Persistent Prayer: Trusting God's Timing and Wisdom
Summary
### Summary
Today, we explored the profound and often challenging topic of prayer, focusing on the importance of persistence in our prayer lives. We began by acknowledging the common struggle many of us face: feeling that our prayers go unanswered, leading to frustration and discouragement. Jesus, however, teaches us in Luke 11 and Luke 18 to always pray and never give up. This call to persistent prayer is illustrated through the parable of the friend at midnight, where Jesus emphasizes the need for shameless perseverance in our requests to God.
We delved into the parable, understanding that it is not about the character of God but about our approach to prayer. The friend’s impudence, or shameless persistence, is a model for how we should pray—continuously and without embarrassment, even when it feels like our prayers are hitting a wall. This kind of persistence is not about annoying God into action but about demonstrating our faith and trust in His timing and wisdom.
We also examined several reasons why our prayers might seem unanswered. These include praying for the wrong things, conflicting means, inferior means, wrong intentions, and issues of timing. Each of these points reminds us that God’s perspective and plans are far greater than our own, and His answers, though sometimes delayed or different from our expectations, are always for our ultimate good.
Finally, we were encouraged to adopt a humble, active, and tenacious approach to prayer. Humility acknowledges God’s sovereignty, active persistence involves seeking ways to be part of the solution, and tenacity means enduring in prayer despite delays or apparent silence. By embracing these attitudes, we align ourselves more closely with God’s will and open ourselves to the transformative power of persistent prayer.
### Key Takeaways
1. Shameless Persistence in Prayer: Jesus teaches us to pray with shameless persistence, as illustrated in the parable of the friend at midnight. This means continuing to pray even when it feels embarrassing or futile, trusting that God values our perseverance and faith. [11:44]
2. Understanding Unanswered Prayers: Sometimes our prayers seem unanswered because we might be asking for the wrong things, or our requests might conflict with God’s greater plans. Recognizing this helps us trust in God’s wisdom and timing, knowing that His answers are always for our ultimate good. [23:53]
3. God’s Willingness to Answer: Despite the parable’s initial impression, God is not reluctant to answer our prayers. Scriptures like Jeremiah 33:3 and Psalm 145:18 affirm that God is willing and eager to respond to our needs. This understanding should encourage us to keep praying with confidence. [15:01]
4. The Role of Timing in Prayer: God’s timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t align with our desires. The story of Job illustrates that God may delay answers to our prayers to fulfill a greater purpose, teaching us patience and trust in His divine plan. [38:55]
5. Active and Tenacious Prayer: Effective prayer involves more than just asking; it requires active participation and tenacity. We must be willing to seek and knock persistently, even when it becomes challenging or painful, demonstrating our deep commitment to God’s will and purposes. [42:59]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[03:51] - Encouragement for the Pastor
[04:40] - The Question: How's Your Prayer Life?
[05:10] - The Frustration of Unanswered Prayers
[05:54] - Jesus' Teaching on Persistent Prayer
[06:40] - The Parable of the Friend at Midnight
[08:04] - Understanding the Ancient Context
[09:21] - The Challenge of the Parable
[09:55] - The Meaning of Impudence
[11:44] - Shameless Persistence in Prayer
[12:57] - The Continuative Tense in Greek
[13:39] - Rethinking God's Willingness
[15:01] - Scriptural Affirmations of God's Willingness
[16:35] - Harmonizing God's Character and Unanswered Prayers
[19:37] - The Goodness of God in History and Present
[22:06] - The Intentions of God
[23:53] - Five Problems with Our Prayers
[38:55] - The Problem of Timing
[42:59] - Humble, Active, and Tenacious Prayer
[46:13] - Final Exhortation and Prayer
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
1. Luke 11:5-10 - The Parable of the Friend at Midnight
2. Luke 18:1 - The Parable of the Persistent Widow
3. Jeremiah 33:3 - Call to Me and I Will Answer You
### Observation Questions
1. In the parable of the friend at midnight (Luke 11:5-10), what is the main reason the friend eventually gets up to give the bread? ([09:55])
2. According to Luke 18:1, what does Jesus teach about the frequency and persistence of prayer? ([05:54])
3. How does Jeremiah 33:3 describe God's response to our prayers? ([14:09])
4. What are some reasons mentioned in the sermon for why our prayers might seem unanswered? ([23:53])
### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the concept of "shameless persistence" in prayer challenge our usual approach to praying? ([11:44])
2. What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between God's character and the apparent delay in answering prayers? ([15:01])
