Title: Pray Like This! / Luke 18:1-8
Contents
Pray like this!
Luke 18:1-8
- What are the three factors that believers must be sure of and challenge?
1. Believers never perish.
2. Believers never fail.
3. Believers' prayers must be answered.
All of this is the result of the grace of Jesus Christ alone.
All these blessings are obtained through prayer.
*Prayers must be answered.
1. Immediate response.
Bartimaeus' prayer.
2. Wait.
Elijah's prayer - An immediate answer on Mount Carmel and waiting for an answer with patience.
3. No.
Jesus' prayer and Paul's prayer were also unanswered.
If we ask wrongly to use it for our lust, there will be no answer.
4. Give something better.
*Prayers must be answered.
Ex) "The prayers of the saints are like water vapor, so when they go up they are invisible, but when they appear as answers, the rain of grace falls, creating a sea of peace."
*Prayer is the most important foundation of faith for true believers, the disciples of Jesus.
He said that in order to follow the Lord, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
Prayer is the beginning of self-denial.
The moment I get down on my knees is acknowledging my own incompetence and acknowledging the Lord.
It is a moment of prayer to experience the death of the self on the cross.
Also, how can we bear our cross without God's power and grace? That is why we need to get strength and power through prayer to straighten the cross.
*But praying is not that easy.
Prayer is spiritual labor. It's a spiritual thing.
Our bodies are the greatest hindrance to prayer. Those who overcome this body and pray to God can become the victors in life.
The life of faith is the life of the spirit. The life of the spirit is a life that begins with being deeply acquainted with God, who is the Spirit, and receiving the Spirit of God to the full.
Prayer is the only way for a fleshly person to fellowship with God who is the Spirit and to receive the Spirit of God.
Without prayer, we become people of the flesh.
You cannot become a person of the Holy Spirit. Without prayer, we cannot be raised up to be true people of God.
We must become victors in our prayer life.
A person who prays while fighting against the flesh. Such a person can receive God's promises and enjoy God's grace and blessings.
You must make up your mind to pray first.
We must maintain the attitude to pray with determination and determination every day.
If you decide to pray and pray, God's work will happen.
Ex) In a rural church, there was a grandmother who had a deacon, and she unexpectedly contracted gallstones. The hospital diagnosed me that I needed surgery. However, when the grandmother came home, the butler thought deeply, ‘How much longer will I live if I get the surgery now, and I do not know what will happen to me because I accidentally cut a knife to my body during the operation I started to pray earnestly thinking that it would be better for me to die. And during the all-night prayer meeting on Friday, I prayed wholeheartedly and was ordained, and the grandmother, who saw the vision of God, felt the pain that had been bothering her for a long time disappeared and was able to receive cleansing. After that, he became healthy and is living a miracle testimonial.
Prayers must be answered.
(John 14:14) If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
(John 16:24) Until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be full.
So if you don't pray, you should feel like you've lost.
Ex) A certain hospital says that our church members are regulars. I'm a little upset. Going to the hospital isn't a bad thing. I hate seeing people wandering around in search of a place of courage without prayer.
In fact, who is more courageous than God? If we do not pray and do not challenge ourselves, there is no answer and we miss all opportunities to glorify God.
Example) Some people liken the shape of our land to 'tigers, rabbits, socks, shrimp, and dancing parasites', but none of them. The map itself is a prayer for Korea. Jeju Island is like taking off her shoes, and Bond Island is similar to Samuel praying to God on his knees. Korea was created by God as a nation to pray from the beginning. It was a proud thing that Dr. Syngman Rhee, who was the first Speaker of the National Assembly in 1948, kept a prayer and opened the session to Rep. Yoon-Young Lee at the time of the opening of the first National Assembly. When President Reagan visited Korea in 1985, after witnessing a church prayer room in the Capitol of Korea, he said, "We, 40,000 Americans, thought that China and Western Korea would develop peacefully by preventing communism, but there is a church in the Capitol, so the power of prayer I was crazy and did not know that it was to prevent communism and develop it,” he said.
No individual can be completely successful without prayer, no family can be truly happy without prayer, no church can develop without prayer, and no nation can become a beautiful nation without prayer.
The fire of prayer must be kindled.
It should be the heart of prayer.
The sound of prayer must not cease.
No matter how difficult or difficult it is to pray, we must pray because it is the power to save our lives.
Example) A person saw a large pendulum on a watch and said the watch was having a hard time, so he asked to remove the pendulum. However, the moment the weight was removed, the hands of the clock stopped.
A bird can fly with its heavy wings, a ship sails with a heavy sail, a train runs through it with a heavy wreath, and an airplane flies with a heavy wing. That's it. Even if the members are tired and hard, they must pray every day to live. We live by the power of that prayer.
Prayer is the basis of all religious life.
Bible study without prayer Raise your head, praise without prayer is no different from singing in the world, service without prayer only creates tests, workers without prayer become obstacles, and worship without water is like a desert without water.
- How to pray?
(main text)
1. You must always pray.
“Pray without ceasing”.
Example) Goldfish play with their mouths non-stop. Believers should also pray to God without ceasing.
Example) How to pray always.
1. Daily Prayer - Pray in your daily life.
2. Timed prayer-Daniel, David, Peter and John, etc.
3. Special Prayer - Jacob's Jabbok Prayer.
Daily prayer or prayer at a fixed time is "drizzle prayer". Afterwards, it will get wet.
The special prayer is a rain shower. It is to sound an emergency siren to God.
Prayer should become a habit.
(Luke 22:39) "Jesus went out and went to the Mount of Olives according to custom."
We need to train our bodies.
We need to create a habit of prayer that is engrained in our prayer life.
2. Do not lose heart and pray.
It means that we must pray without wavering our faith.
Don't lose faith.
We must pray without becoming discouraged with the belief that our prayers will surely be answered.
The devil is trying to get us to give up no matter what.
I'm trying to get you to quit by making you feel discouraged and hopeless.
If you are discouraged while praying, pray more. Doing so will refresh our hearts and give us new courage. With that strength, praying with faith, all trials will pass away and the work of answers will take place.
3. We must pray persistently.
(Luke 18:7) "How much more will God not avenge the elect, who cry out day and night, will he be patient with them?"
God compared it to an evil judge.
If this wicked judge had persisted in answering, wouldn't our good God not answer our earnest prayers and persistence?
The Lord is looking for someone who practices such a prayer.
(2 Chronicles 16:9) "The eyes of the Lord go through all the earth, to show power for those whose heart is devoted to him."
But sadly, the Lord says it is difficult to find such a person.
(Luke 18:8) "I tell you, he will avenge him quickly, but will he find faith on earth when the Son of Man comes?"
In other words, will you ever see a person of faith who prays like this?
I pray.
Lord, may such a person be found in our church.
-Prayers must be answered.
You and I are blessed.
I really congratulate you.
I hope you become a more prayerful person.
I bless you that you will become God's beautiful children by living a life of God's work and blessing while praying with a passionate heart of prayer.
Amen.