Pastor Paul Chappell: The Priority of Prayer

I want you to take your Bible if you would at this time and turn to the Book of Luke and we're gonna look tonight at Luke chapter number 18 for our scripture reading and it's been a blessing on these Wednesday nights just to focus on some of the themes that are needed during a season like this and I think perhaps one of the greatest themes is the theme of Prayer and so tonight we're gonna look once again at the subject of Prayer from God's Word Luke chapter 18 and would you find it there with your family wherever you are perhaps in your living room in your kitchen and would you open your Bible tonight and follow along with us as we read Luke chapter 18 and verse number 1 and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint saying there was a judge a city judge which feared not God neither regarded man and there was a widow in that city and she came unto him saying avenge me of mine adversary and he would not for a while but afterward he said within himself though I fear not God nor regard men yet because this Widow trouble with me I will avenge her lest by her continual coming she weary me and the Lord said hear what the unjust judge saith and shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them I tell you that he will avenge them speedily nevertheless when the son cometh shall he find faith on the earth well this evening as we open our Bibles we see in the closing verses of chapter 17 and that our Lord has been speaking about the subject of his return he's been speaking about the fact that he would return and come to gather his people and in verse number 1 of chapter 18 he says in light of the events leading to his return that men ought always to pray and not to faint now I believe that this is a time when we need to pray for our country for the sick for one another there's a lot of on so many homes tonight that was not planned for that's for sure a lot of moms right now are involved in homeschooling that's something that they didn't have planned they had their children in school maybe you saw the letter that one little boy wrote to he wrote in his journal actually about this whole homeschooling event that he's experiencing a little boy named Ben from Kentucky he wrote in his journal I'm not doing good my mom's getting stressed out my mom is really giddy confused we took a break so my mom can figure this stuff out I'm telling you it's not going good well hopefully it's going better than that for you and your family but for Ben he said it's just not going good right now and I think a lot of people might feel that in fact I spoke to my grandsons this morning on FaceTime and little Chandler and Camden and they were having school they had their headphones on and but I could tell Chandler was having a little too much fun as he was there in in his school classroom time and so I had kind of had to admonish him a little bit that I had to say a prayer for Danielle because the stress can mount on our lives during a time like this well Jesus knew that there would be much stress in the time preceding the coming of of our Lord and and so he is saying to us men ought always to pray and in in this passage of Luke 18 we have a parabolic teaching which is intended to show a truth by way of comparison comparing this Widow coming to the judge to our prayers in coming to the Lord and many times if we're not careful we can lose heart in our prayers someone might say well pastor Chapel we're always admonished to pray and and pray without ceasing but I don't always see the change that I want to see and we can lose heart and if we're not careful we can try our own techniques we can try to manipulate our own way with respect to getting through these times so Jesus uses this example of a woman that was incredibly persistent he says that's what I want you to see I want you to make priority out of prayer so let's take a few minutes tonight and learn from the parable of this faithful praying widow the first thing that I want you to notice tonight is very simply the priority of prayer in her life the priority of Prayer you see Jesus begins by telling us men ought always to pray 1st Thessalonians 5 and 17 tells us pray without ceasing and as we often have learned when times are good it's very easy for us to just forget to pray we kind of start thinking we can handle it on our own and and yet when we look at what's going to happen preceding the coming of Christ and I believe we're seeing the the birth pangs of his coming when we sense times like this this certainly feels apocalyptic in the sense of proceeding the time of the coming of the Lord and we see sickness and we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes and we sense a stronger call in fact the former Prime Minister of Great Britain called yesterday for a one-world government to deal with this pandemic and we're starting to hear things and sense things that maybe we only read about in seasons past and what Jesus is telling us is you need to always be in prayer because these are times that call upon Christian people to walk with God to know his his heart and to seek his face prayer should be constant and also we learn from this passage that our prayer should be confident God does not want us praying with doubt he says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much now listen to what we learn about prayer in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19 and if you have a moment turn in your Bible there to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 19 through 23 I want to read it to you just now having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water now I want you to focus tonight on this phrase with a true heart in full assurance of faith God says when you come to me I want you to come with a heart believing I want you to believe that I can do anything but fail and oftentimes in prayer we can become very repetitious we can say just the same phrases or perhaps just kind of go through the motions but God says no I want you to come with a full assurance of faith I want you to believe that I am and that I am a rewarder of those who diligently seek me in fact the Bible says in verse 23 let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering now you're going to find that when stress and testings come those who had a bumper sticker of Christianity or had a religious affiliation with Christianity but never had a real relationship with God they're not going to have that fervency that confidence but God is calling us to have a confidence in him Psalm 103 and verse 13 the Bible says like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pities them that fear Him I believe tonight that God is looking for a nation but first he is looking for a church that would fear him and honor him and I don't mean fear him in the sense of being afraid at the Nightly News I mean in the sense of having an awe and a reverential trust and a respect for God having a confidence that he is a great and mighty God and that he can hear and answer prayer and so we see that there is to be this priority of Prayer jesus said as you see the time coming and we read