God, and…be ready for Him to answer and sometimes…in ways we would not expect.

 

See, often we think prayer is a one-sided conversation, but any of us who have spouses, family, or close friends know, that to keep a relationship strong, we have to do just as much listening as talking, sometimes even moreso.

 

When we pray, God listens, but we must also listen, for sometimes God wants to show us His view of things, to see things from his perspective.

 

Sometimes, God says “I will not give you this specific request you bring, because I have much better in store for you.”

 

It may not always be the easier way, but it will always be better. To gain wisdom, we must see things the way God sees them.

 

His grace comes first, and He awaits our response. His faithfulness calls forth our faith. It is important not only that we answer God’s goodness, but that we do so consistently…over and over.

 

Pray with your whole heart, passionately, like you mean it. Pray, because I as your pastor and brother in the Lord want all of us, you and me, to hang in there, to be found loyal to the Savior, even to the end. The wicked judge teaches us about the character of our good God, and the widow teaches us about the proper response of we His people. To persist in prayer does not mean endless chanting, or repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Constant prayer is a relationship.

 

It means keeping God at the center of life, bringing our requests continually before God as we live for him, day-by-day.

 

When we are strengthened in faith, we do not give up. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope. Prayer grows us. When we accept Jesus Christ, and make Him Lord of our lives, we are given access to the Holy Spirit through prayer. We are given to opportunity to commune with God, our very source of life?

Friends what is stopping us? What are we waiting for? let us pray