Heavenly Father, we just come in the precious name of Jesus. Lord, I'm gonna ask today that you would increase our faith. Lord, there's a devil that's the enemy of our soul, and he wants us to quit trusting you. He wants us to give up on you. He wants us to believe that you're not answering our prayers, that you're allowing the world to go the wrong direction, and, Lord, he is the father of all lies. And so, Father, today, I pray that you would expunge faithlessness and worry and anxiety, and that, Lord, we would leave this place fully trusting you with our faith wholly upon you, looking to you for every answer. Father, as we open your word today, I pray that your Holy Spirit would breathe life into it and that you would guide us into all truth now, Father, in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Few in here. Amen. Where you get to the point where you're just like, wait a minute. I can't do this anymore, and I just want out of this thing. I call it escapism. You know, I tell Jesus every day I want you to come back now before I have to deal with that. Yes.

Now today, as I read the text, I want you to think of this word. I want you to think of contrast. Alright? Because we're gonna read, and we're gonna read about a guy that goes and knocks on the door asking for bread at midnight. I don't know about you. You have anybody come to your house at midnight knocking on the door, say I need something to eat. Okay. But this is what goes on in the story Jesus tells, and the man says, no. You know? I can't get up. Well, God contrasts himself to this man. And then we're gonna read about an unjust judge, not that we have any of those around today, but an unjust judge and the widow that keeps going to him back to Adam, Adam, Adam until he finally gives her justice. And there's a contrast between the unjust judge and God. And Jesus wants his disciples to see it, so he's teaching us. So as we read it today, think about the contrast. Alright?

I want you to think about persistence. Okay? I watch a lot of sports, man. I got 12 grandchildren. I have four children, and I've been to a lot of sports, and I love sports. And and this is something I notice when I'm watching. When somebody misses a shot in basketball or they lose the ball, I watch them. And sometimes they they drop their head and they get upset, you know, and they just stand there. And my wife has to hit me and say, don't yell. She says, be quiet. Don't yell because I have a loud voice. But don't give up. If you miss a shot, get the rebound, put it back. Or if they get the ball, steal it back.

When I was about 20 years old, you know, I I was I was farming. I was still in decent shape. My old coach called me up, and he said, Dave, come to a scrimmage, and I I want you to come back. We gotta toughen my team up a little bit. He said, come on back and scrimmage with us. So I went over there, and and I stole the ball from one of those high school students, and I was heading for for the basket, and he stole it back. And he headed for the other end. And I turned around. I learned this about myself that day. And I ran as fast as I could back, and before he got to the free throw line, I took that ball back because it was mine. And the coach blew the whistle. And he said, everybody stop right where you're at. And he said, how did this old man who was way down there get all the way back here and steal that ball, and all you guys are standing way back here in the middle of the court? And he said, you guys have to learn when you lose a basketball, when you get beat, you go as hard as you can to recover.

Now, I worry about our society today. In a video game, sorry, teens. But when you lose your life in a video game, you just wait a certain period of time, you get your life back, don't you? And I keep telling them, that is fiction. The life we live is for real and you only have one of them. You have one, and it's very important that you guard it. And reality is you have to be persistent, and you can't give up. And Jesus wants to teach us today to be persistent in prayer.

Let's read the text. Then Jesus said to them, suppose you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say, friend, lend me three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him. And suppose the one inside answers, don't bother me. I don't know. Anybody here answer like that at midnight? What are you doing at my door at midnight? The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed, and I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity. I love those two words. He will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. You see, be persistent.

Let's go to chapter 18 now and read the first eight verses. Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said in a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with a plea, grant me justice against my adversary. For some time, he refused, but finally, he said to himself, even though I don't fear God or care what people think, I'm glad there's nobody like that in the world today. Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me. The Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says, 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? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. Now listen to the last line. Don't miss it. It's so important. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? What a question. How's our faith today, church?