about that time in chapter 7 and in fact he talks about this second coming in chapter 7 he says two women shall be grinding together the one shall be taken the other left two men shall be in the field the one shall be taken the other left and we recognize that that exact moment is not upon us but as we approach the coming of the Lord we are told to make a priority of prayer and to come without hesitation and without ceasing but what we learn from the woman tonight in a parable is not merely the priority of prayer but the persistence of this woman the persistence of prayer I want you to notice that in verse 2 saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God neither regarded man and there was a widow in that city and she came unto him saying avenge me of mine adversary something I really loved about our Lord is the fact that he knows who you are and where you are he's gonna tell us this whole story about a widow there was a widow in a city you know we've been doing our best as a church family to call the widows of our church every week and and just to check on them and meet their needs but how much more attentive is God tonight to the heart and the need of a widow and I just find comfort in the fact that that he's going to remind us of the need of the least of these someone that maybe others would not have thought about now she was facing an uncaring judge she was facing a judge that did not fear God and we live in a world that generally does not fear God or believe in God and yet he was in authority over her life and so the Bible tells us here in verse number 3 that she came to this judge and she said avenge me of mine adversary and she says in verse number 4 that he would not for a while but afterward he said within himself though I fear not God nor regard man yet because this Widow trouble with me so we get a picture of a widow that kept coming and kept coming and kept pleading her case before the judge she was at persistent indeed she had a persecutor and this persecutor would not stop bringing a case against her and so she had to bring her need to the judge and she had discovered the only key to power in prayer was persist see and coming again and again you know James chapter 4 and verse 2 tells us ye lust and you have not ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not because you ask not now I think of the many prayer requests of this hour I think of the prayer requests for a for a cure or for some type of of a of a means to an end with respect to covet 19 I think of that great need today physically and medically but then I think also of those with underlying conditions and how we need to pray protection for them in the meantime before there is to come some cure there must be protection in the meantime I think we need to pray that God would help us through this time and we must pray consistently I was reading yesterday in the newspaper about a Pew Research study that was just unveiled in fact I think it was March 31st edition and they talked about prayer in American life and they had surveyed I think a sampling of about 2000 Americans across the 50 states and 55% of them said that they have been praying and asking God that he would provide a cure for the coronavirus 55% of Americans so what happens in a time like this is that there's an a peak awareness of the fact this is bigger than us this is bigger than the federal the state and the local government we need God's help with this and so God is speaking to his people and he says yes people pray when difficult times come but may not always to pray and we need to pray with greater persistence now think of this if an ungodly judge heard the cry of this woman how much more does your heavenly father hear the cry of his children and when we come to a situation that is so beyond us how much more should we bring this to the Lord the same Pew survey said that while 55 percent of America have increased their prayer life that there have been in addition to that 57% of Americans in the last two weeks that have watched live stream broadcast to hear something true from the Bible to find some measure of hope 57% of all Americans well I want to share with you tonight that there is hope in Jesus Christ and there is power in prayer and coming to God with faith believing and this Widow woman she realized that she had to persistently come to this judge to find help over her persecutor and in a time of need the Bible says in Luke chapter 11 and verse number 8 I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is a friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he need if you see sometimes there will be those that will not rise to meet the need simply because there's a need but because of the requests now think of all the requests going on right now the labs that are being requested to do research and the states that are requesting ventilator machines and the government that is requesting masks and all of these requests and they're all urgent and God says I want you to bring your urgent requests to me be persistent with your prayer sometimes from our perspective it may seem that there's a delay in God's answer and I want to remind you tonight God's delays are not God's denials that God many times uses these waiting times that waiting times are not wasting times that the very fact that you're coming to God in prayer is a part of this process it's a part of the purpose no doubt to get our nation back to prayer to get our churches back to prayer and so we see the persistence of prayer let's learn a lesson from a widow woman tonight she may not have had powerful connections and she may not have had a pocketbook full of money but she understood the necessity of coming with great faithfulness with her request well we see the priority of Prayer men not always to pray we see the persistence of prayer coming again and again before the throne of grace and how we're blessed to do that but let's notice finally tonight the practice of Prayer this practice of prayer now why do we want to stay in practice with prayer well I want you to see something as we close here in verse 8 the Bible says I tell you that he will avenge them speedily nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth now think of that for a moment here we see that God is painting a picture of urgency for us in prayer why do we need to stay practiced in prayer because of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ you know the psalmist said in Psalm 109 in verse 4 for my love they are my adversaries but I will give myself to prayer now think of that for a moment for my love they are my adversaries you know the Apostle Paul said something very similar he said the more I love yet the less am I loved and and sometimes we give out and and people don't love back is what he said and and David said this so this was his response he said nevertheless I will give myself to prayer in other words if I can't convince someone to see an issue if I can't bring about reconciliation if I can't bring about healing there's one thing that I can do I can give myself to prayer and just like Anna the prophetess who was there in the temple awaiting the