3. How can understanding the reasons for unanswered prayers (wrong things, conflicting means, inferior means, wrong intentions, and timing) change our perspective on prayer? ([23:53])
4. How does the story of Job illustrate the importance of God's timing in answering prayers? ([38:55])
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you felt like giving up on prayer. How can the principle of "shameless persistence" encourage you to keep praying? ([11:44])
2. Think about a prayer request you have had for a long time. How can you demonstrate faith and trust in God's timing and wisdom, even if the answer is delayed? ([38:55])
3. Identify a specific prayer request you have. How can you actively participate in seeking the answer to this prayer, rather than just waiting passively? ([42:14])
4. Consider a situation where you might have prayed for the wrong thing or with the wrong intentions. How can you align your prayers more closely with God's will and intentions? ([23:53])
5. How can you cultivate a humble and tenacious approach to prayer in your daily life? What practical steps can you take to ensure you persist in prayer despite challenges? ([46:50])
6. Reflect on the role of community in prayer. How can sharing your prayer requests with your small group help you stay persistent and encouraged in your prayer life? ([18:52])
7. Think of a specific person or situation you have been praying for. How can you apply the lessons from the sermon to continue praying with confidence and persistence, trusting in God's ultimate good? ([15:01])
Devotional
Day 1: Shameless Persistence in Prayer
Jesus teaches us to pray with shameless persistence, as illustrated in the parable of the friend at midnight. This means continuing to pray even when it feels embarrassing or futile, trusting that God values our perseverance and faith. The friend’s impudence, or shameless persistence, is a model for how we should pray—continuously and without embarrassment, even when it feels like our prayers are hitting a wall. This kind of persistence is not about annoying God into action but about demonstrating our faith and trust in His timing and wisdom. [11:44]
Luke 11:8 (ESV): "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs."
Reflection: Think of a prayer request you have given up on. Can you commit to praying for it again with shameless persistence, trusting in God's timing and wisdom?
Day 2: Understanding Unanswered Prayers
Sometimes our prayers seem unanswered because we might be asking for the wrong things, or our requests might conflict with God’s greater plans. Recognizing this helps us trust in God’s wisdom and timing, knowing that His answers are always for our ultimate good. We must remember that God’s perspective and plans are far greater than our own, and His answers, though sometimes delayed or different from our expectations, are always for our ultimate good. [23:53]
James 4:3 (ESV): "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
Reflection: Reflect on a time when you felt your prayer was unanswered. Can you identify if your request might have conflicted with God’s greater plan? How can you trust in His wisdom today?
Day 3: God’s Willingness to Answer
Despite the parable’s initial impression, God is not reluctant to answer our prayers. Scriptures like Jeremiah 33:3 and Psalm 145:18 affirm that God is willing and eager to respond to our needs. This understanding should encourage us to keep praying with confidence. Knowing that God is willing and eager to respond to our needs should encourage us to approach Him with confidence and trust. [15:01]
Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV): "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
Reflection: How does knowing that God is eager to answer your prayers change the way you approach Him? Can you pray today with renewed confidence in His willingness to respond?
Day 4: The Role of Timing in Prayer
God’s timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t align with our desires. The story of Job illustrates that God may delay answers to our prayers to fulfill a greater purpose, teaching us patience and trust in His divine plan. We must learn to trust that God’s timing, though sometimes difficult to understand, is always perfect and for our ultimate good. [38:55]
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV): "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."
Reflection: Think of a situation where you are waiting for an answer from God. How can you practice patience and trust in His perfect timing today?
Day 5: Active and Tenacious Prayer
Effective prayer involves more than just asking; it requires active participation and tenacity. We must be willing to seek and knock persistently, even when it becomes challenging or painful, demonstrating our deep commitment to God’s will and purposes. This means being actively involved in seeking ways to be part of the solution and enduring in prayer despite delays or apparent silence. [42:59]
Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV): "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
Reflection: Identify an area in your life where you need to be more active and tenacious in prayer. What steps can you take today to seek and knock persistently?
