The Transforming Power of Persistent Prayer

 It's a good season for LNPC.

We're revving the engines, aren't we?

I watched the service last week.

I would have been here, except I have another assignment, and I was finishing a bridge assignment in Huntington Beach, and I was preaching at St. Peter's Presbyterian Church, St. Peter's by the Sea Presbyterian Church there.

And so I really needed to meet Ray.

So we had breakfast earlier in the week, and

He's a gift, and I know you're receiving him as a gift, and he is receiving you as a gift, both he and Jeanine, and they are really looking forward to being with you.

I have two remaining messages to say, to preach this week and next week, and we're going to stay in the parables.

Like I said earlier, today, as the hymns have indicated, we're going to talk about prayer.

 and how God has given us this rich gift to nurture our relationship with Him.

And next week we'll talk about change and how God uses new things to move us toward completion in Christ.

So I hope you'll be with us.

Today's text finds Jesus in Luke's description

 In a certain place, Jesus had places where he went to pray.

And as he prays, the disciples are lingering nearby.

And then they ask him, when he returns to them, they ask him, would you please teach us how to pray?

And this is where he gives to them the Lord's Prayer.

 He introduces it by saying, this then is how you should pray.

Say this.

The Lord's Prayer is really the pattern for all of our prayers.

Talks about worship, honest confession, thanksgiving, and requests and how they are to be made before the Lord.

 And he gives us this pretty concise prayer.

And then he tells them a story, a parable.

That's what he does so well.

And this is where our text picks up in Luke 11, verse 5.

Listen for his words.

 Suppose one of you has a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves of bread for a friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.

And he answers from within, do not bother me.

The door has already been locked and my children are with me in bed.

I can't get up and give you anything.

 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything, because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence, he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

So I say to you, ask and it will be given you.

Search and you will find.

Knock and the door will be opened for you.

 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks the door will be opened.

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?

Or if the child asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion instead

 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

This is the word of the Lord.

Again, the importance of the storyteller.

 the significance of what the story tells us.

In each parable Jesus tells, I think, without question, Jesus is persuading people to become healthier, more restored versions of God's kingdom being revealed.

 He encourages us as we approach God here to be persistent followers in pursuit of God's ways.

Interesting the way he starts the parable.

This fellow turns back on his friend and his neighbor who needs food for this unexpected guest.

You know, we've all been there.

Pick whatever you like.

Cube of butter we need.

Perhaps some sugar, some eggs.

 Well, in the first century, coming as this parable is explained, this is a really inconvenient request.

In the first century house, a family would be sleeping on a floor together, side by side in one room.

You know, and if dad gets up, what happens?

Everybody wakes up.

 Well, I recall in our family, you know, when our kids would come home after midnight, you know how it is?

It disturbs everybody, at least your wife, right?

Nonetheless, the laws of hospitality in the ancient Middle East were strict and clear.

If someone arrived needing food and shelter, one was under obligation to provide it.

 And it's hard to imagine that this fellow would turn down his friend, his neighbor.

I can't be inconvenienced.

I'm already tucked away with my family for the evening.

It's not going to happen.

Even though, in the parable it says, even though he's hesitant, eventually he comes to the door and provides what's needed.

And then Jesus shares the promise.

 Ask, and it will be given you.

Search, and you will find.

Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Jesus is here revealing the true character of God and what God promises.

He tells of a God who yearns to be with us.

His creation, His beloved people, His children.

 Jesus is teaching his followers to approach God with inquiring, seeking hearts and minds.

We can flip that slide.

There it is.

You know, there may be times, because we're Presbyterians, we're reverent, we're respectful, we might be hesitant and timid

 We don't want to disturb the Lord.

He's busy.

And out of respect, we don't want to bother our gracious God.

And while we must hold a reverence, we still must deliberately, intentionally seek the Lord.

 And here it appears Jesus is wanting us to come vigorously to seek time with God.

And the rhetorical question that's put to the disciples and any who desire to know and grow into what God has for us, Jesus says, don't you think God will respond to you as His beloved children?

 Ours isn't a God locked away somewhere with his own concerns, uninvolved, who says, go away.

I don't have time for this.

Can't be bothered.

The God of the Bible is saying, come, run to me.

 As we were singing the song earlier on, I'm picturing the father running to his son who's coming back from the far land.

And he's losing all decorum as he runs to greet his son who's finally come home.

That's a different picture than the neighbor first portrays.

 This mighty God is concerned for you, your family, and your issues.

Now why is this so important to God?

This seeking Him with deliberateness, with intentionality?

I think it's because the very act of asking

 is a manifestation of trust.

It makes our faith visible.

Look at the Lord's Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer is an admission of our need.

Whether it's bread, or forgiveness, or direction, or help, this shows

 faith that God can and will meet our need.

He wants to be with us.