consolation of the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says of Anna that she served the Lord with prayer and and and so you may not be able to go out and serve the kids on your bus route like you want to and you may not be able to go out and visit someone like you normally would but you can give yourself to prayer and I can give myself to prayer and be in the practice of prayer because we know the coming of the Lord draws nigh and this is a time to walk with Him in fervent fervent prayer you see the Son of Man will come and I want you to think about that tonight the Bible says in first four and 16 for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord listen that day is coming the Son of Man is coming and we want to be in tune with him when he comes we want to be talking with him when he comes a Bible says Enoch walked with God and he was no more one day he was just fellowshipping with the Lord and he was praying with the Lord and then he was with the Lord and that's how we ought to pray oh god I want to be in so close a fellowship with you that when you call me home when that trumpet sounds we're just gonna keep that conversation going on when we get up to heaven you see that's why we need to stay in prayer and in fellowship the Son of Man will come but notice this question here as we close today it says I tell you that he will avenge them speedily verse 8 nevertheless when the Son of man cometh by the way do you believe he's coming I do when the son of man cometh it doesn't say if it says when I mean General Douglas MacArthur said I shall return and he did and he liberated the Philippines but if Douglas MacArthur's word was kept how much more the word of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible says when the Son of man cometh but notice this question now shall he find faith on the earth shall he find faith on the earth oh I pray that he finds it in me and in you you say well I'm saved but I'm not merely talking about being saved though that's where faith begins for by grace are you saved through faith but I'm talking about that fervent expectation of God that walking with God that talking with God will he find that in us when he comes again will he find people that are seeking him and longing for him oh I believe tonight that this should be my prayer and yours lord help me to be talking with you and walking with you even when you come prayer is expression of faith in God prayer is thanking God instead of complaining prayer is rejoicing accepting and appropriating grace into my life each and every day and all tonight I think of Daniel of old how he was told that he ought not to pray and yet three times a day he opened up the windows and he cried aloud towards Jerusalem and he prayed to God and I just want to challenge you that if you do not take this time of sequesteration as a time of growth and I know it's inconvenient and I recognize that people are making masks and going to the stores and and I recognize that there's much caution to be had and and I think these preachers that are having church right now are absolutely foolish I believe as very strong right in the in the freedom that we have to worship but I'm going to tell you something I believe a Shepherd should care for the health of the flock and what I'm saying is you may not be able to come in to church to pray but find a prayer place at home find a place in your backyard on your patio in your closet and get close to God what a tragedy that for 6-8 weeks from now we would get back to a normal schedule with a normal Christian life we ought to get back to that normal schedule redhot with God because we've spent time with him in prayer and so this Widow teaches us tonight the priority of Prayer may not always to pray the persistence of prayer that even when it feels like our prayers aren't being answered we just keep coming and we keep coming and even when we can't solve problems with other people that we just give ourselves to prayer and then the practice of prayer why do we want to stay in the practice of prayer because my friend Jesus Christ is coming again and we want to be in sweet fellowship with him when we see him when Terry and I were in Bible College there were some seasons where I stayed down in Southern California and I worked and and then she would go up to the Bay Area and she would work at her parents restaurant there and so we would have these seasons sometimes a month or two apart from one another but that was when we wrote letters now of you that's kind of foreign to you because of all the email and texting but back in the olden days people actually took a pen and paper wrote letters put in the mailbox in it and and all every day I'd write her a letter and I'd say Terry I sure miss you and I sure love you and I can't wait to see you again and and she would write me letters in fact is sometimes she would actually put perfume on those letters and when I'd walk into the mail room at my Bible College after working the swing shift I'd start sniffing and try to smell and the closer I got to the mailbox I'd smell that perfume and I'd open up that letter and I'd count how many times she said she loved me how many times she said she missed me and we just kind of communicated together I think I was a little insecure about all of that at the time and wanting to make sure about it but I'm gonna tell you something we stayed in such close contact when we were apart so that when we saw one another face to face it was just picking right up where we left off we were close already as we gathered together now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face one day we're gonna see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face and friend we don't want him to be a stranger when we see him oh no we want to be walking with him in fellowship and in prayer making a priority of Prayer until we see Jesus Christ again let's pray together shall we father thank you that we can come and pray and we can adore you and we can confess to you and we can call out with our prayer requests Oh God like this Widow help us to be faithful in seeking your face help us to bring our burdens to you tonight father bless our leaders with wisdom bless the sick with healing oh God put a protection around those in our church with various conditions Oh God would you bring us through this time and would you be glorified in answering this prayer because Lord we come in faith believing that you're able and God we know that you will oh god we pray tonight that you would be pleased to hear an answer and help us to be persistently coming to you during this time helped us to be closer to you when this virus passes and when you come again and we'll thank you for teaching us and for being patient with us as we pray in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

Views: 2,078

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Keywords: preaching, sermon, Christian, God, Jesus, Lancaster Baptist Church, Lancaster Baptist, Pastor Paul Chappell, Paul Chappell, Luke 18, priority, prayer

Id: pB818I4ceYY

Length: 24min 45sec (1485 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 01 2020