Quotes
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Well, I've come 1,600 miles to ask you one simple question. Are you ready? One simple question. How's your prayer life? How's your prayer life? And heads go down at that point. I can see that. Prayer is one of those things, you mentioned that, everybody goes, well, I know I don't pray like I should. I assume you would agree with that. You don't pray like you should, and I know one of the reasons why you don't pray like you should." [05:10] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Jesus in Matthew chapter, I'm sorry, Luke chapter 18 verse 1 said you should always pray and never give up. Right? If you're feeling like you're giving up on your prayer life where it's not the way it should be, it's not as vibrant as you know it ought to be, then I want you to turn to Luke chapter 11, and I want to remind you that after Jesus teaches His disciples what to pray for, in verse number 5 He transitions to tell them the manner of praying, how they should pray." [05:54] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Ask and keep on asking, and it'll be given to you. Seek and keep on seeking, same tense here, and you'll find. Knock and keep on knocking, and it'll be opened to you. That's the continued tense in Greek. That's the way my Greek professor, initial Greek professor, used to say. He used to put it, continuative tense. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives, and everyone who seeks and keeps on seeking finds. And the one who knocks and keeps on knocking, it'll be opened." [12:57] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "You need to persist in your praying with a kind of humble persistence, a kind of active persistence, and a kind of like sacrificial tenacious, like I don't care what it costs me, persistence. I live in an old neighborhood, houses are old, which means I'm always working on it on my off day. Every week the house is falling apart. I believe in entropy. I believe in the curse. Comes to roost in my house every day." [44:11] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Always pray and never give up. Be here tonight at 530 to pray with your church family. Go home and pray. Every night go to sleep praying and asking God to do good and great things. Aim high. Ask God for good and powerful things to happen. Not for your own self-aggrandizement, not for your own pleasure, not so you can spend it on your happiness, but that God's glory might be revealed in this church, in this world. Do big things for God and you're going to need to be men and women of prayer. I exhort you to do that today." [46:13] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "I need you to make his job a joy, as Hebrews 13 says, and I know God will have good days ahead for you, your family, your small groups, your ministries, your church, your life, if you would care for your pastor and his wife and his family. Having raised three pastors' kids myself, it'd be good to those kids, too. They live in a fishbowl, and I hope you care for them and know that it's a unique challenge. The pastor church in the modern era, and you've got one that doesn't want to compromise the truth. He wants to lead you in the truth, so care for him and love him, and he didn't pay me to say that. I just said that all on my own." [04:40] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "The point of this parable is to teach us how to pray with shameless persistence. That's what we're supposed to do. And some of us have not been shamelessly persistent. We've been embarrassed. I've asked five times for this. And God's done nothing. So I'm done. I don't even know what to pray anymore. And we just stop. We cannot do that. And here come the very familiar words in the next verse. Verse 9. I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you." [11:44] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "So I know Asaph's a godly man, and he's praying, but he's saying, you know, I'm not getting any answers. In vain, I've kept my heart clean. I mean, I'm keeping your rules. I'm doing the stuff. I'm worshiping. I'm singing. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. But I've washed my hands in innocence, but it's all for nothing. For all day long, verse 14, I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. That means my prayers are not being answered. My life stinks. And everyone else, even when they don't ask, you're flooding them with stuff. And I'm asking and you're not responding. Anybody feel like that? Sometimes we feel like that. And so we say, I'm going to stop asking. Don't stop asking." [17:43] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "So not only would I betray my generation, because there's plenty of people in my small group that say God is answering my prayers, I'm looking back at God's people and I'm saying God answers prayers in the past. I can read church history and see amazing things that have happened when people have prayed. So I know this, God is good to people now, God is good to people in the past, and look forward in this text. He says this in verse 16, when I thought as how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went to the sanctuary of God and I discerned their end." [20:14] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "You need to realize that that's exactly what we need to do. Just like in Matthew chapter 9 when Jesus said, pray to the Lord of the harvest that he might thrust forth workers into his harvest field. You notice he's not saying you need to do it. He's saying you need to pray that it'll be done. But here's the thing. You cannot pray about people sharing the gospel without you feeling the finger in your own chest. There's something about a kind of praying that says I'm seeking the end of what I'm asking for. I'm seeking." [42:14] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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