I remember I was thinking about this and thinking about, am I really bothering God?

I remember studying for my ordination exams

 This was years ago.

And I had this battery of tests that I had to take to become ordained in the Presbyterian Church.

And I'm studying away, and my young son David, who may be with us next week, by the way.

He's visiting from Washington.

David knocked on my study door.

He was three years old, and he wanted time with Dad.

 My mind's going, this exam I'm preparing for is my future.

My heart goes, but this is David, my son, wanting time with dad.

And that visit was so significant for me.

I don't even know what he wanted.

Maybe it was a dish of ice cream or whatever.

But he wanted to spend time with dad.

 And I still remember that.

That was 50 years ago.

And I remember how important it was for me to spend time, even while I was studying for my exams, to spend time with David.

God is like that.

And we must remember that God is a personal, personal God.

We were fashioned after God's image.

 And He loves it when we trust Him enough to come and knock on His door and ask for help, spend time with Him.

And remember, this is God the Son sharing this parable, teaching us to come with conviction and purpose because God loves it so.

 when we come and approach Him with our requests, our concerns, our plights.

And notice here, this is asking God.

It's not telling God.

It's not demanding of God.

But it is a bold faith that respectfully approaches God.

And all we have to do is ask.

 God will be more than willing to respond as it says in James remember this you do not have because you do not ass so I might say this secondly that this is telling us to be direct and persistent in your prayers notice

 The ask that the neighbor brings is specific and his reasoning is clear.

He doesn't meander around and apologize.

He's direct.

Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.

God is not impressed with informalities or with formalities.

 Martin Luther, when he teaches about prayer, he gives this advice.

He says, prayer must be brief, frequent, and intense.

Luther was a preacher.

There's three points.

Prayer must be brief, frequent, and intense.

 These prayers should come with sincerity, requests with conviction, and hope with intensity.

You know, we can get all lost, especially us pastors, in the verbiage and the ornamental vocabulary that we bring when we pray.

But Luther knew if we pray briefly, we will pray more frequently.

Amen?

And they all said amen.

 That's okay.

You'll get into it.

Ray's coming and he's going to bring that.

We see here that persistence is what this parable calls for.

And the Greek verb tense that's used in these words in Luke is not ask and search and knock.

The verb tense is keep asking.

 Keep searching, keep knocking.

There's a drive and a determination and a perseverance in those words.

When I think of knocking, I think what raw courage it sometimes takes to knock on the door.

Jamie, you got it.

You know, and ringing a bell.

 I mean, you're going up to somebody's private residence and you're asking for entry.

And I remember in high school, this is before I met Ruth, I had a friend, Kathy Miller.

Kathy was a sweet soul.

She was a cheerleader.

We were both leaders in student government.

Her dad was a reputable physician in the community.

 They had a nice home in the Hollywood Hills, nice staircase.

And one evening, after a day at the beach, when I was body surfing, being tossed around in the turbulent Pacific Ocean all afternoon, I walked up this long staircase like this.

This wasn't the house, but long staircase up the home to the home.

I knock on the door.

 And Dr. Miller answers the door.

Oh man, Dr. Miller.

And then Kathy comes up behind him.

And as I said hello, my sinuses opened to a flood of ocean water.

And it went down the front of my shirt.

One of the most embarrassing moments of my whole life.

But because I persisted,

 and said, excuse me, and I didn't run away.

I persisted and we talked.

Dr. Miller had a good laugh.

Boy, I'll tell you, he did.

But because I persisted, we had a wonderful evening together.

But it's this bold persistence before God that Jesus now invites.

And it's this bold persistence

 The shameless audacity of this man's friend that eventually causes his neighbor to come to the door.

God is not offended by our strong yearning and the concerns we bring to Him.

This is one of the most important components of prayer.

This urgency that arises from our deepest being.

 And as we speak out clearly and urgently and persistently, God will certainly respond.

This is what this parable is about.

But you know, I think that I remember times when I lose that intensity, when I don't come with this drive and this persistence.

I remember the story of this journalist who was working in Jerusalem.

 And she has a room overlooking the wailing wall.

Some of us have been there.

And every day she looks out and she sees this old Jewish man praying vigorously with his nose against the wall.

Every day the same man goes there and he prays.

And so one day she decides to go down and meet this fellow.

And she says, I notice you come here every day to the wall.

 How long have you been coming here and what are you praying for?

Well, he looked at her and he said, every day I come here.

For 25 years I've come here.

I mourn for world peace and the brotherhood of man.

In the midday I go home and have a cup of tea and then I come back and I pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth.

 Well, she said, how does that make you feel to come every day for 25 years and pray this way?

The old man looks at her with sad eyes and he says, I feel like I'm talking to a wall.

You ever feel that way when you pray?

Sometimes I do.

But we must be like that man and return every day

 Pray and seek and ask.