Your first point, persistent passionate prayer pays. Persistent passionate prayer pays off. And God is trying to teach his disciples, don't give up. Don't ever give up. Keep speaking. Stay in the relationship. Prayer is a relationship. It's talking to God. It's telling him how you feel. It's telling him what's going on. It's asking him. It it it's waiting for an answer. It's looking for advice. Don't ever give up because persistent passionate prayer will pay off eventually. It's very important that we understand that. Remember what Pastor Riley taught us last week. God will always answer his prayer. Yes, no, not yet, or I love this one. If you will, I will. That's one of my favorite ones. You see, if you'll do what I say, then I'll do my part. God will always do his part, but he's waiting around for me all the time to do what he tells me.

Over and over, God, he brings something into my mind. Anybody here argue with God? Does anybody here you know, I I'm like, well, Lord, I don't know. Is that you? And and how am I gonna do this? And could I get you to put that in my maps on my phone so I know exactly where I'm going? And he's like, come on. But he always says to me, if you're not gonna do it, who is? Oh, that one gets me. He says, you're not gonna do it, who's going to do it? And then I I just say, okay, Lord. It may be scary and embarrassing, but I'm gonna do it. And so persistent, passionate prayer pays. It's so important that we don't give up.

Now, look at your next point. God never sleeps. You see, think of the contrast here. You see, his friend is like, you know, I'm in bed. We're gonna go to sleep now. It's midnight. You know, go away. God doesn't do that. God doesn't sleep. He doesn't slumber. Okay? Psalms 121. In Psalms 121 verses one to four, I lift my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. You see the contrast here? God never rests. He doesn't sleep. He's awake when you call on his name. No matter what time it is, he's there. He's just waiting for us to speak to him. And so as we read this, we have to recognize the contrast here.

Look at and yet this lady just keeps coming and coming to him. So when we come to our God, to our Father in heaven through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, empowered by the Holy Spirit, our God is just. He wants justice. And so we have to see the contrast in what Jesus is doing here.

Now from a spiritual aspect, look at your next point. Jesus is the bread of life. I think it's so awesome that he didn't go looking for money or anything like they said. I need bread. Jesus is the bread of life. He's the manna who came down from heaven. When the Jews said, you know, well, Moses gave us bread. Jesus corrected him. He said, well, Moses is my father in heaven. And then he says, I'm the bread of life. That got to him. Every time, anytime a day, we need to go to Jesus because he's the bread of life. He'll never refuse you. He'll never push you back. John 6 verse 63 says that he he will never whoever comes to him, he will never cast them out. Always remember that. He will never cast you out. He is the bread of life.

Now we've learned over the past weeks, whatever you ask according to God's will. That's such an important scripture verse. Whatever you ask according to God's will, you'll have it. So here's your next point. Hospitality is the compelling force behind asking for bread. You know, why did the guy leave his house and go at midnight and say, I need bread to feed my guests? It's because of hospitality. Think about Abraham. Abraham looked off, and he saw three guys coming towards him. God was literally visiting Abraham. That had to be something. What did Abraham do? Oh, no. Quick. Get the house in order. No. He called his wife. He said, quick. Prepare food. Get food for him. We have to feed him. We have to be hospitable. Get him something to drink. A place in the shade right away. Hospitality. And so this man is watching out. See, every church should be hospitable. When you walk in here, we should meet your need. Mentally, physically, spiritually, because Jesus will meet your need. And so hospitality was the compelling force behind asking for bread. He went there. He had a good reason. And eventually, the man got up and gave him bread because of your shameless audacity. I love those words. We'll come to them in a little bit. Because you wouldn't give up, and you kept coming.

Your next point. The bread seeker and the widow refused to leave without a positive answer. Proverbs 24 verse 10. The NIV, if you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength? The old King James, you know, if you faint in the day of adversity, your help is small. We shouldn't faint in the day of adversity because our help is huge. My Father in heaven owns the cattle and the hills that they feed on. And we should never falter in a time of trouble. We should be with him, and we should wait, and we should be persistent. That's what he's trying to teach us.

