Don't Lose Heart: The Widow's Lesson on Prayer

You're not actually like the widow either. You are not powerless. You are not without rights. You are not without a relationship with the person that is here. If you know Jesus, you are a son or daughter of God the father. And Jesus says, let me tell you what my daddy's like. You can go to him with your request over and over and over, and he doesn't get tired of it. And he knows what a perfect gift is. It may not be what you're asking, but he knows what the perfect gift is. You are not powerless before God, and God is not indifferent like this judge. [01:06:02] (41 seconds)  #NotPowerlessInGod

We had a woman in the Czech Republic. I don't think she was a believer. We were trying to share our faith with her, nominally believed in something and had terrible problems with her son. And we prayed for her son with her often, And we asked her, are you praying for him? And she said, no. I've stopped. And we asked why, and she said, god doesn't wanna be bothered by this. I've already prayed enough. Don't ever believe it. God says Jesus says, let me describe my daddy. He wants to hear you ask over and over and over again for the things that are important to you. [01:06:43] (48 seconds)  #KeepPrayingAlways

So verse I skipped verse one because that's where we see the problem. Always look for the situation, the problem. Jesus makes this one really easy. And he, Jesus, told them a parable story to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. And then he talks about this widow who's breaking a evil judge's head, and she gets what she wants. It's becoming pretty clear, right, what this is about. If you identify the problem, you'll understand the point of a parable. [00:52:03] (33 seconds)  #IdentifyTheProblem

Let me ask you a question. When Jesus comes back and he will, how will he know if First Baptist Church believes as faith? Will he find you praying? That's what's happening here. Will we still be in prayer? When the son of man comes, will he find us on our knees? Asking daddy for what we need, what we want, for the comfort we're looking for. [01:08:37] (42 seconds)  #WillHeFindUsPraying

She came to Italy, met Jesus, called her dad back in the days when you actually had to dial a phone with a cord. And in Italy, it would it would click based on how how much you were spending. And those overseas calls, I've been on them back in the day. Click click click click click click. And she didn't have the money to pay for those, but she had to talk about Jesus. So she calls her dad, and she says, dad, don't you want what I have? Let me tell you what I found. This is so cool. I feel so different. Twenty eight years, those conversations went on. On the phone, by email, every time she was able to go back and visit, [01:13:18] (38 seconds)  #PersistentWitness

And he became a total pastor, the pastor of the church, because he became so convinced of the joy that he had found after twenty eight years of prayer that he would show up to the building before the pastor did. And the pastor would get there, and he'd look at his watch just like I did to Caleb this morning. Sorry. And he'd say, pastor, where are you? It's time to open. And pastor's like, no. I'm on time, dude. It's you. But his feeling was we need to be open just as much as we can because I'm we never know when we're gonna find someone like me that finds Jesus and needs him today. [01:14:58] (36 seconds)  #BeReadyToWelcome

Because if you don't have an idea of what you should be praying for today, then just take Jesus' suggestion. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. At 10:02 tonight, 10:02 tomorrow morning, a one minute prayer. God, will you send out more harvesters? Now you need to be careful with the context of this passage because I know what most of you are are thinking. [01:10:34] (36 seconds)  #PrayForHarvesters

So in our parable, Jesus doesn't use the words, but it clearly he's implying the same idea. He is not saying God is like an unjust judge. You just have to break his head. He's not saying that at all. If an unjust judge will respond to the persistence of a powerless woman, that was weak. If an unjust judge will respond to the persistence of a powerless woman, will your loving father want to hear and respond to your persistent request? [01:05:09] (39 seconds)  #LovingFatherListens