Well, you might be asking, if God is all-knowing, why is it so important that we ask and search and knock?

That tells us something about God and how He treasures our relationship.

As we said before, what that trust shows in our love and trust of God.

 In our persistent boldness, God sees a resolve that He loves.

Jesus is here encouraging a holy boldness, an insistent asking, a searching that never gives up.

This is what prayer should be all about.

 It's a critical part of our friendship with God.

It's not just a routine, formal praying, going through the motions every day, every week, like a task we need to do.

If we read the New Testament correctly, we are in a battle with darkness, the forces of darkness in combat, and we are in the trenches.

 And if we who have had a glimpse of the light are to struggle, to grind in prayer for peace and reconciliation and wisdom with a thousand things for the world and the church to ask for and hundreds of requests for our family and our friends and our neighbors and maybe even a dozen or so for ourselves, our prayers must be direct and persistent.

 But then finally, we must invite God's generative power as we pray.

Jesus follows his story by saying, if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit

 Jesus here creates an expectation, doesn't he?

With a promise.

And notice here, God's response isn't always giving us precisely what we ask for.

Instead, God gives the influence of his Holy Spirit towards what we need.

 the power to live, and the power to move forward.

What we really need is that drive to live in alignment with God's purpose.

And my experience has been, as we watch each other, when we pray, we should sit loose in the saddle.

Be prepared for the unexpected.

 Because prayer isn't about persuading God to do what we have planned for God to do.

We must leave outcomes to the Lord.

And when we pray by faith, because of the influence of the Holy Spirit, we become convinced of what God wants.

 That's the work of the Spirit that Jesus is talking about.

And there are times, I'm sure we could get some testimony for this, when God works to empower us, He stirs us to become part of the answer to our prayer.

We're going to pray the Lord's Prayer a little bit later.

 We pray that one line that's a convicting line.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

When we pray for the feeding of the hungry, the advocating for immigrants, prayer is risky.

There are challenges as we see implications for ourselves.

 I recall in my own life, there was a family that visited our church in Costa Mesa.

They had just moved to the United States from Syria.

We called them our Syrian Presbyterians.

 They had moved to Costa Mesa and they visited our church.

So as the pastor, I went out and visited them in their home.

And they began to tell me of why they moved to this country, escaping the terrible crisis of war and displacement that was going on in Syria.

Had many members of their own family still over there.

 And we just were so lined up with each other, and I prayed with them, and they heard my story, I heard theirs, and they told me about their church and their pastor in Homs.

And I asked them, I said, can you put me in touch with your pastor?

I'd like to pray for him and set up a relationship where we pray for each other.

And so we started this partnership.

 prayer, and I got involved with Mofid Karajili and Homs, and we prayed for each other.

He was praying for the squabble that our women's association was having over what color to paint the kitchen at the church, and I was praying for him and his women's Bible study who was facing mortar attacks outside their Bible study.

I said, yeah, you don't need to pray for me anymore, but I need to pray for you.

But we prayed for each other.

 And then there came an opportunity for us to form a network of pastors and parishioners here in this country to covenant with people over in Syria and in Lebanon to pray for them.

And this network has been going now for 14 years and I'm still involved in that network.

Be careful when you pray.

 Because God will find a way.

And I remembered that verse, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

And I remembered the Lord's prayer again.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I want to be an active partner as God brings His kingdom into being.

 One more local example for you.

Last week I went out and met the workers serving in the parking lot of the fan ministry.

And Cassandra and her team handing out food and supplies to the needy.

She told me this story how eight years ago God led her and her team with others in the community to address this need that many of us felt didn't even exist here in South County.

 They knew it did, and they knew that that's where Jesus was spending his time.

What a powerful witness to the influence of the gospel.

But she'll tell you, be careful when you pray, because God will join you with the needs as they're answered.

As you pray, be prepared for that invitation to become involved.

 And God will supply the resources for you to become active in His name.

We remember Paul's words to the church in Philippi.

Our faith is in Him who is able to do far more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us.

 In closing, we are healthiest when we are persistently, sincerely coming to the Lord in prayer.

And that's what I see in the days ahead for this congregation.

This is a season of hope for this church.

There's resources on the way.

And as Ray and I met together last week, I could see the excitement in his eyes.

 And I can see the stirring in your hearts.

This is turning the page to a new time in the history of LNPC.

In two weeks, he'll be standing here.

And Janine and the boys will be here with you in your Sunday school.

This is going to be a rich time.

And as you turn the page into that new era of this church, your role will become known to you.

 as God reveals His Spirit to you as you pray, as you go running to the Lord, thanking Him, confessing your sin, and asking Him, seeking Him to be involved in your life.

So pray in these days, all of you.

That's everybody's role.

Pray persistently.

 Open your heart to what is to come.

It's a great day.

Be prepared and be persistent.

Amen.