Now my question, has anybody in here ever thrown a temper tantrum because things didn't go the way you wanted them to go? Not now. You're all you're all mature adults, but when you were children. I will remember this always in my life. You know, my dad I had chores from the time I was in third grade, and and my dad would give me chores to do, and I would get so frustrated if something went wrong. And and, you know, how you do as children, like, you know, I can't do it, you know, and you're throwing a tantrum. And I would turn around to walk away, and I would walk right into my dad's belly right here. And he would look down and he would say, what's the matter? You'd explain it all to him. And he would say, okay. And I was hoping he would say, go in the house, you know, don't worry about it. My dad never said that. He would say, okay. And he would grab me by the shoulders, and he would turn me around. And he would say, come on now. Let's go. Let's go. I'm gonna help you, and he would help me complete the task. You see, he is trying to teach us here. Don't give up. Be persistent. The God of the universe is on your side, and I'm so thankful for I'm so thankful for those lessons that I learned. You know, dads, be be that person. Train up your children like that when they when they're in trouble and they're trying to run away or to give up. I don't know. God keeps telling me to tell this story. I just don't know why, but I'm not gonna fight him.

I used to remember, now they have cabs on tractors. Anybody see it? You got a cab, you know, you got air conditioning, you got heating, you got beautiful stereo. It's awesome in there. I love it. But we used to not have any of that stuff. So on on cold days like today, we'd be plowing, and you'd be out there with all your nice warm clothes on. My dad would come out, you know, and he'd give me something hot to drink, and he'd say, oh, are you cold? And I would say, yeah, Dad. I'm really cold. And thinking, oh, go in and warm up. Uh-uh. He would say, here, brought some more clothes. Put these on. And he would say, you gotta finish. We gotta finish this. You you know, and I'm like, okay. Here we go. See, persistence, don't give up. You can do this. And it's a lesson that we have to learn as Christians. Keep talking to our Father in heaven. Keep praying. Keep speaking to him, and then he's gonna speak truth and wisdom back to us, and he may change our minds, or or all of a sudden, he may just answer us. Amen?

They refused to leave. They were persistent. Jay Vernon McGee tells a great story about the widow, you know, to the judge, and he says she goes to the judge's, you know, office, and the receptionist says, do you have an appointment? And she says, no. But I need justice. And she says, well, the judge is busy, and you can't get to see him today. And she says, I'll just wait. And she says, he has no time for you. And the judge sees her and says, what's she doing? Well, she wants to talk to you. I'm not gonna talk to her. I don't have time. And then and then the judge keeps peeking out saying, she's still here. When she gets hungry, she'll leave. And then the receptionist calls him and says, she was hungry, but she brought her lunch, you see. And as much as he's trying to get her to leave, she won't leave. And finally, he says, you know what? I'm I'm gonna grant her justice. You see, that's a picture that Jesus is painting for us here.

Look at your next point. I I love these words, shameless audacity. It kinda gives you a picture of somebody pestering you. You ever been pestered? And that's not what it means at all. It's not what it means. Shameless audacity is humble dependence upon God and his character to meet a true need with his grace. It's humbling yourself and coming to God saying, Lord, I have no place else to turn. Now, the commentaries, it's really interesting. They're trying to decide. You know, all the smartest people in the world are trying to decide. Is the shameless audacity with the guy that had the bread or with the guy asking for the bread? And some of them say because of God's character and how loving and caring he is, that God, to save his face and to keep his character, will grant the wish. Others say it's the persistent guy knocking on the door, that he has the shameless audacity and he won't give up. Either way, they both fit and they both work, don't they? So again, stay in the relationship with God. Keep speaking to him. Keep coming to him and making your request known. That's what the word of God tells us.

Alright, wives. Elbow your husbands and husbands, elbow your wives. Be alert now. The godly godly order. Okay. Godly order. And and when we go through premarital counseling, I always teach people this. Now now everybody just relax, but the husband is supposed to be the head of the house. Correct? He's the head of the house. And the wife is the influence. Alright? The wife is the influence. So I teach these young men that wanna get married, I say, now, sometimes you're gonna have to make the decision, because you don't know for sure which way to go, huge decisions. Other times, see, with my wife and I, I tell her, you can put the furniture wherever you want it, just don't move it and let me come home when it's dark, so I trip over it. That's all I ask. You see, some decisions you can just make. It it doesn't matter. You don't worry about it. But some decisions are huge. When are you gonna buy a car? You're gonna buy a house? You know, where are you gonna send your children to school? What are you gonna do in this situation? And so I tell them all, I say, listen to your wife, listen to what she says, and repeat it back to her. Repeat it back so she knows you heard her. And then if you have to make the decision, make the decision. You have to do it.

Now here's what happens, wives. When my wife says to me, go ahead, you make the decision. You know what that does to me? It goes, oh, I can't mess this one up. Because if you're gonna mess this one up, you're gonna hear, I told you several times over the next period of years. See, the girls all know I'm telling the truth here. You know what that does? That drives a husband to his knees. And he will bow down before God and say, Lord, don't let me lead my family astray. You see, it's so important. The way it's worked in our house, I remember years ago, we had a car that was breaking down and getting in bad shape. We needed a new car, and I knew the car that was supposed to be my wife's. You see, somebody else had driven it for a few years. And I told the salesman, said, when there's a blizzard, I want my wife to drive the car. He said, you're kinda nuts, but okay. So so she drove the car, and I said, did the car feel safe? And she said, yeah. I really liked it. It was icy and snowy, and it was safe, and I I I liked it. And I said, okay. Should we buy it? And she said, oh, I don't want I don't want payments and all these things. And I said, okay. But then we gotta put a lot of money in the other car, you know, you're weighing all these things out. And then she said those words. She said, well, you it's your choice. You make the decision. Oh, boy. And we bought the car. And five or six years later, my wife said to me, I really like that car. And I went, yes. I still own the car. It's in the parking lot today, 229,000 miles. Isn't that something? But you see, God's in it, and it was godly order. How did it work?

Now we're not widows, and we aren't orphans. We're the bride of Christ. And when you come to God and when you pray and you speak to him, trust me, he hears. And he, our maker, is our husband. That's what the word of God says. And if you will come to him and you can pour out all your anxieties, all your worries, all your fears to your husband, to Jesus in heaven, and then say, now, it's in your hands. You know what? He will never make a bad call. It's so important church that we learn this. Alright? And that we're never afraid to come to him, and we come to him persistently until we hear hear his answer. And if he doesn't answer right away, we have to wait.

This is your next point. Both the petitioners had to wait. The guy knocking on the door, he said, hey, I need three loaves of bread. Go away. Can you picture it? I need it. I need bread. Hey, go away. We're trying to sleep here. Come on. Leave us alone. Alright? The only way to deal with this guy is we're gonna get up. Right? But they had to wait. He waited. He wouldn't leave. That that lady wouldn't leave the judge's office. She was persistent. And finally, he said, I'm gonna grant it. We have to learn to wait. Isaiah chapter 40. Alright? Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31 says, but those who hope or some translations say, wait in the on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. We have to learn to wait church and to be patient. Psalms 33. Alright? Psalms 33 verses 20 to 22. We wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him, our hearts rejoice, and we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. All my hope is in Jesus. And he's trying to teach us, be be persistent. Don't give up. Keep praying. Keep coming to him, and he will answer, church, and then be ready for the answer. If it's no, okay. I had a friend. He his one of his phrases when somebody would ask something, he said, if you can't handle the no answer, you're not ready for the yes. Isn't that a great way to look at things? And it's so important that we wait and we don't get upset and we don't walk away from God.

That's your next point. Look at your next point. Every situation that needs prayer has the potential to draw us closer to God or push us away from him. Over the past twenty seven years, I have known so many people who are angry with God, who have given up on him because a prayer was answered in an unfavorable way, and they blame God. And I'm here to tell you today, don't blame God. Just stay on your knees in persistent prayer. Ask in him, and he will speak to you. He will reveal to you. But don't let any situation in your life push you away from your maker. He's the one person that we need to go to. He's the one person that can answer all your questions. Half of verse eight in chapter 18 says, however, just as Jesus says this, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Wow. Well, we still have faith in him when he comes no matter how bad things get, no matter how good things get. Sometimes when things are good is when we get the furthest away from him. And so today, put your faith in him.

I'm gonna tell a story about one of my friends. He died from cancer. He was a young man. He had 12 children. And he he used to call me every week and say, Dave, sell your cows and go preach. I had an excuse every week. And he was dying of cancer. He was at home. We had all prayed for him. We believed God could heal him. And one day, I saw him get up. He had IVs in him, and he stood up and like Job. He was just a living Job, and he said, Lord, you give and you take away. And he said, I know you can heal me. And if you heal me, great. But if you don't, I love you, and I'll never give up on you. I stood there that day, and I recognized that real life Job. He would never give up on God. And someday, I'm gonna meet him in heaven. How's your faith today?

Alright? Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Boy, if there's one thing we should persistently pray, it's that abortion would be abolished. It's so important. Today, I have a good friend in the hospital, Jerry, and he is high his blood pressure's high, and they don't know why, and they're trying to fix him. But I can't give up. I just keep praying. Yesterday, I went to see Kathy Perry. Chaplain Larry's been to see her. And Kathy, they give her just a few days to live, and I was so blessed. You know, you walk into a situation like that and you wonder what's gonna happen. And the first thing she does, she says, what's your favorite Bible verse? And I'm like, okay, Kathy. We this is we gotta turn this around. I'm supposed to be here ministering to you and you're ministering to me. What's going on? See? And she she just looked at me and she said, Pastor Dave, she said, I know God can heal me. And if he'll heal me, I I'm I'm happy. I want that. But she said, if not, I know I'm gonna be with Jesus. And we prayed. You see, how's your faith today, church? If the enemy has eroded it, don't let it happen. Come back and be persistent in prayer.

Father, we come to you, Lord, as we begin to worship now. Lord, we come to you and we won't give up, Lord. Our eyes are on you. We don't know what to do. It's a great prayer from Jehoshaphat. He said, Lord, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you. And, Lord, this morning, we put our eyes on you. Help us, Lord, to become the body of Christ that is persistent in prayer, where the sick are healed, where the lame walk and deaf ears hear, and the eyes are open, Lord Jesus, and the gospel is preached to the poor. Help us to become that church, Father. Take your word this morning, Lord. Let it accomplish what you sent it to do in Jesus' precious name. We're gonna have a time of worship now. If you need prayer, we're gonna tell you that this altar is open. Come up here, kneel down at the altar, and we've got oil, and we're gonna anoint you with oil. We're gonna pray over you, and we're gonna keep worshiping the Lord, and we're gonna be persistent in prayer, and and we're gonna expect miracles. Amen? Amen.

Subject: Persistent Prayer: Shameless Audacity to Ask, Seek, Knock

Dear Mt. Zion,

I hope this finds you holding fast to our message about persistent prayer and the "shameless audacity" to Ask, Seek, and Knock.

This Sunday we walked through the contrasts Jesus gives—the friend at midnight who won't get up and the unjust judge with the persistent widow—to teach us to always pray and never give up. We learned that persistent, passionate prayer pays, that God neither slumbers nor sleeps, and that Jesus is the Bread of Life who will never cast us out. We talked about shameless audacity as humble dependence on God's character, the need to wait faithfully for His answer, and Jesus’ sobering question: will He find faith on the earth when He returns?

So here’s my pastoral challenge: don’t let worry, a hard answer, or a season of silence push you away from the Lord—keep speaking to Him, stay in the relationship, and be persistent in prayer. Bring your needs to the altar, call someone to pray with you, and be ready to accept yes, no, or not yet; if you can’t handle the no, you’re not ready for the yes. As we observed Sanctity of Life Sunday, let that stir us to pray with boldness and persistence for the unborn and for those in need.

Blessings,
Mt. Zion Team